Crossroads
by AnimeFlowerGirl
Summary: It all started with a prank. Then, it progressed into a friendship. After, it bloomed into a romance. It all ended with – "Fred!" Zoey screamed, running to him and knelt by his side, holding his face in her hands. "No… NO! Don't you dare leave me! You promised!"
1. Prologue: Perfection

**Prologue: Perfection**

"Well, this is it." A little girl whispered as she stood in front of a large house that took the same appearance as the rest of the houses in the suburb she was in.

It had a tall gate that separated it from the rest and a lawn that held everything but healthy plants. The gate was old, cold and rusty. It looked like it would have crumbled with the softest breeze. The girl placed a shaky hand on the cold bars as she gently pushed it open. The gate made an eerie creak and the girl licked her lips as she stepped through the small crack, struggling with the weight of her suitcase as she tried not to push the gate any further in fear that it would give way.

Walking down the rocky path heading towards the front door, the girl ignored the tickle of the tall grass when it brushed against her legs and she tried her best not to cry out in fright whenever she heard something rustling in the trees and bushes.

_It's nothing, _she would reassure herself, _it's just your imagination…Nothing to worry about._

She worried anyway.

When she finally reached the mahogany door, she breathed a sigh of relief before pulling out a key from her jacket pocket and pushing it into the lock, twisting it until it made a _click _that echoed through the air.

The girl froze and glanced behind her back, seeing a couple walking down the road in front of her house, glancing at her before wrinkling their noses and continuing on their way. She looked back at her door and pushed it open, hauling her suitcase over the small step and entering her house. The girl closed her door, locked it and prayed that no one else saw her. She breathed in and out several times in an attempt to calm her frantic heart and when it did not cease its scared beating, she decided it was no use and turned around to see what kind of place she was to live in.

Though the outside screamed abandonment, the girl was surprised to see that the living room, as well as the rest of the house, was well furnished. There were couches, chairs and tables in the living room as well as a fireplace. The kitchen had tables, chairs and a refrigerator and when she opened the door of the fridge, she wasn't surprise to see food inside. Going up the staircase, there were numerous bedrooms already filled with beds, closest and other bedroom objects you would see like a vanity mirror and a study desk. Even the bathrooms had the necessities like shampoo, soap and facial wash.

Leaving the last bedroom at the end of the hall, the girl stayed closed to the wall as she headed back towards the staircase and since she really had nowhere else to be after moving in, she took the time to look up at the wall. Upon seeing the moving photographs that decorated the beige colored walls, the girls storm grey eyes glazed over.

Everything in this house was quite the opposite of her old home.

This house was _clean, orderly _and _perfect._

The girl felt sick and a cold sweat slid down her temple. Her pale, shaky hands reached towards her neck and her fingers grasped it, nails scratching.

She couldn't breathe.

All of a sudden, her small frame slumped to the floor and she chocked. She felt like she was sinking, drowning. The girl gasped as she tried her best to get air into her lungs. Sadly, her attempt was futile. Tears were welling up in her eyes and her hands were pathetically scratching her neck like she could cut it open and let air in. It didn't.

The girl's head then hit the marble floor and her eyes stared at the beige wall. She was motionless on the floor and her lips lay agape. Her chest was slowly rising up and down when sweet air filled her shriveled lungs.

"I want my mummy," the girl's hoarse voice filled the empty house, "I want my daddy."

* * *

Hours passed and the girl's eyes shot open and she rose from the floor, groaning when she realized her neck was stiff and her foot had fallen asleep. She placed her hand on the beige wall beside her and tried, with great effort, to stand back up. Her eyes were rimmed red and her arms wrapped around her body when she was finally standing. She looked back up at the picture on the wall and she studied the people in them.

They were beautiful.

Each had bright eyes, straight teeth, photogenic smile and flawless skin. They wore their dress robes with pride and they moved with grace and elegance.

They were all so _perfect._

Something snapped in the nine-year-old's system. She didn't know what she was doing, but she knew why she was doing it. Perfection. It was something the girl hated the most. The state of being perfect…complete…

It disgusted her so much.

The girl's thin arms fell to her sides and her hands formed into fists so tight that her knuckles turned white. She stared at the photographs with loathing. Violent tears were flowing down her as she opened her mouth and let out an ear-piercing screech.

She attacked.

The girl ripped every picture she could get her hands on, breaking the frame open and shredding each and every photograph, reducing them to pitiful fragments that fluttered to the marbled floor. The pictures she couldn't reach, she threw the broken frames at just to smash the clear screen that covered the beautiful people and if she was lucky, knock them to the ground so that she can finish the job herself.

Soon, the beige wall was bare but that didn't stop her. She wasn't satisfied with just ripping the photographs. No, she wanted more. Everything in this house was perfect. She couldn't have that.

The girl moved to destroy everything in the house. She entered every room and ripped up the sheets, the pillows, the curtains, broke the mirrors, emptied the shampoo bottles, threw the lamps, shattered the windows, turned the tables over, threw the chairs against the wall and before she knew it, the house was in ruins.

The once perfect home now looked like a ragging tornado just blew in.

The little nine-year-old girl single handedly destroyed an entire house in no less than three hours.

Her breathing evened out and her arms were once again wrapped around her body. She looked down at herself and saw that her clothes were ripped and she was bleeding. She didn't care though. She looked over her surroundings and was actually happy to see that everything was in total chaos. Nothing was clean. Nothing was orderly. Nothing was perfect.

She soon found her legs shaking and she fell to the floor, ignoring the fact that she was possibly sitting on glass, and her head leaned against the couch she ripped open so that its stuffing and springs sprouted out. She closed her eyes.

_DON'T TAKE MY DAUGHTER!_

A voice echoed in her head.

Whether it was a memory or a dream, she didn't know. She just wanted to fall asleep and disappear.

* * *

**HELLO.**

AnimeFlowerGirl here :) Welcome to Crossroads, my first Harry Potter Fic!

If you are one of my old readers, the people who have read this fic when it began back in 2011, WELCOME BACK! Nice to see that you stopped by to see how things are going. Want to sit down, have some Butterbeer?

If you are a new reader, WELCOME!

Please, new reader, come join me and old reader :)

So yeah, new reader, this is actually a rewrite. My old reader/s was/were notified about my rewriting project in Chapter 86. So please bear with me. You can continue on if you want. I hope you enjoy :D

I hope you enjoyed the prologue.

Please tell me what you thought.

Excuse my typos and the like.

Don't forget to review and the like.

And

I only own what I own :)


	2. Chapter 1: Hogwarts

**Chapter One: Hogwarts**

"_Holy fudgemonkeys_!" Zoey exclaimed in pain when she stepped on a shard of glass when she left her room. This wasn't the first time she got injured upon leaving her sleeping quarters, but that didn't mean she was immune to pain. She carefully lifted her foot, placing a hand on her doorframe to keep her balance, and winced as she slowly removed the offending item from her innocent body part. Blood slowly flowed out.

She tossed the glass away and looked around her surroundings. Two years had passed since she moved in and not once did she clean her house. Glass and broken picture frames still decorated her floor, her bed sheets were ripped and her pillows unstuffed. Tables were still turned over and she believed there was not a single chair that could actually be sat on.

Sighing, Zoey hobbled down the staircase and limped towards her suitcase, careful not to step on anything else that could cause a tad bit more pain than stepping on a muggle Lego piece, and fell to the floor beside it. She opened it and pulled out a gauze pad and a bottle of water. She pored the water over her wound, used her jumper sleeve to wipe the liquid off and placed the gauze pad over it. Merlin, help her if she ever became a Healer.

Tossing the bottle of water back into the suitcase, she then pulled out her socks and pulled them onto her feet, furrowing her brows when she saw them sagging around her ankles. She leaned back to get her black, battered shoes from behind her suitcase and quickly put them on. She closed her suitcase once more and stood up to look over her outfit. They weren't exactly new but they worked. At least they didn't have holes in them.

Zoey picked up her suitcase, limped towards her fireplace and placed her hand into a pot that was placed on a table near it. Pulling out a handful of glittery and silver powder, Zoey stepped into the fireplace, took a deep breath and yelled out "King's Cross Station" as she threw the powder to the ground below her and disappeared into the green flames.

* * *

It was five minutes before eleven o'clock and Zoey was inside her compartment, looking out the window and watching parents saying good-bye to their children who were about to board the Hogwarts Express. Zoey found herself envying each and every child she spotted.

Four minutes to eleven.

Zoey folded her legs under her, careful not to put pressure on her injured foot.

Three minutes to eleven.

She watched the children giving their last farewells before entering the train. Zoey fixed her sitting position as she saw a family of red heads coming into view. The mother was hurriedly kissing each of her children, the ones who were attending Hogwarts, on the cheeks and giving them hugs so tight that they looked like they could no longer breath. Zoey was surprised to see that even thought it was two minutes to eleven; the mother still took time to see her children off properly.

Suddenly, Zoey found herself letting out a soft laugh when she saw the twins of the family banging their heads together when their mother hugged them at the same time. A smile played on her lips as they mirrored each other's movements in rubbing their head and pouting. Zoey wished she had a twin, or rather a sibling, or a decent relative at least. Her eyes widened when she caught sight of a violet haired girl standing beside the twins. How in the world had she not noticed the girl? Violet hair!

To Zoey's surprise, the mother hugged the girl with the odd hair as well. The violet haired girl winced but did not push the mother away.

One minute to eleven.

The Hogwarts Express' whistle blew and the mother ushered the children into the train and gave her last wave as the train was starting to move away from the station. It was now eleven o'clock and the Hogwarts Express was on its way to, well, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Zoey felt herself getting excited and nervous as the train sped up.

_This is it, _she told herself. _I'm free._

* * *

Zoey's leg jerked her awake and she found herself sweating and breathing unevenly. She closed her eyes and tried to remember the dream she had but to no avail. Looking out the window, she saw that she had no idea where she was. All she knew was that she was far away from the horrid place she was forced to call "home".

"Anything from the trolley, dear?"

Zoey looked over to the door of her compartment and saw that there was an elderly lady standing there with a soft smile and a trolley filled with sweets. Zoey found herself reaching into her pocket and bringing out a handful of different colored coins. She bought two chocolate frogs.

She opened the box and screamed in surprise when the frog jumped out of it. She fell of her seat and watched the frog hop around the chair before jumping out the crack above her window and flying out the train. Zoey blinked her eyes rapidly, trying to process what had just happened before looking back into the box and frowning when she realized she had just lost her sweet. Seeing a card, she pulled it out.

_Falco Aesalon_

_He was a wizard who lived in Ancient Greece. Being able to transform into a Falcon at will, he was the first recorded Animagus._

Zoey raised her brow at the card and pondered over the word "Animagus." A picture of a black dog suddenly appeared in her mind and she pocketed the card instantly. Looking at her second chocolate frog box, she decided she wasn't going to eat it a live chocolate frog.

Suddenly, a large _bang _came, scaring Zoey, followed by angry yells, laughter and running footsteps. Zoey looked out her compartment door's window and saw the redheaded twins running passed her compartment with mischievous grins on their faces. Trailing behind them was the violet haired girl.

The girl slowed her run and stopped in front of Zoey's door. She took a step back when she saw that the girl had gold colored eyes and the violet haired girl entered her compartment. A foul odor followed the girl and without thinking, Zoey clamped her hands over her nose and mouth. The violet haired girl wrinkled her nose and closed the door behind her before swiftly walking towards the window on the other side of the compartment and opening it, letting the fresh air in.

"Unless you want this compartment of ours to stink like Dungbomb, allow me in and open the window." The violet haired girl spoke sternly with irritation at the questioning glance Zoey gave her. "On second thought, you should be grateful I did those things." She sat down on the opposite side of Zoey's chair and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Why does this happen to me?"

"W – What happened exactly?" Zoey asked, a stutter in her voice. She never had a chance to speak with anyone her age and she didn't know how to.

"Fred and George. Dungbombs. Wanted to test it out on Percy, I presume." The violet haired girl said as she looked out the window, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Who?"

"Fred and George Weasley. Word hasn't reached this part of the train, hasn't it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Zoey said, playing with the hem of her jumper. She began to feel rather stupid. "Fred, George, Percy? I don't know them. Dungbombs? I thought they weren't allowed in school –"

"That's why they set it off in the train." The violet haired girl interfered.

"Who are you anyway?" Zoey found herself asking.

"I don't introduce myself to strangers unless the stranger introduces herself." Her eyes flickered to Zoey.

Zoey felt unnerved when she looked back into those gold eyes and bit her lip before taking a breath. "Zoey," she said after a moment. "Zoey Emeraude."

The violet haired girl was silent. She seemed to be studying Zoey. "Hmm… Zoey. Life," the girl then said, "My name is Echo. Echo Acheflour Hyacinth Hayley Beaumont."

"You have a…very interesting name." _Acheflour? _Zoey found herself thinking. _What kind of name was that?_

Echo opened her mouth to reply but her words died on her lips when the compartment door banged open. Zoey jumped in her seat, not expecting to see the redheaded twins.

"So this is where you've been hiding, Echo!" The twin on the right said with a large grin.

"We've been looking everywhere for you!" said the twin on the left.

Echo groaned as she tilted her head back on her seat before saying, "When I finally get company other than you two, you guys just blow up the moment! Seriously, what did I do wrong?"

"You hurt us." The twin on the right said, placing a hand over his chest.

"And to think we came here to tell you and your friend that we're nearing Hogwarts and we should change into our robes." The other said with a smirk.

Echo rolled her eyes as the twins left and faced Zoey.

"Shall we?"

Zoey slowly nodded her head and reached up for her suitcase.

This was it. There was no turning back.

* * *

**HELLO.**

AnimeFlowerGirl here :) Welcome to Chapter 1 of Crossroads, my first Harry Potter Fic!

If you are one of my old readers, the people who have read this fic when it began back in 2011, WELCOME BACK! Nice to see that you stopped by to see how things are going. Want to sit down, have some Butterbeer?

If you are a new reader, WELCOME!

Please, new reader, come join me and old reader :)

So yeah, new reader, this is actually a rewrite. My old reader/s was/were notified about my rewriting project in Chapter 86. So please bear with me. You can continue on if you want. I hope you enjoy :D

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter.

Please tell me what you thought.

Excuse my typos and the like.

Don't forget to review and the like.

And

I only own what I own :)

**PS**

I will try my best to reply to everyone who reviews/messages me. I regret I wasn't able to do this in the past, so I'm going to try it now :)


	3. Chapter 2: Note Passing

**Chapter Two: Note Passing**

_Zoey played with the hem of her robe's sleeves as it was nearing her turn to be called. The student before her had just been declared Gryffindor and Zoey watched from under her lashes, the new Gryffindor girl skipping towards her House's table. Zoey, like any other First Year who was yet to be sorted, was very nervous and couldn't stop her mind from wandering to the thoughts of which House she would be sorted into._

_Slytherin? No, Zoey knew for a fact that she didn't have the qualities of a Slytherin. She was a pure-blood but that wasn't the only thing taken into consideration to become a Slytherin. Zoey wasn't cunning, shrew, ambitious and determined. _

_Slytherin was the first to be crossed out from her list._

_What about Gryffindor? Zoey mentally shook her head. Gryffindor was the House of her parents, but it wasn't her House. She wasn't brave enough to be placed in Gryffindor. If she were, she wouldn't have screamed in fright when the chocolate frog jumped out at her._

_Ravenclaw was crossed out the minute it entered her mind. Zoey was no idiot but intelligence, cleverness and wit were not her strong points. _

_Now Hufflepuffs were known to be hard-working, friendly and loyal. _

_Before Zoey could even think if she had the qualities of a Hufflepuff, her thoughts were interrupted when someone nudged her. _

_Dozens of eyes were looking at her. Zoey began to panic. Was it her turn already? How many times was her name called? A deep red blush appeared on her cheeks and she turned around to see the redheaded twins behind her. The one on the left bent down a little and whispered in her ear._

"_Are you Zoey Emeraude?" he asked her._

_She nodded and he grinned._

"_You're up next." His twin said with a grin. "Don't want to keep the rest of us waiting."_

"_Your name has been called at least four times. Better get up there, love." The first twin said._

_Zoey's eyes widened. She had kept all of them waiting. No wonder they were staring at her! How long has she been daydreaming? Zoey gave a nervous smile and quickly made her way towards the Sorting Hat. She gave the professors an apologetic look and sat down on the stool. _

_From where Zoey was seated, she could see everyone looking at her (thought it was no different than the way they were looking at her before). She drew in a breath and scanned the Great Hall. Her eyes instantly found Echo and saw that the violet haired girl was fidgeting in her seat._

_Zoey drew in a gasp when she felt the Sorting Hat being placed on her head and she jumped in her seat when she heard its voice in her head._

"Aren't you the jumpy one? Just like your mother." _The Sorting Hat said with a chuckle. _"Hmm… Emeraude…I've only sorted one Emeraude in my entire life of sorting, but I've sorted dozens of Blacks. Yes, yes. You have the Black's blood running in your veins."

_Zoey felt her palms sweating. _

_Please not Slytherin. Anything but Slytherin!_

"Not Slytherin? Ha! Better be…"

"_HUFFLEPUFF!"_

"Excuse me…Er…Pardon me…" Zoey mumbled as she pushed her way through the hundreds of Hogwarts students who were exiting the Great Hall at the same time. Schedules have just been given out and everyone was heading out to their first class. "Sorry – Excuse me!" She slipped through the towering Seventh Years as she made her way towards the light. Zoey had just looked over her schedule and she was trying to make her way to the Green House for Herbology.

Zoey sighed in relief when she finally got through the crowd and she brushed her bangs away from her eyes and dashed off, her Hufflepuff robes blowing behind her.

_Hufflepuff. _She thought to herself as she made twists and turns to avoid anything and anyone who got in her way. Zoey miraculously dodged the different statues, pillars and students as she ran as fast as her clumsy feet could take her. She started to huff and puff when she was nearing her destination. If she would just leave the hall she was running through and run down the stony path, she would reach the Green House.

Zoey slowed down and caught her breath. She looked down at the Green House and saw that her fellow Hufflepuffs were already walking down the path followed by the Ravenclaws. She was about to join them when a sudden force crashed into her, pushing her to the ground and making her books, parchment and quills fly through the air and scatter around her.

She winced when she heard her things crash to the floor and prayed her inkbottles didn't break. Rising to her knees, she began to pick up her fallen thinks. The ponytail she tied her hair into was slightly disheveled from running and her bands fell to her face once more.

"Sorry 'bout that." The person who ran into her said. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

Zoey pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and looked up to see the bluest eyes she has ever seen. The beautiful blue eyes belonged to one of the redheaded twins. Zoey couldn't believe she hadn't noticed how mesmerizing his blue eyes were. How could she miss it?

A hand being held out to her broke Zoey away from her thoughts and she accepted the boy's help. He grinned and hauled her to her feet.

"You okay?" he asked. Zoey saw mischief twinkling in his eyes.

Zoey was about to reply when the bell rang through the air. She let out a gasp and dashed down to stone steps leading to the Green House. She didn't want to be late on her first day in her first class. Some first impression that would be. She slowed down her run and looked back to where the redhead was standing.

He was looking down at her with a bemused expression.

"Thank you!" Zoey called out before stumbling her way to the Green House.

* * *

Zoey looked around in awe the moment she entered the Green House before making her way towards the seat at the back of the class. She carefully placed her things on the table before looking around again. It was covered with different kinds of plants, each looking more interesting than the one before. Zoey wanted so much to touch the flowery looking one but before she could, someone called out to her.

"Good Morning, Zwei!" It was Echo.

Zoey looked at the Ravenclaw oddly and pointed a finger at herself. Surely Echo was calling someone else.

She wasn't.

Echo nodded her head and pointed to the stool beside her, motioning Zoey to sit with her. Zoey drew in a breath before picking up her things and making her way towards Echo's side. When she sat down, she gave Echo a questioning look.

"Glad you accepted my offer. I don't plan on making friends with the hoodlums around us anytime soon. By the way, what made you so late?"

"I was going to be on time when someone crashed into me," Zoey explained, picking up one of her inkbottles, happy that by some miracle, they didn't break.

"Let me guess, bumped into someone who looks like the prince you've been dreaming about since you were five? Or, _is _he your prince?" Echo grinned wickedly.

Zoey's cheeks reddened at the thought. "Of course not!" She said a little too loudly. "I don't even know his name," she lowered her voice, "He ran into me, that's all. Prince? Ha!"

"I suppose misfits like us won't have a need for them after all. Princes could always manipulate you to death-threatening points." Echo shrugged as she propped her elbow on the table and placed her cheek on her palm.

"Misfits?" Zoey let out a laugh. "Imagine that! Witches like us are _misfits _in the magical world! If we were in the muggle world, we might as well fit in with the rest of them, huh? The irony."

Echo opened her mouth to reply, but the Green House door opened to reveal a small and squat woman with flyaway hair. "Good Morning, class!" She said as she clapped her hands together. "I'm your Herbology teacher, Professor Sprout."

* * *

Zoey was taking down notes when a piece of parchment found its way to her notebook. She looked at it curiously before turning her attention towards Echo. The girl motioned her to open it.

_You know, Herbology kind of bores me. If we studied about something dark and gloomy, then it would be quite an interesting class. _The note read.

Zoey dipped her quill into the inkbottle and scribbled down her response. _How can you say that? I mean, look at all the plants! One of them should at least spike your interest!_

_Devil's Snare or that Angel Trumpet thing, I guess both "spike my interest", but only a little. _Echo replied.

_I see. _Zoey wrote before going back to her school notes. The parchment came back after a minute.

_Errrrggghhhh…. The professor needs to stop yapping like an untamed pup. Anyways, who did you bump into? You know, from a while ago?_

Zoey ignored the insult to the Head of her House and wrote her reply. _I told you, I don't know who he was._

_Of course you wouldn't know! I meant; how did he look like? _Echo asked.

_Red Hair. Blue eyes. Loads of freckles. _Zoey couldn't remember which House he belonged to.

_Might as well be one of the twins. Sigh. Oh, wait; if I mention "The Twins" you probably wouldn't know what I'm saying, right?_

Zoey remembered the twins from the Hogwarts Express and the twins who talked to her before she was sorted. _I'm guessing "The Twins" were the ones who set off the dungbomb back in the Hogwarts Express, right? _Zoey quickly wrote and wracked her brains for their names. She smiled when she remembered. _Don't know the difference between Fred and George though. Only saw them a couple of times. _

_We're running short on parchment. I'll tell you when I can, in the time being, you should probably listen to the next topic. It's about Devil's Snare._

Zoey pocketed the note and listened to Professor Sprout's discussion.

* * *

**HELLO.**

AnimeFlowerGirl here :) Welcome to Chapter 2 of Crossroads, my first Harry Potter Fic!

If you are one of my old readers, the people who have read this fic when it began back in 2011, WELCOME BACK! Nice to see that you stopped by to see how things are going. Want to sit down, have some Butterbeer?

If you are a new reader, WELCOME!

Please, new reader, come join me and old reader :)

So yeah, new reader, this is actually a rewrite. My old reader/s was/were notified about my rewriting project in Chapter 86. So please bear with me. You can continue on if you want. I hope you enjoy :D

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter.

Please tell me what you thought.

Excuse my typos and the like.

Don't forget to review and the like.

And

I only own what I own :)

**PS**

I will try my best to reply to everyone who reviews/messages me. I regret I wasn't able to do this in the past, so I'm going to try it now :)


	4. Chapter 3: The Green Eyed Monster

**Chapter Three: The Green Eyed Monster**

_It was dinnertime and Zoey was quietly sitting on the Hufflepuff table. There, on the table, was chicken, beef, pork, pasta, corn, rice, soup, fruits and pastries in large quantities. Just by looking at them, Zoey felt full. She slouched on her seat and used her fork to poke at the grains of corn on her plate. She popped one in her mouth and chewed quietly as she looked around the Great Hall. Everyone was chatting with his or her friends. Some huddled up in their own group and others visiting their friends from the different Houses. Zoey felt like a loner._

_Zoey let out a surprised squeak when someone sat by her side. It was Echo and she held a pastille in her hand, eating it before waving at the Hufflepuff._

"_Aren't you supposed to be at the Ravenclaw table?" Zoey found herself asking._

_Echo snorted. "They're not worthy of my presence. Most of them are dumb and unsophisticated._

"_Dumb? Aren't they in Ravenclaw for a reason?" Zoey was confused._

"_I'm here because I needed to tell you about the oh-so-famous twins, right?" Echo ignored Zoey's question. "Look at the Gryffindor table." Zoey did as told. She saw that they were laughing merrily and their faces were a bit red. "Right is George and left is Fred. Got it?"_

"_Okay. That would help me tell them apart as of this moment but once we leave, I'm going to be at a loss. I need you tell me who they are and if there is any way to tell them apart easily. Like a misplaced freckle or a visible birthmark." Zoey said. "I don't want to have to approach one of them and say the other's name."_

"_George is much more kinder than Fred." Echo said. _

Like that's going to help me. _Zoey furrowed her brows._

"_Anyway, George has his eyes set on someone, and he can bug you out with his total kindness." Echo continued with a cough._

"_Okay..." Zoey trailed off, coughing herself. "Do you know who might have ran into me?"_

"_Fred. He would have prank ideas running of in his head." Echo said._

"_Running into me was a prank?"_

"_Most likely he was running _away _from a prank."_

Zoey drew in a breath as she hid behind one of the many statues decorating the walls of Hogwarts. She placed a hand over her growling stomach. She had missed lunch because she had to run away from a couple of Slytherins who decided that it would be fun to pick on her. Casting spells that would spill ink all over her notes, stick her shoes together and call her names like "scum".

Biting her lip, she inched further behind the statue when she heard voices. Someone was coming.

_Please don't be Slytherins. Please don't be Slytherins. _She chanted in her head.

"This idea is brilliant!" a voice echoed through the semi-empty halls. It was followed by laughter. Zoey sighed in relief and peaked from behind the statue to see three Gryffindors and Echo. The Gryffindors were the Weasley twins, Fred and George, and a boy with dreadlocks, Lee Jordan.

Zoey knew for a fact that the Weasley Twins have already made a name for themselves in Hogwarts as "pranksters". From what she heard, the two knew Hogwarts like the back of their hand and they never ceased an opportunity to pull a prank on a "helpless" Slytherin or anyone who deserved it. Zoey looked over to Echo and saw that the girl was not laughing with her friends, busy reading the book in her hands.

Zoey found herself furrowing her brows at the sight of the friends. She knew the feeling boiling in the pit of her stomach. It was jealousy. She was jealous of Echo. She wanted to be Echo. She wanted to be smart and beautiful and she wanted to have friends. She wanted to be friends with the funniest people in Hogwarts. Fred and George, from what Zoey could see, were lively people and could probably make anyone laugh by just uttering a single, nonsensical word.

The school's bell rang, making Zoey jump in her place, and she looked both left and right before fully coming out from behind the statue. No one was in the hall. Fred, George, Lee and Echo had left. Zoey breathed out and pushed her glasses up her nose before dashing off to her next class, Charms.

She skidded on the floor and brought her hands to the doorknob of her classroom. Twisting the knob and pushing the door open, she was greeted by a liquid substance falling all over her, drenching her completely. Then she felt feather like objects following. Blinking her eyes, trying to process what had just happened, Zoey heard laughter.

The Gryffindors and the Hufflepuffs in the room were laughing so hard that tears prickled their eyes and they held their stomachs from laughing so hard. Only a handful looked worried.

Echo, who had been in the classroom, wanting to discuss something with Professor Flitwick, emerged from the laughing crowd and took in the sight. She knew who caused this little pranks. _Those good for nothing brats. _She thought to herself, feeling extremely pissed.

"Zwei! Are you not alright?" Echo asked as she approached her feathered friend. Zoey looked up, used to the odd nickname given to her and sniffed.

"I…I guess," she mumbled, looking at her feet. Her things were drenched and feather-fied. "What just happened?"

Echo turned around when she saw Fred ad George, out of the corner of her eye, sneakily get up from their seats.

"So who was the victim this time?" Fred asked with a grin on his face. He did not recognize Zoey from the time he bumped into her.

"I would really love to see their face right now!" George barked a laugh.

"You gits! Do you not care that a girl's been your victim?" Echo thwacked her book at each of the twins' heads, threatening them. "Wait till I tell your mother about this!"

"Echo! What the bloody hell is your problem?" Fred asked, trying to defend himself from the book Echo held in her hand.

"She is as of someone whom I finally got acquainted with!"

"You wouldn't dare tell our mum!" George said, "It was just a harmless prank! Wait." He paused. "What?"

"Meaning, she is my friend, you nitwit!" Echo yelled.

"And what does make us?" Fred asked, his face red. He hated being within the wrath of Echo's book. That and having an argument he would most like lose. He hated losing.

"Tell the Professor that Zoey Emeraude was taken to the Hospital Wing!" Echo ignored Fred's question and took Zoey's wrist, dragging her out of the classroom.

* * *

**HELLO.**

AnimeFlowerGirl here :) Welcome to Chapter 3 of Crossroads, my first Harry Potter Fic!

If you are one of my old readers, the people who have read this fic when it began back in 2011, WELCOME BACK! Nice to see that you stopped by to see how things are going. Want to sit down, have some Butterbeer?

If you are a new reader, WELCOME!

Please, new reader, come join me and old reader :)

So yeah, new reader, this is actually a rewrite. My old reader/s was/were notified about my rewriting project in Chapter 86. So please bear with me. You can continue on if you want. I hope you enjoy :D

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter.

Please tell me what you thought.

Excuse my typos and the like.

Don't forget to review and the like.

And

I only own what I own :)

**PS**

I will try my best to reply to everyone who reviews/messages me. I regret I wasn't able to do this in the past, so I'm going to try it now :)


	5. Chapter 4: Death by Pocketbook

**Chapter Four: Death by Pocketbook**

_A whole week had passed since Zoey Emeraude moved into her house and the young witch had done nothing to change its wrecked state. For seven days Zoey had managed to walk around the broken glass, shredded pictures, ripped curtains and over turned furniture with no problem. Sure she found herself wincing whenever she found herself stepping on a shard of porcelain from one of the vases she smashed and it didn't exactly make her mood any brighter when she would accidentally ram her hip against the edge of a table or when she hit her elbow against the door but the young Emeraude couldn't do much about anything. Zoey couldn't exactly do any useful magic at her age and even if she did, she wouldn't feel any better when her house was fixed. The girl decided to live in the chaos. After all, no one came to visit her. Those who passed by her house wouldn't even guess that someone was living inside let alone know about the metaphoric tornado that blew in._

_The young Emeraude found herself spending her afternoon sitting amongst the wilted roses in the middle of the floor with an aging photograph in her trembling hands. There wasn't much to do in her house and Zoey often found herself looking through the old photographs she had brought in her luggage, trying to remember the events that occurred in each picture though she was barely a year old in most of them. Majority of the photographs in the album she brought didn't even have her in them. It was from the days when her parents were still together. Young, happy and with their friends. The pictures held stories Zoey would never know of and the Emeraude found a small joy when she tried to figure out the stories herself. _

_The photograph Zoey held in her hands had eight people smiling up at her. The young Emeraude found her mother with ease, recognizing her mother's delicate features anywhere and standing next to her was Zoey's father. He stood tall and proud with his arm wrapped around her mother's shoulder, bringing her closer to his frame. Next to her mother was a beautiful redhead who had a baby in her arms. The baby was wrapped up in a blanket and seemed to giggle with glee when the spectacled man beside the woman swooped down to place a loving smooch on the redhead's cheek, causing the redhead to laugh out loud from the sudden action. Two people stood beside her father, a tired looking man, though still smiling, with battered clothes and wrapped around his arm was a cheerful looking lady who had the largest grin on her face and seemed to salute the photographer. The saluting woman had a toddler on her back, the child's short and chubby arms wrapped around the woman for dear life. Zoey recognized the toddler as herself with her trademark pink cheeks and unruly hair._

_Biting her lip, Zoey felt her tears well up in her eyes. Everyone looked so happy in the picture. Like all the problems in the world did not matter to them. In fact, it looked like their world had no problems at all. The eight people in the picture seemed to have come from an entirely different world. A place where nothing went wrong and everyone was happy._

_Looking at the picture, Zoey felt her lips trembled as she tried to suppress her sobs. Why did their perfect world have to end? Why did all of them leave her? Why did they take away her mother? Her father? Her family?_

_Why? Why? Why?_

_WHY?_

_Without realizing it, Zoey had curled her hand, the one that wasn't holding the picture, into a tight fist, her knuckles turning white and her nails digging into her skin, as she glared long and hard at the floor beneath her. Sad, angry, frustrated and confused tears streamed down her face as more questions swarmed in her mind. What had she done to deserve this fate? What had her parents done? Why were all these horrible things happening to her? Why was she taken away from her uncle? Her aunt? Why was she taken to a horrible house in a horrible village filled with horribly perfect people? _

_Her parents are gone. She was taken away from her family. She wasn't allowed to ask questions and she was given no direction. Forced into a foreign land at such a young age, Zoey didn't know what she was supposed to do. She was separated form her godparents so fast that they weren't given the chance to explain. Zoey was almost positive that they didn't even know where she was. If they did, they probably would have already saved her or at least written to her. _

"_M-Mummy….Da-Daddy…" Zoey mumbled, her voice tearful and cracking. "Mummy! Daddy!" Zoey said a little louder when the memories of her parents and how happy they used to be came rushing in. Bringing her fist up to her eyes to wipe away the tears that were now pouring out, the girl sucked in a deep breath and began bawling. "Please come back!" The young Emeraude bellowed. "Come back to me! Please come back! Save me! Mummy! Daddy! PLEASE!"_

_Zoey felt like she could go on forever. Screaming her little heart out in hopes that somehow her parents would hear and come back to save her. She prayed that this was just a horrible prank her father was pulling. Something he did to her mother often to get a rise out of her only to kiss her sweetly and apologize with a stupid grin on his face. She hoped that maybe everything bad happening to her was just a result of her magic going haywire. Maybe she casted an amateur spell without knowing and it had knocked her unconscious, bringing her to this nightmare. _

_The young Emeraude hoped, prayed, wished, screamed but nothing happened. _

_This was a reality. _

_This horrible life was her reality now. _

_The people in the photograph were just a memory now, a dream._

_The doorbell ringing throughout the empty house was what made Zoey stifle her sobs. She bit hard on her lip, sure that if she wasn't feeling so numb at the moment, she would have realized that she was already drawing blood, and her hands where shaking when she moved to put the photograph in her dress's pocket, scared that whoever was at the door would take it from her. The bell rang again and Zoey tried to stand up, see if she could open the door herself but found out her legs were like gelatin. They refused to budge and when she did move it, a static sort of feeling ran up her leg and caused the young Emeraude to furrow her brows in frustration, tears forming in her eyes once more. _

_The ringing increased, sounding both frantic and impatient. Zoey felt her heart skip a beat when a foolish thought entered her mind. Maybe it was her parents! Maybe they heard her screams after all! They're here! They're here to save her! This was all just a horrible dream! Zoey was going back to her perfect world! The world where everyone was happy!_

_Zoey suddenly found the strength to stand up, ignoring the static sort of feeling shooting up her leg, and felt the need to run to her door, swing it open and fall into her mother's embrace when the ringing ceased. The Emeraude's eyes widened and she fell back to the ground when her door was blasted open by a spell casted by the person from the opposite side. Smoke filled the room and when it cleared up, Zoey realized that she was a fool to even think that she was saved. _

_Standing at the door wasn't her mother nor was it anyone from the photograph._

_It was the devil herself._

"Zoey… Zoey… ZOEY!"

The Hufflepuff felt herself wake up from her trance and nearly fell off the Hospital Wing's bed when Echo yelled into her ear. Zoey looked around frantically, trying to remember where she was and how she got there, her mind still fuzzy. Seeing nothing but the white beds, a shelf filled with different varieties of potions, a cauldron, the Nurse's Office and Echo, Zoey felt herself calm down. Suddenly, the events of the Weasley Twins' prank hit the Emeraude's head like a raging Bludger and the girl felt her cheeks warm up when she remembered the laughter.

"Fiddlesticks," The Emeraude muttered under her breath, her eyes moistening. "It really did happen."

"Yes it did. Now I do hope you weren't in a catatonic state or I'll have Madame Pomfrey over here," Echo said as she brushed away her bangs only to have them fall back on her face.

"Ca – Catatonic?" Zoey breathed out, having already forgotten that Echo was with her.

Echo rolled her eyes. "Someone who can't speak because of trauma… or something like that."

"Right." Zoey nodded her head, taking note of what Echo said, and looked down at herself. She still had feathers and glue stuck to her skin and robes. "What am I suppose to do about this?" She asked, her voice wavering when she felt herself get frustrated. She didn't want to start her year in Hogwarts like this. Nobody does.

The Ravenclaw sat down beside Zoey and started plucking the feathers out of the Emeraude's hair before sternly saying, "I know I'm not your mother or anything, but do your part – It's _your _hair."

Zoey nodded her head, not really knowing how to reply to Echo, and removed her glasses, hanging them on her sweater. Closing her eyes, Zoey brought her hands to her hair and carefully felt for the feathers, removing them one by one. When she could no longer feel them, the Emeraude opened her eyes and looked at her friend. Echo was perfectly clear but everything that stood behind her was a blur.

"Where is Madame Pomfrey?" Zoey asked, her eyes wide, trying to see if she could make the shelves behind Echo clear. No such luck. "Isn't she – Well, uhm… Doesn't see usually attend to those who come here right away?"

Echo sighed, plucking out a stray feather on Zoey's tangled ponytail. "Someone who came before us was dim enough to drink a potion in class. Didn't turn out the way he wanted it to. Really, are the students here reckless or what?"

"I don't think you should be saying that." Zoey laughed, turning her attention to her sweater and began removing the feathers that stuck to the fabric. Without magic, it would never be the same again. "I mean… you _are _a Hogwarts student after all, Echo."

"The _other _students here."

"What about your friends? You know, the twins?"

"Reckless." Echo deadpanned.

The Emeraude snorted and giggled under her breath, having found Echo's automatic response very funny. She looked down at her legs and feet and was happy to see that that feathers didn't cover them – they were just soggy. Zoey frowned when she saw that her yellow legwarmers were now soaked. Those were her favorite pair too.

Sighing, the Hufflepuff looked back at her Ravenclaw friend and her eyes widened when she realized something very important. "Echo!"

"Yes?" Echo asked, having jumped a tad at Zoey's sudden outburst.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" The Hufflepuff's brows knitted in worry.

"Not really. I came in early and finished my activity during break."

"So it's your free period?"

Echo nodded her head.

The two sat in silence and Zoey was just about to start a new conversation, not liking the quietness of the room, when Echo shot out of the bed making Zoey jump. The Ravenclaw's mouth twitched upward in a small smile before gracefully sitting back down.

"Are you okay?" Zoey asked her friend, wondering why she was smiling all of a sudden. It wasn't at all sweet and innocent.

Echo waved her off. "There are two people I would like you to meet."

"Okay…"

"_Tweedledee! Tweedledum!_" Echo bellowed, her head facing the Hospital Wing's door. "Come over here and apologize… NOW!"

Zoey fell out of the bed, not expecting Echo's shout, and cautiously peaked over the mattress as the doors swung open. Entering the Hospital Wing were the redheaded twins, Fred and George Weasley. Zoey's eyes widened upon recognizing them and immediately reached out to tug Echo's robe, quietly calling her attention.

"How did you get them to come here? Wait. No. _When?_" The Hufflepuff asked, glancing at the twins who were now moodily standing a few feet away from her and Echo. The Emeraude was under the impression that Echo had not left her side since bringing her to the room.

"You spaced out for a long time. I took the opportunity to get them here. When? Hmm… about five minutes into when you were staring at the wall."

"How long was I staring at the wall exactly?"

"Twenty or so minutes."

Zoey's mouth hung open.

Fred cleared his throat when nothing was said after several minutes had passed. Zoey was still on the floor, mouth hung open and Echo was doing nothing about it. He and George were wasting precious prank planning time. Echo heard the clearing of his throat and looked up at him with her eyebrow raised. It was almost as if she had forgotten that they were in the same room. Staring at him for a few more seconds, she slowly nodded her head.

"Right. Now I remember," the Ravenclaw said softly. "Anyhow, this is Tweedledee and Tweedledum." She pointed a finger at each twin. "Strictly speaking, I meant Fred and George Weasley."

"I remember," Zoey said quietly, looking up at the twins from under her bangs. Quickly putting on her glasses, the Emeraude rose from her spot on the ground and tried to give the twins a polite smile despite what they had done to her. "Hello," she greeted them. They didn't seem to hear her.

"Uhm – Err, _Hello_." Zoey tried again. "I'm Zoey Emeraude," her voice was wavering, "The Hufflepuff you decided to – uhm, _chickenfy_."

"We know," George said, a grin on his lips. He dropped his moody façade and nudged his twin in the ribs. Fred rubbed the area that was nudged and frowned at his twin before laughing under his breath.

"Hi," Fred said, grinning at Zoey as well.

The Emeraude moved to say something when she looked into Fred's eyes. She gasped when she saw how blue and familiar looking they were. It was the same blue the person she bumped into had. Zoey felt her cheeks warm up again when she realized she was staring.

"You two should apologize you know," Echo said, moving to get the pocket book that rested on the bedside table or Zoey's bed.

"Apologize?" One of the twins asked, Zoey didn't know who. She was no longer focusing her attention on them. "Apologize for what?"

"You are so thick." Echo glared, holding the book with an iron grip. "For your recklessness of course!" She was now swinging the book threateningly at the twins. Zoey took a step back, not wanting to be hit. "I have had enough of your mishaps! Besides, Zwei is my _friend!_"

"And what does that make us?" George's words slipped out without his consent. His eyes widened but he did not dare take back his words.

Echo's eyes twitched and, if possible, her hold on the book tightened. She swiftly appeared behind the twins' backs (Zoey couldn't believe her eyes. She thought Echo had Apparated before reminding herself that it was impossible) before saying in a dangerously silent tone. "You should have apologized."

Zoey made a move to stop Echo. She wanted to say that the twins didn't have to apologize. It was her own fault for getting so worked up over a harmless prank when Echo launched her book and started whacking the heads of both Fred and George with inhuman strength. "NOW DIE OF INTERNAL HEMORRHAGE!"

Fred and George held up their hands to defend themselves but it was no use. If Echo couldn't hit their heads, she settled for bruising their arms and backs. Zoey tried multiple times to stop Echo but with every hit, Zoey felt herself wince. It was almost as if she could _feel _the hits Fred and George were taking.

"Bloody hell, Echo!" Fred exclaimed, trying to block the book.

"We're sorry!" George managed to yell out, also trying to keep the book away.

"Not to me," Echo said without mercy. "To Zwei!"

Fred and George looked over to Zoey and Zoey took another step back, scared that they'd run to her and Echo would end up hitting all three of them with her book without realizing it. The book was big, hardbound and without a doubt very painful. The twins tried to get their words out when Zoey saw someone approaching the Gryffindors and Ravenclaw.

"_Miss Beaumont!" _The figure said, voice hard and with authority. "What do you think you're doing?"

* * *

**HELLO.**

AnimeFlowerGirl here :) Welcome to Chapter 4 of Crossroads, my first Harry Potter Fic!

If you are one of my old readers, the people who have read this fic when it began back in 2011, WELCOME BACK! Nice to see that you stopped by to see how things are going. Want to sit down, have some Butterbeer?

If you are a new reader, WELCOME!

Please, new reader, come join me and old reader :)

So yeah, new reader, this is actually a rewrite. My old reader/s was/were notified about my rewriting project in Chapter 86. So please bear with me. You can continue on if you want. I hope you enjoy :D

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter.

Please tell me what you thought.

Excuse my typos and the like.

Don't forget to review and the like.

And

I only own what I own :)

**PS**

I will try my best to reply to everyone who reviews/messages me. I regret I wasn't able to do this in the past, so I'm going to try it now :)

**PPS (As of October 28, 2012)**

I have reached 700 reviews, 225 Favs and 223 Follows...

I LOVE YOU ALL SO VERY VERY MUCH!

I CAN'T THANK YOU GUYS ENOUGH!


	6. Chapter 5: Laugh Out Loud

**Chapter Five: Laugh Out Loud**

Zoey had a goal and that goal was to spend her seven years in Hogwarts under a metaphoric invisibility cloak. She didn't want to be noticed and part of being unnoticed was that none of the professors or staff members would take note of her unless she was to recite or actually talk to them. The Emeraude didn't want to be the student everyone was to be like or be the student the professors paid extra close attention to because she was flunking. Zoey just wanted to pass. She didn't want to win any spectacular amount of points and she didn't want to be the cause of her House losing points. The Hufflepuff prayed that Madame Pomfrey did not have the power to take away points and if she did, as selfish as the thought was, Zoey hoped it wasn't going to be from her.

The Emeraude watched quietly as Echo froze in her spot, her book just inches away from Fred's head and George's shoulder, before slowly turning her attention to Madame Pomfrey, her hand lowering in the process.

"I repeat," Madam Pomfrey said, placing her hands on her hips and giving each and everyone a hard look before returning to Echo. "What do you think you are doing?"

"Easy. I'm beating up Fred and George because they won't apologize." Echo said, resuming a causal position. "Does that answer your question?"

Unintentionally, the Emeraude let out a gasp, not expecting Echo to reply in such a way to a teacher. Was she allowed to talk to someone of higher authority like that? Zoey didn't think so. She hoped Echo didn't get into too much trouble. Beating people up with a book was one thing and talking back to a teacher was another. Zoey looked towards the twins and saw them inch away from Echo, taking refuge beside the Hospital bed.

Zoey frowned when she saw them nursing their bruised arms and rubbing their sore heads and necks. Echo showed no mercy. If she was that violent with a mere book, Zoey was afraid to see Echo in action with a wand.

"And why, may I ask, are you beating them up for an apology?" Madame Pomfrey asked, eyeing Echo and the twins.

Echo coughed, clearing her throat, and started to explain. "As Zoey Emeraude was going to her respective class with Fred and George Weasley, apparently, with a booby-trapped entrance, the Emeraude fell victim to the prank, which led me into snapping and shouting an argument with the twins. After which, I brought Zoey here and persuaded the twins to come here to apologize – which they _won't _do!" The Ravenclaw stomped her foot and crossed her arms. "Does that cover the question you asked?"

The room was silent and Zoey wondered if Echo was actually able to leave Madame Pomfrey speechless. The Ravenclaw sure knew how to talk back to a teacher. The Emeraude looked towards Madame Pomfrey and saw the witch looking right at her, brows furrowed and lips pursed. Zoey looked down at her feet and attempted to run a hand through her hair, fingers getting tangled in the mess instantly.

"And you think 'beating them up', as you put it, would make them apologize?" The woman said after another moment had passed.

Echo lowly grinned. " I no longer, as of this time, tolerate their nonsense when it comes to my friend."

"And I," Madame Pomfrey began, "never tolerated such nonsense on beating someone up for an apology."

"You would if you only have one friend worth protecting, right?"

Madame Pomfrey's lips formed a thin line. "I have half a mind to report you to the Head of your House." The witch paused. "But I see where you are coming from. However, I would not tolerate such behavior in my Hospital Wing. I don't want to see them –" Madame Pomfrey gestured to the twins, "Or anyone else coming in here because of internal hemorrhage from your book."

Zoey let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. It seemed that she was more worried about Echo's wellbeing and reputation, for lack of a better word, than the Ravenclaw was.

"And from what I gather," Madame Pomfrey continued, "Mister Weasley and Mister Weasley are your friends as well. Maybe they did not want to apologize because they thought that Miss Emeraude here was replacing them." The witch gave Echo and the twins a meaningful look before turning her attention to Zoey.

"Oh my, what happened to you?" The healer asked, having forgotten Echo's explanation.

"Uhm…I - err, got caught under a bucket of feathers and… glue," Zoey explained lamely, having thought that Madame Pomfrey had forgotten that she was in the room.

Madame Pomfrey _tsk-ed _and with a wave of her wand, Zoey was cleaned. The feathers disappeared into thin air and Zoey felt her body warm up along with her clothes. In a matter of seconds, it looked like she had never entered her Charms classroom and got caught in a prank.

"There we go. Good as new," Madame Pomfrey said with a smile. "Now, I don't want to see any of you here anytime soon."

Madame Pomfrey turned and left the students, hoping they got the message and would leave her Hospital Wing soon so she could go back to working in peace and quiet. She still had to replenish some of the potions in her shelves and had to create new antidotes just in case another student decided to taste one of his or her potions in class.

Echo groaned once Madame Pomfrey disappeared into her office and turned to the twins.

"Was it true, what Madame Pomfrey said?"

"I don't know what you're talking about –" Fred began to say when George interrupted him with, "So what if it is?"

The Ravenclaw took a step back. "I was not replacing either of you. It's only now when I found a new friend. If you did have the feeling, I suppose that you two can't just be my _only _friends." The twins remained silent, not knowing what to say. Echo took this chance to continue. "You remember, right? How many times I got backstabbed? The troubles I've had with trust?"

"Of course we remember," Fred began, his fists bawling and his cheeks turning a fiery red.

"How could we forget?" George continued, his voice filled with malice as he remembered the image of a young Echo crying. "You know we aren't like that. We would never hurt you."

"And neither would Zoey!" Echo exclaimed. "Why are you behaving like you're getting replaced by someone new when I've shared memories with the two of you!" The Ravenclaw fought, looking down at her feet, a single tear rolling down her cheek. "You aren't my parents. You can't decide whether Zoey should be my friend or not."

The Emeraude watched quietly from her place, seeing Echo's hands trembling and Fred and George looking guiltily at the Ravenclaw. It looked like they wanted to approach Echo, give her a comforting hug but couldn't find the will to move from their spot. What Echo said to the twins seemed to date back, long before Zoey knew any of them. She saw George take a step forward. The Hufflepuff thought George was going to approach Echo but she was wrong. The young Weasley twin did not move any further and his brother remained rooted.

Zoey wondered what was going to happen now. Were they all just going to stay still until someone spoke or until Madame Pomfrey realized they had not left and kicked them out herself? The Emeraude bit her lip and when it felt like hours had passed since George's action, she clapped her hands, not knowing what she was going to do next.

"Hey!" Zoey said, her mouth twitching from her forced smile. _Jumping Jehoshaphat, _she thought to herself when Echo hurriedly wiped her tears and the twins looked at her with confusion. _Nice going, Zoey. What are you going to do now?_

"Uhm, yeah," The Emeraude's voice was reseeding to a quiet tone. "We should probably… uhm… you know… leave?" She paused and laughed awkwardly under her breath. "I mean – I don't want to ruin the moment here… Well, I guess I already did when I clapped and… yeah… ruined it even more with my talking," Zoey was now hoping that someone would rush into the Hospital Wing with a giant iguana on his head or something to distract Echo and the twins. "Err – We should leave, yeah? Madame Pomfrey said she wants us to leave right? Or, uhm, she _implied _it I guess. Uh… I should… yeah."

The awkward Hufflepuff ran a hand through her hair, happy that it didn't get caught in her tangles, and hung her head low, hoping her hair hid her blazing cheeks, as she briskly walked past Echo and towards the door. Maybe if she picked up the pace, she would be out of the Hospital Wing in no time and if she was lucky, never run into the twins and Echo again. With her conversation skills, Zoey no longer had problems with wrapping her head around the idea of being friendless through her seven years in Hogwarts.

When the Hufflepuff was finally at the door, she held onto the handle with an iron grip and dared to look back at Echo and the twins. Maybe she had just imagined clapping her hands and spewing out word vomit. Maybe, if she was lucky, Echo still had her head hung low and the twins were still in their same spot, looking at Echo with their guilty expressions. Maybe, just maybe, Zoey had managed to make her way to the Hospital Wing's door with no trouble whatsoever.

Taking the risk, the Emeraude turned around and saw Echo sending her a small smile, brushing her bangs away from her face only to have them fall back like before. Zoey managed to return the smile, hers even smaller than Echo's, and when she turned to look at the twins, her eyes widened when she saw their hunched over figures.

Fred was kneeling on the floor, hand clutching the bed sheets, and George was now near the table Echo got her book from and was pounding his fist on its surface, his other hand clutching his stomach. Their faces were red and their eyes watering. It would have looked like they just ate a spoonful of chili if not for their grinning mouths and the laughter escaping their lips. Zoey felt her cheeks warm up again, knowing that the twins were trying their best to suppress the laughter that Zoey was so sure she was the reason for.

"That must be the worst – absolutely the _worst _case of word vomit I've ever seen!" Fred managed to say through his laughter, his breathing being cut short by his uncontrollable giggles.

"She – She was stuttering all – all over the place! And the clap? What in bloody hell's name was _that?!_" George added, his laughter just as loud and uncontrollable as his brother's. "I – I can't breath!" He added, falling to his knees, laughing still.

"Holy crap, Echo! Make it – Make it stop!" Fred was already on the floor. "Your – your friend. Look at her face! It's – It's absolutely priceless!"

Echo smirked and brought her hand up to her lips and Zoey could clearly see the Ravenclaw's shoulders shake from her own laughter. The Emeraude bit her lip as a smile tried to escape. Sure she was embarrassed by what she said but the twins' laughter was too funny to frown at. Their faces and ears were now so red that their freckles seemed to pop and their laughter was very contagious. Soon, Zoey found herself laughing along with them.

The Emeraude hoped that they could laugh like this forever, seeing as it was so much like the world in her picture. It was like when everyone was laughing, all their problems seemed to disappear.

Unfortunately, the quartet's laugh trip didn't last another minute for Madame Pomfrey heard their exploding laughter and kicked them out of her Hospital Wing.

* * *

Zoey still had a smile plastered on her face when she, Echo, Fred and George made their way to the Great Hall for supper. They had stayed in the Hospital Wing longer than they imagined and by the time they walked through the doors, dinner was already in full swing. Students from every House reaching towards the buffet in front of them, stuffing their faces until they could stuff it no more.

The Emeraude looked over to the Hufflepuff's table and by some miracle, found a vacant seat. She turned to make her way to the spot before it was taken when Echo took hold of her arm and dragged her towards the Gryffindor table. The Hufflepuff stumbled over herself and nearly tripped over her own robes when Echo pushed her to a seat and sat beside her. Zoey's brows knitted together and she nervously looked around, wondering if she was even allowed to sit at a different House's table. No one seemed to mind.

"Echo, I need to sit with the Hufflepuffs," Zoey said in a hushed tone, catching the eye of some Gryffindors.

The Ravenclaw waved Zoey off and pointed at Fred and George. "Before anything, you two still need to apologize."

"It's okay, Echo. They don't need to. It was a harmless prank," Zoey quickly said, her cheeks flaring at the thought of the twins having to apologize after all that has happened in the Hospital Wing.

"They still did it and they better apologize," Echo said, placing a bowl of mushroom soup next to her plate of salmon and chips. Zoey glanced at Echo's food choice with a bemused expression. "What? I do not want to get fat." Echo said simply, seeing Zoey's face.

"Too late for that," George joked, taking a bite off his pork chop.

"Shut up, George, unless you want a big mushroom stuck down your larynx," Echo glared as she violently shoved a piece of her salmon in her mouth.

"Alright, alright. Sorry," George held up his hands in defense, a teasing grin playing on his lips.

Without realizing it, Zoey watched George and Echo's interaction with a soft smile on her lips. Fred took notice of this and he set down his utensils before clearing his throat.

"Speaking of apologies," Fred began, catching Zoey's attention. "We, George and I, owe you a Weasley Apology."

"Weasley Apology?" Zoey repeated, confused.

Fred nodded his head and sat a little straighter, his face serious in a funny way, if that made any sense. George dropped his slab of meat and mimicked his twin's actions. "We're sorry for the prank we pulled. In all honesty, it wasn't exactly directed at you."

"Right," George exaggeratedly nodded his head, making Zoey giggle. "We are also sorry for being thickheads and not apologizing sooner."

"And?" Echo urged them to continue.

"Sorry that we needed to be hit – painfully and mercilessly, we may add – by a book just to apologize," the twins said in unison, shocking Zoey. Did they plan this or were they just so synced with each other?

"And?"

"And what?" Fred snapped his head towards Echo, slouching. "What else did we do?"

The Ravenclaw coughed, pushing her plate away from her. "What do you think of Zwei being my friend?"

"Well, I guess it's alright." George shrugged.

"It's alright," Fed agreed, slowly rising from his seat. George followed him and Zoey saw that the twins now held identical Cheshire grins. "As long as you…" Fred trailed off, launching himself over the table. "SHARE!"

The Emeraude let out a small scream when the twins tackled her, sending them flying to the ground. Zoey felt the wind get knocked right out of her but it didn't seem to matter when two laughing twins had their arms wrapped around you. Zoey felt their grips tighten and one of them had their face nuzzled in her neck, tickling her. Zoey let out a squeal of laughter and the twins wasted no time in poking her neck and sides, successfully sending the Emeraude into a fit of laughter.

"Do you forgive us now? Do yah? Do yah?" The twins asked, tickling the Hufflepuff with no mercy.

"Ye – Yes! Yes!" Zoey yelled out, tears pricking her eyes from laughing so hard. "You – You two are – are – Haha – Are forgiven!"

"YEY!" The twins cheered, standing up from the floor and taking Zoey's seat on the bench. The Emeraude slowly rose from her spot, and focused her attention on the twins and Echo, not wanting to make eye contact with the other students in the Great Hall. Without a doubt, they heard what happened and saw Zoey getting tickled. It was too embarrassing to acknowledge the existence of everyone else in the room.

"Zwei, you should get used to that every once in a while," Echo said, a small smile playing on her lips.

"I guess I do, don't I?" Zoey laughed.

* * *

**HELLO.**

AnimeFlowerGirl here :) Welcome to Chapter 5 of Crossroads, my first Harry Potter Fic!

If you are one of my old readers, the people who have read this fic when it began back in 2011, WELCOME BACK! Nice to see that you stopped by to see how things are going. Want to sit down, have some Butterbeer?

If you are a new reader, WELCOME!

Please, new reader, come join me and old reader :)

So yeah, new reader, this is actually a rewrite. My old reader/s was/were notified about my rewriting project in Chapter 86. So please bear with me. You can continue on if you want. I hope you enjoy :D

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter.

Please tell me what you thought.

Excuse my typos and the like.

Don't forget to review and the like.

And

I only own what I own :)

**PS**

I will try my best to reply to everyone who reviews/messages me. I regret I wasn't able to do this in the past, so I'm going to try it now :)


	7. Chapter 6: Green and White Smoke

**Chapter Six: Green and White Smoke**

_Growing up, Zoey wasn't really scared of anything. Her mother told her stories about fairies and pixies and forbade her father and his friends from telling her stories about monsters that eat children who wouldn't go to bed on time or eat their vegetables. Zoey wasn't even afraid of werewolves because her parents made it a point to tell her that not all werewolves were bad. The Emeraude was able to sleep well at night without the fear of something unnatural living under her bed or in her closet. _

_The girl thought that she had nothing to be scared of. _

_Unfortunately for her, she was proven wrong when she saw who was standing at her door._

_Zoey looked up to see a tall, curvy woman with waist length blonde hair and large crystal blue eyes glaring down at her. The woman's cheekbones were high and her lips were full and painted a vibrant red. The clothes the woman wore were tight and hugged her in all the right places; the highest heels Zoey had ever seen were on the woman's petite feet. It was obvious to the young Emeraude that the woman standing before her was drop dead gorgeous – every man's dream. _

_She was perfect. _

_Just like the people in the pictures._

_That was enough of a reason for Zoey to be terrified of her._

"_Well, well, well," The woman spoke slowly, her voice low and haunting. "Look who we have here. Little Orphan Zoey."_

_The young Emeraude trembled, watching the woman scan her house. The woman wrinkled her nose in disgust when she saw the over turned furniture, broken glass, shredded photographs and torn apart curtains. She looked back at Zoey and her eyes hardened, her crystal eyes turning ice cold. Zoey could have sworn that if the woman wanted to, she could shoot out ice crystals that could pierce Zoey to the ground with ease._

"_What happened here?" She asked, her voice innocent and terrifying at the same time. _

_Zoey remained silent, her heart beating frantically against her chest, following the woman with her eyes as she walked around. Her heels _clicking _and _clacking _on the marble floor, creating a rhythm that Zoey was so sure would haunt her just like the woman's voice would. Whenever the woman stepped on the already broken glass, her heels would reduce them to pitiful glass particles and Zoey wondered what would happen if the woman were to step on another human being. It was a foolish thought but Zoey felt like she had every right to think of the most foolish possibilities._

"_How long has this place been like this?" Zoey bit her lip and looked down at herself, not wanting to make eye contact. "Are you going to answer me?" Zoey could hear the woman approach her, the sounds of the heels on the floor getting louder with every step. "Can you even talk?"_

_The young Emeraude drew in a shaky breath and she worried for her heart. It felt like it would burst out of her chest at any moment. She had never felt this scared in her entire like. Never. _

"_Are you stupid or something?" The woman continued to question her. "Didn't your useless parents teach you anything? What about your good for nothing godparents? I would have thought the poor mutt would have taught you something. He was smart, wasn't he? Then again, if he _was _smart he wouldn't have gotten bitten, huh?"_

_Zoey didn't know what the woman was talking about. She didn't dare ask. _

"_Zoey Anastasia Emeraude – _Black,_" The woman said as if reading off a paper that held Zoey's information like her date of birth and blood type. "Daughter of Sirius Orion Black, Mass Murderer, and Lucy Alena Emeraude, my horrid and now _dead _sister." Zoey's lips trembled, hearing the names of her parents. "Godparents are Remus John Lupin, mangy mutt, and Maria Natalie Hunter, retarded cheerleader."_

"_Take that back!" Zoey spoke without thinking, hands shooting up to her mouth the moment the words left her lips. Her eyes widened like saucers and she frantically shook her head, hoping that the action would somehow erase what she had said._

"_Ah, so she speaks." The woman said, feigning awe. "My _ugly, worthless, useless niece _speaks, huh?"_

_The young Emeraude took in a breath. Niece? What was this woman talking about? She couldn't possibly be related to her, could she? It can't be. _

"_I can see that you're shocked," The woman's red lips curled into a hideous smirk. "My sister never told you about me? Figures. Well, seeing as you'd be living here forever, I might as well introduce myself. My name is –"_

"_Jumping frogs!_" Zoey exclaimed as she fell off her bed, landing on her back while her legs were still on top of her bed. The Hufflepuff groaned in pain, wondering how in the world she managed to make some progress when she attempted to put on her favorite legwarmers all the while tying up her hair. "Oww, oww, oww, oww…" She muttered, pushing herself off of her dusty bedroom rug, swinging her legs off the bed, only to have them land on a pile of pillow fluff.

The Emeraude was in her bedroom back in her house and it was still the same as ever. Total chaos. The only difference was that it was dustier than ever. With Zoey not being around for the entire year she was in Hogwarts, the dusty bunnies along with the entire zoo came and covered everything from Zoey's ripped apart bed all the way to the tables and chairs that donned two to three legs.

Standing up, Zoey readjusted her glasses and swiped everything she needed to bring to Hogwarts off of her bedside table. She ran out of her room; avoiding the broken picture frames, empty bottles and the like, scrambling down the staircase and miraculously reached the last step without a scratch on her. The Hufflepuff immediately made a beeline for her luggage and stuffed the objects she collected inside.

"Diary…Quills… Inkbottles… _Auctor sanitatis_…Parchment…Necktie…Socks…Wand… Okay!" The Emeraude grinned and locked up her bag. She held onto her luggage tightly and approached her fireplace, getting a handful of Floo Powder in the process. "Second Year, here I come!" Zoey chirped, happy to go back to Hogwarts. "_King's Cross Station!"_

* * *

Zoey slumped down onto her compartment's seat, gasping for breath. She had barely made it in time. When she arrived at King's Cross Station, she had accidentally gone the wrong direction and was far from Platform 9 ¾ when she realized her mistake. When she made a hurried U-turn, she accidentally bumped into a rushing gentleman and all their things exploded onto the floor. They helped each other in gathering their belongings and Zoey prayed that they didn't have any mix-up because it wouldn't do well for her if a muggle were to find her bag that was filled with a cauldron and spell books. After finding Platform 9 ¾ and running into the wall, Zoey had to squeeze herself through the families who were seeing their children off.

By the time the Emeraude entered the Hogwarts Express and a compartment, she had four minutes to spare.

"They're here!" Zoey said with a grin when she saw a family of redheads and a violet haired girl approaching the train. She watched as Mrs. Weasley hastily kissed and hugged her children good-bye. First was Percy, a fourth year Gryffindor, and next were Fred and George, Zoey's close and troublemaking friends who were also in their second year, and lastly was Echo Beaumont, a second year Ravenclaw who Zoey had come to call her best friend. The Emeraude felt her heart skip a beat when they all scrambled onto the train with one-minute left until their departure.

Zoey was about to turn away from the window and get comfortable on her seat when she caught Mrs. Weasley's eye. The woman smiled warmly at her and gave her a wave, the Hogwarts Express already beginning to move away from the station. Zoey shot out of her seat and gave Mrs. Weasley an excited wave in return.

"Who are you waving at?" Zoey felt herself jump in surprise and turned around to see Echo giving her a questioning look.

"Mrs. Weasley," The Emeraude replied with a grin, helping Echo into the compartment and lifting her luggage onto the luggage rack. "How has your week been?" Zoey asked when they settled down into their seats. The two have spent most of their summer with the Weasleys and it was only during their last week when they returned to their respective houses to gather up their belongings for a new year at Hogwarts.

"I should be asking you that."

"Oh… well, it was alright… I guess," Zoey paused in thought. "I really need to get one of those muggle vacuum cleaners though." She added, remembering the dust pilling up in her room. It did not do well for her allergies. "Do you happen to know if Mr. Weasley has any muggle cleaning items?"

"I don't know. I rarely talk to Fred and George's parents. They usually bring me into conversations."

"Speaking of Fred and George," Zoey began, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "Where are they?"

Echo looked out of their compartment's door. "Err – It may be best of you to not know or else we'll end up being dragged into trouble along with them."

"What do you mean?" Zoey cocked her head in confusion.

"I just have a hunch that they're pranking the first years. Most likely, my hunch is correct." The Ravenclaw said with a shrug.

Zoey slowly nodded her head and looked down at her skirt, playing with the hem. "By any chance, has the trolley lady begun her rounds yet?"

"Probably," Echo said, looking up at the ceiling and then at Zoey. "Would it be okay for you to go buy us some sweets? I need to do some advanced reading."

"Sure," Zoey said, already standing up from her seat.

"Thanks!"

* * *

"Trolley lady, trolley lady, where is the trolley lady?" Zoey sang to herself in a random tune that popped into her head as she slowly walked through the train's hall, often stopping to scan the people in each compartment, checking if maybe the trolley lady was with them though it was a foolish idea. For someone who shouted "Anything from the trolley?" so often, Zoey had a hard time finding her.

"Where could she be?" The Emeraude muttered to herself, trying to ignore the loud laughter and chattering of the Hogwarts students and focus on listening for the trolley lady's catchphrase.

Zoey wandered further down the train's hallway and was just about to give up when she felt the wind get knocked right out of her as she was pushed down to the ground along with someone. The Emeraude let out a wheeze of air and winced when she took note of the person who fell on top of her being quite heavy.

"Ca – Can you pl – please get off of me?" Zoey gasped out, wriggling uncomfortably under the person.

"Sorry about that, love." The person said and Zoey was relieved when the weight was lifted off of her. She looked up to see who pushed her down and she immediately felt her cheeks flush at the recognition. "Zoey?" The person said, chuckling.

"Fred?" Zoey asked, ninety-nine percent sure she guessed the twin's name right.

"You're getting pretty good at this," Fred grinned, standing up and pulling Zoey up after.

"Echo said you and George were pulling a prank on the train?" The Emeraude inquired, running hand through her hair, untangling it.

"Oh she did, did she?" Fred's grin widened. "Well, if you must know –"

A large explosion followed by several screams interrupted Fred and the two looked over to the source only to see murky green smoke heading their way. Zoey's eyes widened and she watched as students ran out of their compartments, coughing and trying to get away from the smoke as fast as they could.

"Did you do that?" Zoey asked, taking a step away from the smoke.

Another explosion was heard after Zoey's question and another wave of screams followed. Zoey turned her attention to the opposite side of the hall and saw white smoke with sparkles and fireworks. The Emeraude saw students run out of their compartments as well, some were angrily trying to get away from the smoke and fireworks while others were laughing.

"George and I did that," Fred said, motioning to the white smoke. "I haven't got the foggiest on who did that," he jerked his head towards the green smoke.

"Hey, Forge, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" George appeared out of nowhere, scaring Zoey. The younger Weasley twin sent the Emeraude a smile and she took note of his unruly hair and the sparkles on his robes. Maybe he came out from the smoke. "You don't think?"

"Another one? No," Fred folded his arms across his chest and shook his head. "It can't be."

"But there's no other explanation!"

"Not other explanation for what?" Zoey asked worriedly. "What are you two thinking?"

"We think there's another prankster in Hogwarts."

* * *

**HELLO.**

AnimeFlowerGirl here :) Welcome to Chapter 6 of Crossroads, my first Harry Potter Fic!

If you are one of my old readers, the people who have read this fic when it began back in 2011, WELCOME BACK! Nice to see that you stopped by to see how things are going. Want to sit down, have some Butterbeer?

If you are a new reader, WELCOME!

Please, new reader, come join me and old reader :)

So yeah, new reader, this is actually a rewrite. My old reader/s was/were notified about my rewriting project in Chapter 86. So please bear with me. You can continue on if you want. I hope you enjoy :D

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter.

Please tell me what you thought.

Excuse my typos and the like.

Don't forget to review and the like.

And

I only own what I own :)

**PS**

I will try my best to reply to everyone who reviews/messages me. I regret I wasn't able to do this in the past, so I'm going to try it now :)


	8. Chapter 7:Pumpkin Juice

**Chapter Seven: Pumpkin Juice**

After Zoey's run in with Fred and witnessing the twins' start of the year prank along with someone else's prank, the Emeraude retreated to her compartment, without any treats from the trolley since she never found it, and told Echo everything. Before long, the two changed into their robes and arrived at Hogwarts. The Sorting Ceremony didn't take too long and before the Hufflepuff could even take a bite out of her chicken leg, Echo appeared by her side and in a blink of an eye, dragged Zoey all the way to the Gryffindor's table to have their first meal in Hogwarts as second year students.

"Well, Tweddledee and Tweddledum, word has it that there's anew prankster in town and said prankster is _better _than you two." Echo smirked, folding her arms across her chest.

Zoey's eyes widened and shied away when she caught Fred and George's glare. "I didn't say the prankster was better, Echo," The Emeraude said in a quiet voice, embarrassed.

"Shut it." The twins glared at Echo, stabbing their forks into their food and sawed into it with their knife as if the meat were still alive and they were finishing the job.

Ever since they retreated into their own compartment they had been trying to figure out who the other prankster was and ended up with no results. It didn't help either when they were immediately brought to McGonagall's office, sentenced to a week of detention while they heard no wind about the other prankster getting caught. Heck, they believed that McGonagall and the rest of the professors thought they were the ones who let out the green smoke as well.

"I bet two galleons that it was a girl," The Ravenclaw ignored the glares the twins were sending her, changing her smirk into a wicked smile.

"What makes you say that?" Zoey asked, interested. She ignored the grumblings the twins made. Obviously they didn't want to hear them discuss the other prankster.

"No male has surpassed Fred and George's prank skills. Thought this time, a girl could've learned their tricks." Echo said simply.

"Has anyone even _tried _to surpass Fred and George?" Zoey voiced out her thoughts, "I doubt anyone does pranks like they do."

"Could be a _new female _student then."

"Just –" Fred began, interrupting Zoey from continuing the conversation.

" – Drop it," George ended, sending a look at Echo.

The Ravenclaw raised her hand in a downward fist. The impression was something like she was holding onto something. Slowly, she opened her palm, making it seem like she was letting go of the metaphoric object.

"Dropped it." Echo sighed.

Zoey laughed softly at Echo's mannerisms, even the twins couldn't help but break into grins despite still being irritated about having to spend their first week with Filch doing whatever the heck he wanted them to do. Fred and George turned their attention away from the girls and gulped down their pumpkin juice while Echo began to eat her dinner. The Hufflepuff took this chance to look around the Great Hall, attempting to scan each and every student inside.

_I wonder who the other prankster is, _The Emeraude thought to herself. When she saw no one suspicious looking, the girl sighed in defeat.

"By the way, what happened to your hair? Love the change." Echo's voice brought Zoey's attention back to the twins and the Emeraude's eyes widened when she saw what the Ravenclaw was talking about.

The brilliant ginger shade the Weasley's hair was known to have had transformed into a midnight black that reminded Zoey of, well, midnight. Zoey's brows shot up and she shamelessly admired their new look, taking note that it went well with their bright blue eyes. Catching herself gawking, the Emeraude shook her head and tried her best to stop blushing.

"What are you talking about?" Fred asked, not having seen Zoey's initial reaction. He and George's hands reached up to their heads and began running their hands through it. Nothing felt different. It was the same length and texture.

"It doesn't feel different," George said, bringing his hands back down to the table.

"Sure it doesn't _feel _different but it sure _looks _different," Zoey reached into her pocket, hoping to find a mirror but frowned when she didn't feel anything but a handkerchief and her wand.

"What?" the twins asked simultaneously, looking at each other. Their brows shot up and their eyes widened while their mouths hung agape. They opened and closed their mouths, trying to get their words out but only produced incoherent sounds before collecting the words they wanted to say.

"YOUR – YOUR HAIR!" They exclaimed, drawing everyone's attention towards them.

"My hair? Take a look at yourself!" Fred yelled, tugging on George's fringe, attempting to show his brother his new hair color.

"Oww! What are you talking about?" George shouted, mimicking Fred's actions, "I've never seen hair so dark!"

"Bloody hell, George!" Fred swatted George's hands away and they both turned their attentions back to Zoey and Echo.

"WHAT HAPPENED?" They asked, not caring that they were causing a ruckus in the Great Hall.

"Don't look at me. You're the ones having the hair problem." Echo gave them a confused look, before switching to suspicion "Wait, you didn't die your hair on purpose?"

"Duh, Echo." Zoey said, placing her face in the palm of her hand, shaking her head. Echo saw this and laughed.

"Hmm… So plainly put, this was a prank too."

"No, Echo, we decided to dye our hair black because we wanted to be different," Fred said sarcastically, pushing his plate away. He had lost his appetite.

"We wanted to question each other, Echo. We knew it was us this whole time but we wanted to see if _you _knew," George added, rolling his eyes. "Heck, we were the ones who pulled _both _pranks on the train. We invented this whole other prankster because we were _bored._"

"Ah. I knew it," Echo said, humoring them.

"Echo," Zoey scolded.

"It's that other prankster," Fred placed his head in his arms and groaned. "It's got to be him."

"He's declaring war," George frowned. "How'd he do it though?"

Zoey pursed her lips in thought and reached for Fred's goblet of pumpkin juice. She dared to take a whiff of the beverage to check if her suspicions were correct and immediately regretted her actions. The Emeraude slammed the drink back down on the table and pinched her nose in hopes to make the smell go away somehow.

"Never. Never again," The Hufflepuff said, shivering.

Echo looked over at Zoey with confusion and reached out her hand for Fred's goblet, repeating Zoey's actions. It had smelt absolutely horrible. She placed the goblet down, not as violent as Zoey, and covered her nose.

"Smells terribly horrible." The Ravenclaw deadpanned.

Fred, who raised his head when Zoey slammed his drink down, reached for his goblet while George took his own. Together, they sniffed their drinks.

"Did you really have to do that?" Echo asked blankly when Fred and George placed their goblets back, both with disgusted expressions. "Don't you trust our judgment?"

The twins shrugged their shoulders.

"So I'm guessing that this other prankster slipped a potion into your drinks," Zoey voiced, getting over the smell and began thinking. "But how'd she do it? _When_?"

"Someone who's arrived earlier that's who. They gotta be near the Gryffindors too." Echo said with a nod.

Before the Emeraude could get a good look around the Great Hall, everyone was dismissed from dinner. The Welcoming Feast had ended before Zoey could even take a bite out of her meal. Zoey's eyes widened and she made a grab for a muffin when the twins shot out of their seats and quickly made their way to the exit. The Hufflepuff heard the laughter of those who caught sight of the black haired Weasleys. Taking a banana muffin, Zoey took a bite out of it and followed Echo out the Great Hall.

"I didn't get to finish my chocolate pudding," Echo spoke exasperatedly.

* * *

Three days had passed since the other prankster's trick and Zoey found herself staring at the still black hair of the Weasley twins. It had been three whole days and the black dye was as dark as ever and Fred and George weren't even close to finding out who the prankster was. It was getting on their last nerve.

"You know, I'm kind of liking your new style of hair. A lot of stupid girls over there say so." Echo smirked, jerking her thumb behind her, indicating a group of now squealing girls.

Zoey frowned at the girls, feeling a bit jealous that they could squeal all they wanted but if Zoey were to do it, not that she _wanted _to, she would never hear the end of it. Pushing the thought away, the Emeraude turned her attention back to her friends.

"Shut it," Fred and George said, smirks playing on their lips. Zoey furrowed her eyebrows. Figures. They liked the attention they were getting. Boys.

"I – Isn't Quidditch tryouts starting soon?" The Emeraude stuttered out, hopping to change the topic. Lucky for her, it worked and mischievous grins now played on Echo, Fred and George's lips.

"You've got that right, Zwei," Echo said, smirking. "By the time of the first game, if I make Fred and George look bad, you could say 'Bye-bye' to those naïve girls."

"You're going to tryout?" Zoey asked, shocked. "What are you trying out for?"

"I'm trying out as a Chaser. Being a Beater or a Seeker is too boring of a role for me," The Ravenclaw said simply.

"HEY!" Fred and George exclaimed, jumping out their seats and slamming their hands on the table, shaking the plates and utensils.

"What? Everyone has their opinions on something."

"Being a Beater is _not _boring!" Fred said, staring down at Echo.

"Just _think_! Being able to hit someone with a Bludger in order to help your team win!" George added as he mimed swinging a Beater's bat and hitting a Bludger all the way to Kingdom come.

"And what's better is when your enemy is on the opposing team!" Fred's eyes twinkled with evil thoughts and Zoey guessed that the older of the Weasley twins was imagining hitting one of the Slytherin's with a Bludger.

"But I thought if they were on the opposing team, they automatically become your enemy? Well, while in game, of course." The Emeraude asked, confused. She wasn't much of a Quidditch fan.

Zoey understood the general idea of the sport but she never grew a fondness for it. She didn't see why they needed the other players if when the Seeker catches the Snitch, they automatically get one hundred and fifty points and end the game. The Hufflepuff also thought that the other positions, Chaser or not, were very dangerous. The Chaser was in danger of getting hit by the Bludger if he or she had the Quaffle and the Beater's were in danger if a Bludger was directed at them. The Keeper was in danger if he or she missed saving the goal or was also hit by the Bludger. Same goes for the Seeker. To put it simply, everyone was in danger when the Bludger was around. That and if they were hit, they would fall hundreds of feet to their doom.

"So which class do you guys have first today?" She asked, shaking away the thought of getting hit by the angry ball.

"I have Transfiguration," Echo said, checking her schedule. "I love Transfiguration but it doesn't love me."

"I have History of Magic," Zoey frowned, knowing for a fact that she shared the subject with the twins. It was going to be her first time having a lesson alone with them and she was nervous.

Fred and George saw Zoey's unease and they shared a grin before swiftly moving to each side of Zoey, looping their arms with hers and bringing her up from her seat. The girl barely weighed anything.

"Well, then, Miss Emeraude," Fred began with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. " We wouldn't want to be late."

"Good day to you, Miss Beaumont!" George added, his grin widening. "We shall be whisking your lovely friend off to her first subject. We don't want her to be in trouble after all."

"That's a lie." Echo muttered, watching Fred and George drag Zoey out of the Great Hall, softly laughing when she saw Zoey's panicked expression.

* * *

**HELLO.**

AnimeFlowerGirl here :) Welcome to Chapter 7 of Crossroads, my first Harry Potter Fic!

If you are one of my old readers, the people who have read this fic when it began back in 2011, WELCOME BACK! Nice to see that you stopped by to see how things are going. Want to sit down, have some Butterbeer?

If you are a new reader, WELCOME!

Please, new reader, come join me and old reader :)

So yeah, new reader, this is actually a rewrite. My old reader/s was/were notified about my rewriting project in Chapter 86. So please bear with me. You can continue on if you want. I hope you enjoy :D

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter.

Please tell me what you thought.

Excuse my typos and the like.

Don't forget to review and the like.

And

I only own what I own :)

**PS**

I will try my best to reply to everyone who reviews/messages me. I regret I wasn't able to do this in the past, so I'm going to try it now :)


	9. Chapter 8: Slytherin or Not?

**Chapter Eight: Slytherin or Not?**

Whenever Zoey Emeraude couldn't get to bed early, she would head down to the Common Room, take a seat in front of the fireplace and listen to her fellow Hufflepuffs talk about their day. She never participated in any of the conversations (not like she was invited to) but she found it entertaining when she heard them tell stories about pranks and jinxes going haywire, interesting spells and curses. Zoey even had to place her hands over her ears because some of her Upper Classmen talked about things Zoey preferred not to know about.

One of the many topics her fellow Hufflepuffs (mostly the muggleborn witches and wizards) talked about was how their classes went. Several would grumble about Potions while the rest talked animatedly about either Transfiguration or Charms. From what Zoey heard, their least favorite subject, besides Potions, was History of Magic because it was dead boring. Apparently it was more boring than Muggle History and _that _was saying something.

When the Emeraude first heard this, she wanted to give the subject the benefit of the doubt but when she found herself sitting in the classroom, listening to Professor Binns's droning voice, she finally understood what they meant.

* * *

Zoey felt her eyelids begin to drop as she tried her best to pay attention to Professor Binns's lecture. Looking at the board behind the ghost of a professor and down at her roll of parchment, the Emeraude saw that she had already jotted down everything he has written and she realized that there was nothing more to add because he was now reading the lesson off of their book. This was bad. Taking down notes was the only way Zoey stayed awake in class and it wasn't helping that Professor Binns's voice was lulling her to sleep.

Putting her quill down, Zoey wondered if Professor Binns's even noticed that more than half of his class was asleep. What was the use of teaching when there was no one to pay attention? The Emeraude looked lazily around the classroom and her gaze immediately stopped on Fred and George. Her hand shot up to her mouth, stifling the giggle that was about to escape.

Lee Jordan, a Gryffindor and friend of the Weasley Twins, had fallen asleep on his desk and Fred and George took it upon themselves to doodle all over his face and mess up his signature dreadlocks. Zoey was amazed that the boy hadn't woken up yet. He must have been dead tired to not feel the pressure of the quills and the pulling of his hair.

The Emeraude shook her head at the twins' antics and turned around. All of a sudden a piece of parchment appeared before Zoey's eyes, surprising her. She let out a surprised yelp and fell off her chair causing Professor Binns to stop his lecture and, along with her classmates, turn to her.

"Is there something wrong, Miss Emeraude?" he asked.

Zoey felt her cheeks heat up with embarrassment and she slowly rose up from the ground and sat back down on her seat, snatching the parchment and placed it on her lap. She bit her lip when she saw the looks her classmates were giving her. At least they had to decency to hold in their laughter.

"It's nothing, Professor," Zoey mumbled, ducking her head and opening the letter under her table. She recognized Echo's penmanship and immediately began reading the note.

_Zwei, do you have any sweets? I need to stay awake. Professor McGonagall's lecture on these spells is getting tedious. – Echo._

The Emeraude resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she placed the note on her table and began writing down her reply.

_Shouldn't you be changing animals into goblets? – Zoey._

With a swift tap of her wand, the note disappeared. After a minute, the note reappeared before her.

_You haven't answered my question. I've done that _Vera Verto _spell over a thousand times already. Now give me sweets. My stomach is eating itself again. – Echo._

Zoey furrowed her brows before turning towards Fred and George. The Weasley Twins were now hunched over a notebook of theirs, discussing quietly amongst themselves. They seemed to have gotten bored of Lee and Zoey saw that the boy was now completely covered in doodles and rude writing. You could hardly see his skin anymore. He resembled a human sketchpad.

"Fred…George…" Zoey whispered, catching their attention. They both raised their brow at her in question. It wasn't like her to talk in class. "Do you happen to have any sweets?"

"Why?" They asked her.

"Echo's asking."

Fred and George's mouth formed an 'O' at the mention of the Ravenclaw's name and they immediately stuffed their hands into their pockets, pulling out their assorted candies. Having known Echo for so many years, they were already used to her sweet tooth. Zoey gave them her thanks before she quietly brought the sweets to her table and attached them to the parchment with a simple sticking charm and sent the note away.

* * *

Zoey spent her free period sitting under a beach tree near the lake with Echo and the twins. The Ravenclaw was quietly reading a book while the Weasley Twins were peeking out from behind the tree, casting spells on unsuspecting students. The Emeraude knitted her brows together when she saw that the latest victim was a Hufflepuff Third Year. She was just walking down the hall when the twins casted a spell that caused her feet to stick firmly on the ground. The Third Year wobbled a bit when her feet wouldn't budge and she looked around, hoping to see the cause of her predicament but saw no one because the twins were now fully covered by the tree, laughing behind their hands.

The Emeraude briefly wondered if she should have told off Fred and George for pranking an innocent Hufflepuff but for some reason, she just couldn't. Eventually, the twins lifted the spell and the Third Year stumbled forward. She quickly composed herself and ran off in a different direction.

"You know, Fred and George should remove their freckles to complement their black hair," Echo suddenly said, causing Fred and George to stop laughing and glare at her.

Zoey raised her brows at this and looked over to the twins. Their hair was still black but she could see that it was beginning to fade. It now took on a navy blue color.

"Actually, I think they should keep their freckles and return to their natural ginger hair," Zoey said distractedly, trying to remember if she ever came across a spell that could revert hair to its normal color. She came up with nothing in the end. "Besides," she cleared her throat, "I think the black's already fading."

"Oh well. Guess I'll have to ask the prankster, whoever it may be, to brew that hair dye potion and maybe a freckle remover," Echo let out a laugh.

Fred and George's glares hardened. They didn't find what she said funny at all.

"Did you ever find out who the prankster is?" The Emeraude asked after a moment passed, hoping to direct the twins' attention away from Echo. At this rate, they might burn a hole into the Ravenclaw's head.

"We haven't." Fred said, folding his arms across his chest and leaned against the tree's trunk.

"But we suspect it might be a Slytherin." George added, bringing his hand up to his hair and ruffling it.

"How did you come up with that?" Zoey asked, titling her head in question.

"It could have been a Ravenclaw of even a Hufflepuff for all we know. A Slytherin couldn't brew a potion like that perfectly, you know." Said Echo.

The Emeraude slowly shook her head at Echo's words. The Ravenclaw really thought low of the Slytherins.

"Well, those lot were the only ones we've seriously pranks," Fred shrugged.

"And they are most likely to hold a grudge," George mused. "It would be odd if they didn't seek out revenge."

"But you both pranked students from _other _houses, right? Maybe one of them just got fed up and… you know… got you back?" Zoey suggested.

"Fred, don't be so naïve. These students have feelings too." Echo frowned.

"Either way," George began before Fred could retort, "Slytherin or not, we don't like him and we still don't have a clue on who the prankster is."

"Or how to remove the dye," Fred grumbled, running his hand through his hair. "We were just about to narrow down who the prankster could be but you, Zoey, just had to say there could be other people involved.

"Sorry." The Emeraude said sheepishly, causing Fred to grin.

"Bringing the subject back to the dye, why don't you just dive down the Great Lake?" Echo suggested, jerking her thumb towards the said lake. "I do hope you drown – err – I mean, have the dye fade out."

"Why don't you go down there first?" Fred snapped, tired of hearing Echo talk about his and his brother's new hair. It wasn't like he wanted it to be black in the first place. "I'm sure the Giant Squid would _love _your company."

"I sure would love to." Was Echo's sarcastic reply. She stood up from her spot and curtsied to Fred.

Zoey watched quietly as Echo walked towards the Great Lake. Her head was held high, inching closer and closer to the body of water. The Emeraude knew for a fact that Echo, like her, did not like the thought of swimming in the lake and she knew that Echo was not one to show fear. Her, Zoey's, eyes glazed over, her gaze focused on the lake. It was softly sparkling under the sun.

The sight would have been beautiful if it did not bring unwanted memories.

"_You better drown, you brat!" _A cold, cruel voice rang in Zoey's head.

It was so clear – like the person saying it was sitting right beside her.

Pictures of a huge bathroom and bathtub flashed in Zoey's mind. A blonde woman was grabbing a younger version of herself by the hair and was dumping her head into the water. Zoey could see herself struggling against the woman's hold, gasping for air whenever her head was brought back up.

Suddenly, something wet landed on Zoey's hand, bringing her back to reality.

A shiver ran down the Emeraude's spine and she felt tears stream down her face. She brought her hand up to wipe them away, hoping no one noticed. Unfortunately for her, someone did.

"Why are you crying?"

Zoey lowered her hands to her lap and turned to Fred, seeing him looking at her with a worried expression. She stared into his blue eyes, immediately getting lost in them, and forced herself to look away. She didn't want to tell him what she just remembered. It was too personal and not worth his concern.

Turning her attention away from Fred, Zoey focused on the lake. She saw George holding Echo by the arm, whispering something in her ear.

_Maybe, _Zoey thought, _He's telling her not to jump in._

Fred cleared his throat, making Zoey bring her attention back to him. He raised his brows at her, showing that he was waiting for her answer.

"I…I just kept my eyes open too long," Zoey lied, bringing her hand back to her face to wipe away the remaining tears. She made a mental note to wash her face once she got back to her Common Room.

"You're a horrible liar," Fred said, looking Zoey in the eye, daring the girl to lie to him again.

The Emeraude bit her lip and felt her cheeks warming up. Even though she didn't want to, she looked into Fred's eyes as well and immediately got lost in them. Fred's eyes were mesmerizing and even though George had the same blue eyes, Fred's just seemed different to her. Zoey wasn't sure if it was just because she fancied him or it was because she liked the way they sparkled and –

Zoey frowned, shaking her head as if the action would shake her thoughts away. _Stop it, Zoey, _The girl thought to herself, the voice in her head taking on a stern tone. _You're losing it. Focus._

"It's… nothing. Really," Zoey coughed into her hand, hoping that her tone made Fred realize that she didn't want to talk about it. "I… I just… uhm… remembered something. Nothing to worry about."

Fred raised his brow at Zoey once more before letting out a sigh. "If you didn't want to talk about it you should've said so," The boy shrugged and stood up from the ground, holding his hand out to her. "Come on, George and Echo are coming and class is about to start soon."

"Do my ears deceive me?" Zoey began, taking Fred's hand and allowing him to help her up. "Does Fred Weasley – _The Fred Weasley, _actually _care _about being late to class?"

Fred smirked and dragged the Hufflepuff towards his twin and Echo.

* * *

Zoey placed her utensils side by side as she finished her dinner, her plate clean from any trace of food. The entire day had been uneventful and she couldn't wait to sneak into her dorm and onto her bed to sleep. The girl liked to use the term "sneak" for she was pretty sure her dorm mates would think she was some sort of trespasser. After all, they most likely didn't know she existed.

Once Dumbledore dismissed them, Zoey stood up, patted her skirt down and walked side by side with Echo and the twins as they headed for Gryffindor Tower.

It was their normal routine. After dinner, the two girls would bring Fred and George to their House's Tower before splitting up and heading to the Ravenclaw Tower and Hufflepuff Basement respectively.

Fred and George had just entered their common room and Zoey and Echo were just about five feet away from the Fat Lady's portrait, ready to split up, when they heard the twins and their fellow Gryffindors yell in horror. Zoey and Echo swiftly turned around to see what was going on and immediately caught sight of Fred and George marching up to them, scowling.

Zoey opened her mouth to ask what the problem was but Fred interrupted her, fuming.

"It's that other prankster!" The boy said, grinding his teeth together in frustration.

"He covered the entire Gryffindor Common Room with Slytherin's colors!" George explained. "Everywhere you look – Silver and Green! It's a nightmare!"

"Everywhere?" Echo asked, slightly unconvinced.

"Everywhere." The twins said, folding their arms across their chest.

Without warning, Fred and George grabbed hold of Zoey and Echo and dragged them into their Common Room, showing them what they were talking about. Zoey's eyes widened at the sight. She had never been in the Gryffindor Common Room before but she knew for a fact that it wasn't so green before.

The curtains, couches, chairs and tables were dyed different shades of green – ranging from neon to a mossy shade. The Emeraude approached the chairs and even saw some snake like pattern sewn into the cushions.

"This is proof you know," Fred began, drawing Zoey's attention to him. She saw him glaring at everything around him, clearly pissed. The Seventh and Sixth years were waving their wands around and muttering spells under their breath in an attempt to bring their Common Room back to how it looked like before.

"Proof of what?" Echo asked, quirking her brow.

"That the other prankster is a Slytherin," George replied.

Zoey bit her lip and knitted her brows in thought, looking around the room once more. Her suspicions about the other prankster coming from a House other than Slytherin seemed to be wrong. "Maybe they're right, Echo," Zoey said, looking at her violet-haired friend.

"Right or not, I'm getting tired and I would _really _like to sleep," Echo said as she grabbed hold of Zoey's wrist and dragged her out of the Common Room, not giving her a chance to protest.

The Ravenclaw walked briskly until they reached the fork in the hall that separated them. She released Zoey's wrist and turned to the girl, wishing her "good night" before leaving. Zoey gave a small wave, knowing that Echo couldn't see it, and left for the basement. It was no use going back to Gryffindor Common Room to tell Fred and George "good night". They were probably too riled up to sleep anyway.

* * *

Echo walked leisurely down the hall as usually after the daily good-bye routing and her uncovered eye was focused on the hallway she was passing through to get to her Common Room. Her journey didn't take long and everything seemed to be as normal as ever except for the laughter she could hear just a few feet away from herself.

Curious as to who was laughing, the Ravenclaw silently crept up to the edge of the hallway where she found some sort of intersection. The laughter came again. Echo poked her head out and saw a brown-haired girl stuffing bits of green decorations into a bag. The girl's eyes squinted at the other girl's uniform and saw that she had the Ravenclaw crest on her robes.

_Should I disturb her? _Echo thought, looking away from the other girl. _Better not. I wouldn't want to ruin the fun. _A slow smile crept on her features. _It's better if they are the ones who found the culprit._

"I knew it was a girl," Echo said to herself before walking off to the Ravenclaw Tower.

* * *

**HELLO.**

AnimeFlowerGirl here :) Welcome to Chapter 8 of Crossroads, my first Harry Potter Fic!

If you are one of my old readers, the people who have read this fic when it began back in 2011, WELCOME BACK! Nice to see that you stopped by to see how things are going. Want to sit down, have some Butterbeer?

If you are a new reader, WELCOME!

Please, new reader, come join me and old reader :)

So yeah, new reader, this is actually a rewrite. My old reader/s was/were notified about my rewriting project in Chapter 86. So please bear with me. You can continue on if you want. I hope you enjoy :D

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter.

Please tell me what you thought.

Excuse my typos and the like.

Don't forget to review and the like.

And

I only own what I own :)

**PS**

I will try my best to reply to everyone who reviews/messages me. I regret I wasn't able to do this in the past, so I'm going to try it now :)


	10. Chapter 9: Quidditch Tryouts

**Haven't updated in a while... sorry about that. I already knew what I wanted to happen in this Chapter but i just didn't know how to write it down. Eventually I was able to do that. Anyway, this is a Fred/OC (and a little bit of George/OC) fic and I fear that the paring is very slow to appear. Though there are some hints sorry if it doesn't really go to the pace of your choice. They're still 12 and far to young for anything to happen. Just stick with me and I promise that romance will bloom :D**

**Anyway, Have fun reading and don't forget to Review because honestly I really do love reading them.**

**Don't have a quote for this chapter... sigh...**

**I only own what I own!

* * *

**

**Chapter 9:**

Zoey held a book in her arms as she dashed out of the Hufflepuff Basement. It was the day of the Gryffindor Tryouts and Zoey was running late. She dodged students and avoided crashing into walls, statues and suits of armor as she picked up her pace. The faster she was running the harder it was for her to slow down.

"Sorry!" she called out as she jumped over a Slytherin first year who was tying his shoe.

She skidded to a halt when she reached the doors of the Great Hall just in time to see Echo, Fred and George exiting.

"Hey Zoey, by any chance did you bring a brush? I want to fluff up their hair for the tryouts," Echo smirked as Zoey approached them.

"Ha ha," the twins laughed wryly as they glared at Echo. Their hair was still black and they were not happy about it.

"Sorry I haven't," Zoey muttered as she placed a hand on her knee trying to catch her breath. The book was slightly weighing her down.

"Anyway," Fred said as he fixed his gaze at Zoey, "Where were you? You missed breakfast"

"I was in my dorm-"

"That's not important right now," George cut her off as he nudged his head towards the direction of the Quidditch pitch, "We're heading out for the tryouts – You coming to watch right?"

"Of course," Zoey breathed as she composed herself. She re-adjusted the book in her arms and grabbed her wand out of her pocket. The twins and Echo gave her a confused look which Zoey returned with a determined one. Her she pushed up her glasses and her eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

"I'm fearing the worst," Echo brushed off and turned to watch whatever was going to happen next.

The twins gave Zoey a bewildered look and seemed as if they did not hear Echo's comment. They simply looked at Zoey's wand wondering what she was going to do. They held their breath. Zoey breathed in as she closed her eyes and muttered a spell. She waved her wand in a "Figure of 8" manner and orange swirls flew out.

The twins gasped as the swirls hit them and exploded with a warm feeling. Zoey pocketed her wand and gave a small smile.

"It worked"

"You ruin my fun," Echo laughed as she saw the twins' hair turn back to its original ginger color.

The twins gave them confused looks and almost out of reflex reached up to the top of their heads. Their hair still had its same soft texture and was still the same length.

"What-" Fred began

"-Did you do?" George ended.

Zoey grinned sheepishly as she reached back to the pocket of her robes and pulled out a small pocket mirror. She handed it to them.

Fred held the mirror at a distance so both he and George could look at their reflections. At the sight they gasped.

"I can't believe this is the first time you've ever seen you're troll faces. Such a pity," Echo mockingly shook her head

The twins appeared not to have heard her for they continued to look at their reflection as if they were marveled at the fact that they had ginger hair. Zoey inwardly snorted _'Vain much?' _she thought to herself.

"How'd you do it?" Fred asked as he handed the mirror back to Zoey.

Zoey held the mirror in one hand as she raised the book with the other. They looked questioningly at it.

"I borrowed this from one of my dorm mates –though I can't remember her name- and found a spell that would redo anything in your body that is unwanted. You know like hair dye or nail polish of the sort… Come to think of it… I think that's why she has this book. Anyway, I read the article on the spell while she was putting on highlights and thought it might work on you both

"You were just pranked by a potion so I figured it was nothing to big the spell could handle right? But if you grew an extra limb or lost one I don't think the spell will be able to redo anything. You'd have to go to Madam Pomfrey for that," Zoey ended with a laugh. The twins joined her.

"Hmm, do you think it could reverse freckles that are removed?" Echo mused

At this the twins glared at her.

Zoey laughed, "Unwanted remember? I'm pretty sure the spell won't work if they wanted to keep their freckles… You do want to keep them don't you?" Zoey asked as she turned to the twins.

"Duh" the twins said as they pocketed their hands.

"Oh well. Then again, if that freckled-removing potion is brewed, the freckles won't return unless an antidote is created"

Zoey raised an eyebrow, "What are you talking about?"

"Oh nothing…."

"Yeah right," George said under his breath.

Zoey grinned before looking out the window. At the sigh she gasped and swore causing the three to look at her in surprise.

"Whoa," the twins said wide-eyed. Zoey was never the one to swear.

"I'm utterly flabbergasted, Zoey, I never knew you included those words in you vocabulary," Echo said as she too was rather wide eyed.

"Never mind that!" Zoey blushed, "The tryouts, they're about to begin!"

The twins, too, swore as they ran down the corridor and headed to the Quidditch Pitch, Zoey and Echo trailing behind them

* * *

The quartet made it in time and Zoey was once again out of breath. The Quidditch pitch was full of Gryffindor students second year and above ready to fill in the slots of Beaters and Chasers. Zoey gave the twins a slightly awkward hug.

"Good Luck," she said when she let them go noticing a small blush on their cheeks. They gave her a sheepish grin.

"Thanks," George said

"Not like we'll need it thought," Fred jokingly boasted.

"Tch. Feeling like they're already an expert at the game," Echo scoffed as she folded her arms over her chest.

Zoey chuckled and shook her head, her hair was already messy from all the running, and headed towards the benches and sat down. She looked downwards to see the twins lining up, waiting for their turn to tryout.

Uncharacteristically Zoey cupped her mouth and yelled, "YOU CAN DO IT!"

Those who heard her laughed.

She scratched the back of her head, blushing and calmed down. The twins were still laughing at her along with a few other people. Echo was sitting very comfortably with her legs crossed her hands at her sides.

"So when's the Ravenclaw tryouts?" Zoey asked as she watched the Chasers tryout first. They each had to catch the Quaffle and score. Zoey clapped whenever someone successfully scored.

"Tomorrow," Echo plainly replied

"Chaser right?" Zoey asked as another flew up on their broom to start their tryout.

"Yep"

"YOU CAN DO IT ANGELINA! SHOW THEM WHAT YOU GOT!" A voice boomed from behind Zoey and Echo. Zoey nearly slipped off her seat. She turned around to see none other than Lee Jordan. He grinned down at them and gave a small wave.

"Tone it down, Gryffindor," Echo hissed

Lee ignored her and looked towards Zoey, he bent down slightly and held out his hand, "And who might this lovely lady be?" he jokingly flirted.

Zoey laughed as she felt a blush warm her cheeks. She had figured he himself would be a joker since he was best mates with the twins. She shook his hand.

"Zoey Emeraude. 2nd year Hufflepuff," she said as she smiled up at him.

Echo rolled her eyes and focused her attention to the tryouts.

"Zoey? Can it be _the _Zoey the twins wouldn't shut up about? And when I say twins I mean Fred?" Lee wore a smug look as he wiggled his eyebrows.

Zoey coughed and blinked her eyes at him.

"W-what?"

"COME ON ALICIA! YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT!" Lee shouted not hearing Zoey.

There was a feminine yell that echoed "Shut it Lee!"

Lee just grinned before taking his seat.

"Seriously, shut your mouth," Echo grumbled. Lee didn't hear her as he continued to cheer.

Zoey laughed before turning to Lee, "You aren't going to try out?"

"Nah," Lee grinned, "I'm going to be the commentator."

Before Zoey could ask she felt Echo tap her shoulder and point at the Quidditch Tryouts.

"Oh look, Fred is next"

Zoey snapped her head towards the direction Echo was pointing and indeed it was Fred's turn. Zoey watched as he flipped the Beater's Bat in the air before catching it and gripping it tightly. He expertly mounted his broom and kicked off. He flew up into the sky and held the bat firmly in his hand. Determination etched on his face. Zoey bit her lip as they released the Bludgers.

The first Bludger flew at Fred with lightning speed and just as fast he hit it with all his might. Zoey's hands flew to her mouth when the second one flew behind him. As if he knew that it would happen, Fred turned around and hit the second Bludger with the same might as the first.

Fred's tryout was going smoothly though several times Zoey felt like screaming her head off because several times it looked like Fred was about to be knocked of his broom (He wasn't of course.)

"Don't be so worried," she heard Lee chuckle beside her but she couldn't help it. Nothing was safe with the Bludger.

Before long Fred was finished and it was George's turn. Zoey watched as they high-fived each other before George took position. He too had the look of determination on his face.

"Amateur," Echo sighed as she looked around, "Dang, no one's selling refreshments. Oh well."

Zoey gave her an odd look before turning back to the tryouts she let out a gasp.

"LOOK OUT!" she screamed. George turned around just in time to hit the Bludger to kingdom come.

She placed a hand on her chest and felt her heart beating unimaginably fast.

"Oh no no no no no," she whispered, I hope I didn't ruin his tryout for warning him…. "

"Don't be so dramatic," Lee said as he tapped her back in a rough but supposedly comforting manner, "At least he wasn't knocked off."

"I really hate Bludgers," Zoey complained. She covered her face in her hands as she took a deep breath. She looked up and saw George flying down and saw Fred giving him a one-armed hug as they thumped their fists into the air. Zoey smiled slightly.

"He better get the place or I'll never let him live it down," Echo crossed her arms over her chest.

Zoey rolled her eyes at her friend before standing up.

"Well, I think the tryouts are over," she said dusting her skirt and looking at Lee, "See you around," she said lamely.

Lee laughed and gave them a wave.

* * *

By the time Zoey and Echo reached the twins the Captain's decision was being announced.

"- and for our new Beaters – Fred and George Weasley!"

Everyone erupted into cheers as Fred and George yelled into the sky. They wore grins on their faces and were patted on the back by their new teammates on those who came to tryout and watched. When the crowd finally dispersed Zoey ran to them with so much force that it almost knocked them down.

"Congrats!" she grinned and ruffled their hair, "Knew you could do it."

"Thanks, Zoe," Fred grinned at her and Zoey blushed. _'The Zoey the twins wouldn't shut up about? And by twins I mean Fred?' _Lee's words rang in her head as she continued to beam at the twins. _'He was just joking,' _she thought to herself as she held her hands behind her back.

Together with the twins and Echo they headed back to the castle. Just as they were making their way George then turned to her.

"Thanks by the way. You know for warning me," he said with a smile.

"No prob-" Zoey couldn't finish because suddenly the twins jerked away from each other.

"What the?" they jerked again and seemed to be confused with their actions. It looked as if they didn't even know how to walk straight.

"What's happening?" Zoey turned to Echo.

"Seems like someone put a spell on them"

"Spell? You don't mean-" Zoey winced when the twins bumped into each other and groaned, "the Confundus Charm?"

"Seems like it. But you can never be sure"

"It's that other prankster. I know it," George groaned as he rubbed his forehead and slowly sat up. Fred mirrored his movements and looked up at the castle. His eyes widened and then turned into a glare.

"Right there!" he yelled and everyone turned to see a girl with light brown hair turn around to look at them. They stared at the girl as the girl stared back at them. No one moved until Fred and George shot up and yelled.

"HEY! COME BACK HERE!"

They girl seemed to have woken up for she swiftly turned back around and ran into the castle.

"Who was that?" Zoey whispered

* * *

**Sorry if the description of the tryouts was kinda crappy. I really didn't know how to type it up. Oh well. Hope you had fun reading!**

**Don't Forget to Review! :D  
**


	11. Chapter 10: Fear

**And here's Chapter 10! Enjoy!**

**I had some awesome help from my awesome friends with this also for the next chapter which I will be hopefully uploading soon.**

**Really you guys are awesome!**

**Anyway~! Have fun reading and don't forget to review~!**

**I only own what I own!

* * *

**

_"There is much in the world to make us afraid. There is much more in our faith to make us unafraid." _

_-Frederick W. Cropp_

**Chapter 10: Fear  
**

_Thump…Thump…Thump…_

The sounds of knocking echoed through the trashed home. Its echoes eerily bouncing from the walls to fill the entire house with the noise, the sound did not resemble a bang, no, a bang would be strong. The echo was not a booming sound it was a delicate rapping that sent a discomforting feeling to any living being within hearing range. Zoey felt a shiver run down her spine as the knocking continued. She did not dare answer the door, no; if she did she would regret it. Zoey hugged her knees closer to her as she tried her best to ignore the sound.

_Ba- Badump, Ba- Badump, Ba- Badump._

Her heart hammered against her chest when the knocking ceased. Did the originator of the knock leave? No. The knocker did the exact opposite. The knocker opened the door with a simple flick of the wand and the door opened with a satisfying _click. _The knocker entered the trashed house carefully avoiding the broken objects that did no justice to the marbled floor.

_Click…clack…click…clack…_

The rhythmic pattern of nine-inch stilettos slowly maneuvering in the living room made Zoey freeze, she did not dare move nor did she plan on breathing. Her gray eyes were wide with fear as she bit her lip. She did not want to make any sign of her being in the closest of her room. No, the owner of the heels that seemed as thin as a needle would know. _She_ could smell fear.

Zoey nearly jumped with fright when she heard the _clicking _and _clacking_ of the shoes grow louder. _She_ was coming up the stairs. _She_ was getting closer. Zoey let out a shaky breath that she later regretted doing. The sounds of the heels had stopped. _'No…,'_ Zoey thought as she covered her mouth with her hands, careful not to let out another breath or to suck in a gasp, _'She couldn't have heard that… she couldn't have…'_

_Click…clack…click…clack…_

The heels resumed to echo through the house.

Zoey inched farther back into her closest making sure that the coats were covering her small structure. At times like this she was glad that she wasn't the same size as other kids her age. Though unhealthy as she was it was survival. It helped her live through another day.

"Zoey darling?" a sickeningly sweet voice boomed inside the house. It was as if it came from a loving mother but no, Zoey could not be fooled. The person with such a voice was the exact opposite of a loving mother; it came from her dreadful aunt.

"Where are you hiding sugar plum?" her aunt's voice once again filled the house. It was sweet to those who did not know her _other side_, the side of pure evil. To Zoey her aunt did not sound like a sweet jar of cookies, no, it sounded like a pot full of severed hippogriff parts.

A shiver ran down her spine.

The heels stopped.

_'No! No!' _Zoey screamed in her head as she tried to sit as still as possible, _'She couldn't have stopped because of that! It's not possible! It's inhuman!'_

_'Who am I kidding? She's far from human,' _Zoey felt tears pricking at the corners of her eyes.

She was scared.

_'Someone…,' _she prayed, _'Please save me!'_

_Click…clack…cli-_

Zoey nearly screamed her head of when she heard the jiggling of a doorknob. It rattled noisily as if the person behind the door was struggling to pry it open.

_'She found me…,' _Zoey let her tears fall and wrapped her arms around her frail body, _'She found me…'_

_Thump…thump…thump…_

"Zoey dear, are you in here?" her aunt called though it was obvious that she knew that she was there, "Why is the door locked?"

_'To keep you out,' _Zoey found herself thinking as she hugged her knees closer to her body.

The combined sounds of knocking and the rattling of the doorknob began.

"Zoey my sweet! Open the door! I'm getting impatient," the sweet voice reached all the way to her closet. Zoey gave another shiver.

The knocking and the rattling stopped.

"I'm going to give you until three," her aunt said. Her heels started to tap on the floor to show her impatience.

_Click_

"One"

_Clack_

"Two"

_Click_

"Two and a half" her aunt started to grip the wand tighter.

_'Stop it!' _Zoey screamed in her head as the tears flowed violently.

_Clack_

"Come on Zoey," she said, "We can do this the easy way or the hard way."

_"Both ways are the same to you," _Zoey thought bitterly

_Click_

"This is your last chance."

_Clack_

"Three! _BOMBARDA MAXIMA!_"

At this Zoey let out a scream.

* * *

"-oey! ZOEY! ZOE! GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!"

Zoey's eyes shot open as and instantly closed them from the glare the sun was giving her. She let out a whimper as she felt something pinning her to the trunk of the tree she was leaning back against. She ducked her head and grazed her cheek against her shoulder blade only to feel her clothes getting slightly damp. She had been crying.

She reopened her eyes, slowly, and they came face to face (or eye to eye) with dazzling blue eyes that seemed to twinkle in worry. These eyes belonged to Fred.

Though it was quite unnecessary due to the circumstance at hand it was unavoidable that Zoey felt a blush creep in her cheeks when she saw the position they were in. She was pinned against the tree by Fred, whose hands were firmly set on her shoulder, and face mere inches away from hers.

"Are you alright?" Fred asked with a gentle tone Zoey didn't really know he had. She also took note that he hadn't really noticed the position they were in.

"Y-yeah… I think so," she whispered, her voice slightly hoarse.

Fred gave a relieved sigh as he unpinned her and slumped down beside her, running a hand through his hair. Zoey watched him as he closed his eyes for a few second before reopening them and turning to face her. He brought his hand to her face and whipped away her remaining tears.

"What happened?" Zoey asked after several minutes have passed. She felt her blush deepen when Fred didn't take his eyes off from hers and his hand was still on her cheek thought there were no longer tears streaming.

Fred gave a small sigh before retracting his hand and bringing it to his hair to ruffle it a bit.

"Not sure to be honest," he said, "Just came down to since the Ravenclaw tryouts are coming up –George went ahead of me- and I just happened to hear screaming. I thought a rabbit was being tortured or something but figured rabbits don't exactly scream. Ran all the way down here to find you thrashing about in your sleep."

Zoey looked down embarrassed with herself.

"Hey, I'm pretty sure you had a nightmare, you want to talk about it?"

"No…No…I'm fine," Zoey looked up and managed a small smile.

"Sure," Fred said with a shrug but later a smirk appeared on his lips and a twinkle in his eyes.

Zoey slightly tensed in panic and before she knew it she was laying down on the grass laughing her head off as Fred ran his fingers up and down her sides tickling her, a playful grin etched in his lips.

"F-Fred! S-stop it!" Zoey screamed as she continued to laugh.

"Not until you say the magic word!" Fred said in a sing song voice.

"P-Pl-"

"Pl what?"

"PLEASE!" Zoey gasped out as she let out another laugh. Fred lent back with a satisfied smirk on his lips watching Zoey struggle to sit back up. Her chest was rising and falling as she took gaps of air and still chuckling slightly.

"N-never do that again," she laughed, "That was awful!"

"If it was so awful why are you still laughing?" Fred teased.

Zoey wrinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out at him before getting up. She patted her skirt, trying to get the wrinkles out, and held out a hand. Fred took it and, though with not much help from Zoey, got up as well.

"Come one," she said, "The Quidditch Tryouts might have started already."

Fred nodded and pocketed his hands. Zoey smiled softly before heading off towards the Quidditch pitch. The wind blew causing the strands of hair that fell out of her ponytail to blow back with the breeze. Fred took a few long strides before he matched his pace with Zoey.

"The magic word isn't 'Please' by the way, it's 'Fred is awesomely amazing'," Fred said as they neared the Quidditch pitch.

He received a thump on his arm.

* * *

"Hey Carrot-top, why weren't you with George?" Echo asked Fred as he and Zoey approached the Quidditch pitch. They were currently having the tryouts for Keeper. Echo sent Zoey a wink.

Zoey gave her a bemused look before retying her hair. After several attempts she settled with a sloppy bun. The wind and her hair were just not working with her today.

"What? I gave you alone time with Georgie here and your complaining?" Fred asked as he wrapped an arm around his twins shoulder when George approached them, "Ouch. It hurts doesn't it George? She doesn't want you"

Echo stood there, wide-eyed momentarily, before shrugging it off and going up to Fred and yanking his tie close to her face, "Ex-cuse me?"

"What you have hearing problems now?" Fred challenged her. He was not the list bit afraid of her… at the moment.

"Of course not," Echo smirked evilly, "Consider yourself lucky that I won't have to unleash my powers and make you my man-slave for a week."

Fred gave her a glare that seemed challenged her own. Zoey watched uneasily as she inched towards George and whispered at the corner of her mouth, "What powers is she talking about?"

George opened his mouth to reply but suddenly something caught his eye. Up in the air was a girl with light brown hair wearing Bermuda shorts. She held tightly on her broom as she flew towards the goals. Two chasers flew up as well; one of them had the Quaffle under her arm.

"Hey look!" George yelled as he shot his finger up in the air pointing at the brown haired Ravenclaw, "It's her!"

Zoey and looked up, followed by Echo and George, and watched as the brown haired girl save one… two… three goals and coming up at a fourth. The crowd cheered and the girl wore the look of triumph. She wiped her brow before saving her fifth.

"Wicked," Zoey whispered.

Echo just smiled, and side-glanced at the twins. The twins did not seem to see her for they were just staring at the brown haired girl in awe. She girl did not notice them as she flew back onto the ground. She was the last person trying out for Keeper and it was now the Chasers turn.

**Echo's POV:**

Echo's right eye had been blocked out of everyone's sight for a reason –and a good reason it is. While busily trying to see through it, Madam Hooch yelled, "Next!"

Thinking of a strategy that could surpass the keeper Echo kicked off on her broom and started to spot the weaknesses on the Keeper's part. _'Damn. This is gonna be one hard goal…,' _she had thought.

Swiftly, she zigged and zagged across the playing field and successfully scored by throwing a powerful kick to the Quaffle, which eventually passed through the lowest of the three hoops.

Echo smirked as she heard the cheers from the crows, the loudest coming from the twins and Zoey.

She once again took the Quaffle in her arms and scored a few more. After what seemed like ten or more winning goals Echo felt very tired, she had never practiced before hand and felt the effects of not being exactly 'fit'.

Flying back down on the ground, she dragged her broom and started walking to Zoey and the twins, if not for the girl whom she had seen a while ago –the brown haired girl trying out as Keeper.

The brown haired girl walked towards Eco and she had a smile on her face.

"You were great!" she said, holding out her hand.

"Thanks," Echo answered, shaking her hand.

Echo, obviously tired, grinned, "So you're the other prankster! It's really nice to see you in person"

"Nice to meet you too, I'm Bridgit by the way and I hope I haven't caused you and your friends a lot of trouble with my pranks," the brown haired girl, who was apparently named Bridgit, said.

"I just hope that they can forgive me for all those pranks. I just couldn't resist the mischief" Bridgit then said with a big smile on her face.


	12. Chapter 11: Revenge

**And here's the wonderful Chapter 11 that my friends helped me type up for the most part of it! I tell you those two are absolutely amazing people! :D**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter! This will be the end of their 2nd year and the next would be the beginning of their 3rd!**

**Enjoy!**

**Don't forget to Review!**

**I only own what I own!

* * *

**

_"Revenge is a dish best served cold"_

_-Anonymous _

_(sorry I really don't know who said this quote…)_

**Chapter 11: Revenge**

Zoey bit her lip as she watched Echo conversing with the brown haired girl. She wondered if this was wise of Echo. The girl was a _prankster_ after all. She gulped as she turned around to see the twins huddled together whispering. Zoey could have sworn she caught the words "Payback" and "Sticky"

"What are you doing?" she asked them.

The twins stood up straight and wore identical grins. It was obvious to her that they were plotting something.

"Oh nothing," George fibbed as he pocketed his hands.

"We just remembered we needed to get something back at the Common Room is all," Fred mimed his brother's actions.

"Say Congrats to Echo for us!" They called before running out of the Quidditch pitch and out of Zoey's sight.

Zoey stared at the place where they were previously standing on with confusion.

"This can't be good," she murmured to herself.

Zoey turned around and saw Echo and the brown haired girl taking a seat on one of the many benches surrounding the Quidditch Pitch. They were absorbed in a conversation completely ignoring the rest of the tryouts. Zoey bit her lip as she debated if she should walk over to see if Echo was alright.

_'She seems to be doing fine,' _Zoey thought to herself as she watched Echo laugh.

After several seconds of contemplating on the matter she gave a shaky sigh and walked over. The closer Zoey got the clearer she could see the brown haired girl's features. She noted that the girl had sapphire blue eyes and pale skin. Zoey bit her lip as she stopped about three feet away from the two Ravenclaw's.

"Fred and George said 'Congrats'," she said lamely trying to get Echo's attention. Zoey did not do well with meeting new people.

Echo raised an eyebrow, "They said that? What's gone loco in their head? By the way, this is Bridgit," Echo smiled at Zoey

Zoey shifted her feet, "Loco? What do you mean? I thought it was a rather nice gesture… Ah! Er –Hi?" she said awkwardly Bridgit smiled.

"They would probably say that when they're up to no good," Echo shook her head

"When are they never?" Zoey laughed, slightly loosening up.

"Sometimes, their gestures are an almost-see-through poker face you could guess what they're gonna do and you'd turn up right," Echo rolled her eyes.

Before Zoey could reply she caught Bridgit looking towards her, "So you're Zwei right?" she said.

Zoey smiled at the nickname, "That would be me," she said as she scratched the back of her head, pulling some stands of hair out of her tie.

"I know this will sound a bit weird, but what did you think about my pranks? Or do you hate me for pranking your friends?" Bridgit asked, bowing her head in embarrassment.

"Ah! Pranks?" Zoey blushed, "To be honest…they were rather funny… wait… you aren't going to pull one on me are you?" she panicked

Bridgit smiled at Zoey, "No, I don't pull pranks on people who seems cool. Besides, I only pulled pranks on them because pranking _the_ pranksters seemed like just too good an opportunity to pass up"

Zoey sheepishly grinned at Bridgit, "I guess I can see where you're coming from"

"Ahh… someone who understands. I'm actually shocked that they haven't pranked me back yet. Especially since they know it's me," Bridget said as she tried to fix her ponytail.

Zoey opened her mouth to reply but her words were quickly replaced with a gasp. Floating above Bridgit was a wooden bucket that seemed to be overflowing with a bubbling liquid.

"What's wrong?" Bridgit asked, noticing Zoey's shocked and unreadable face.

"Br-Bri-" sadly Zoey did not have time to warn the unsuspecting Ravenclaw for the bucket tipped over and drenched her. Zoey let out a small scream as Echo ducked.

The liquid was fizzing and smelled slightly sweet. Zoey's hands shot to her mouth as she stared wide eyed at Bridgit. She could hear laughing at the background.

"That was brilliant Gred!"

"Absolutely stupendous Forge!"

The twins emerged from hiding and were clutching their sides in laughter. Zoey shot them a surprised look while Echo stood up with a glare, "You two…"

"What the bloody hell was…," Bridgit tried to day but cut herself off when she noticed she couldn't stand up herself. "What did you pour on me? Oh why am I even asking it's fairly obvious you poured a sticking potion," Bridgit said angrily.

"Well maybe…," Fred started

"Or maybe not," George ended, causing Bridgit to look up at the two of them.

"You two are crazy," Echo said trying to help Bridgit with the sticking potion/

"Yes, but she declared war," George said.

"We're just making sure that we even out the playing field a bit," Fred then said

"Hmm… this isn't much. You're prank is actually pretty common, now if you added just a bit of dragon eyes and sea plants then this-" Bridgit motioned to her drenched clothes and seat, "Would have become more permanent."

The twins looked at her in shock.

"Did you just insult our prank?" Fred asked glaring at her.

"Oh dear," Zoey finally spoke as she wound her arms around the twins trying, but failing with their strength and size, to keep them from attacking the Ravenclaw girl.

"I didn't insult it. I was just suggesting," Bridgit said, still trying to get the potion off of her.

"And you think you could have done better?" George asked keeping his glare.

"No," Bridgit smirked, "I _know_ I would've done better"

"Oh Merlin!" Zoey gasped as she felt herself fall forward as the twins lunged towards Bridgit, both had red ears and cheeks from anger. Echo swiftly came behind the twins and grabbed their collars; Zoey leaped to her feat and helped Echo. The twins were still trying to attack the Ravenclaw whose butt was stuck on a bench.

"Who do you think you're playing at?" Bridgit shouted, though with the sticking potion all over her it was hard to take her seriously

At the sight the twins smirked and calmed down a bit. Zoey looked at them and Bridgit worriedly.

"What are we doing George?" Fred asked as he faced his brother, "Attacking a _poor _and _defenseless _girl? Shame on us"

"Let's see who's defenseless when I get out of this thing!" Bridgit yelled after hearing Fred's comment.

"I'd like to see you try girly," George teased as he leaned against his brother.

Echo angrily grabbed her broom and thwacked both Fred and George at the back of their heads. Zoey gasped when she heard the audible thud.

"If you must fight, please, let me eat. I want to take part in the brawl," Echo said as she swung her broom over her shoulder.

Zoey gave Echo a disbelieving look, "You're not trying to stop this?"

"I was just kidding…"

Zoey ignored her comment and asked, "Do you know any spells to get Bridgit out of her –err- sticky situating?"

"There's no need for spells," Bridgit said as she continued to glare at the twins, "This comes off with water mixed with Scorpion venom. It'll burn the stickiness off"

"Right…," Zoey muttered as she looked around trying to hide her confusion, she gasped, the Quidditch Pitch was deserted except for the five of them, "Where did everyone go?"

"But how will you know if you got the part?" Zoey asked as she turned her attention to Echo rather than Bridgit and the twins. She was sure they wouldn't kill each other… yet.

"Pardon?"

"How will you know if you got the position?" Zoey patiently asked again.

"They'll post it won't that?" Echo said

"Right…" Zoey mumbled, "But that wasn't how they did it for Gryffindor…"

"Well that was Gryffindor wasn't it?" Echo asked, "We're Ravenclaw"

"Ravenclaws are more serious and we take Quidditch as an activity not a priority," Bridgit suddenly said, making Zoey and Echo look at her.

"Oh look here Forge, we actually have a smart prankster," Fred said sarcastically

"Drop it," Echo said sending a glare

"I really need to get this stuff off, but we have nowhere to get scorpion venom… wait a minute.. how about a self-made spell?" Bridgit asked

"A what?" the twins lamely said as they looked at Bridgit with eye brows raised.

"A self-made spell, you know a spell that you spontaneously make up when you can't think of one. They say that if you're strong enough you can do it," Echo answered, "Merlin, do you even pay attention in class?"

"Of course we do!" Fred exclaimed with mock shock.

"Just not very often," George grinned.

"Really now," Echo said

"Look, not to sound rude or anything, but can you get me out?" Bridgit asked getting impatient.

"Right, sorry," Zoey said as she took out her wand from her pocket, "How do I make sure the spell does what I want it too?"

"Think really hard about what you want it to do and say the first word that pops into your head," Bridgit said

Zoey bit her lip as she thought long and hard on the spell. She closed her eyes and in a second, yellow and orange swirls appeared in her head. She opened her mouth and exclaimed, "_Reglutino!_"

Yellow and orange sparked sprang from her wand and dashed towards Bridget. Zoey watched wide eyed as the sparked began to remove to potion from Bridgit. As they cleaned her up Zoey felt slightly faint. _'I wouldn't want to make my own spells often,' _she thought as her head lightly pounded.

When Bridgit was dry she successfully pried herself of the bench and reached for her wand.

"Now who's defenseless again?" She asked with a smirk on her face. She looked at the twins.

Fred and George looked at her in shock but before they could get a word in they found themselves floating up several feet in the air. Zoey felt herself panic a bit.

"Put us down!" the yelled as they floated higher and higher.

"Nah, I rather fancy you two up there," Bridgit answered.

Zoey sent a panic look at Bridgit, "Can you please put them down?" she asked as she felt her heart hammering at her chest.

"Do I have too?"

"Please," Zoey answered

Bridgit thought for a couple of seconds before giving in, "Fine" she said and with a flick of her wand the twins fell back on the ground. Zoey winced as she approached them. They were groaning in pain not even bothering to insult or shoot a remark at Bridgit. Zoey bent down a bit as she tried to help the twin up from behind her she heard Echo say:

"Let's eat!"

_'She sounds like nothing happened…,' _Zoey sighed as the thought passed her mind.

"Yeah, let's go," Fred said as he took Zoey's hand and headed towards the castle, George at his side and Bridgit and Echo trailing behind. Zoey felt a blush crawl on her cheeks.

* * *

As they retreated back to the Great Hall, the twins did not hear Bridgit mutter a spell and with a wave of her wand two stoned hit Fred and George square on the head.

"Bloody hell!" The twins' exclaimed as their hands shot up to their aching heads. Zoey looked worriedly at them before looking at Bridgit. She watched her mount her broom.

"Next time, mess with someone else," Bridgit said as she kicked off from the ground and flew away.

"That girl is mental!" Fred said rubbing the back of his head.

"I don't care right now!" Echo snapped at them, "I WANT FOOD!"


	13. Chapter 12: The Unexpected Visit

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while. It's been a busy week and there's another busy week ahead of me. I still have book report to do, a script to make and a pillow case to sew. To much to handle I'm serious. **

**Anyway, this is sorta of a filler chapter or not so. I don't really know how to describe it. Anywho enjoy and don't forget to review because honestly they make my day and urge me to write more :)**

**I only own what I own

* * *

**

**Chapter 12: The Unexpected Visit**

Zoey sat in the middle of a heavily dusty room. The room was particularly different from the rest of the Emeraude house. While everything in the house was in complete wreckage, this room was not. The room Zoey sat was in perfect condition (compared to the rest of the house). The desks, chairs and cabinets were up right and unscratched, the pictures were not ripped and still in their frames, the curtains were drawn and the bed was made. The only notable flaw in the entire room was the amount of dust that covered everything.

Zoey sneezed.

She wasn't particularly a fan of dust.

In front of Zoey was a box that strongly resembled a treasure chest. The box was of a gray-brown color due to the dust and it looked like it hasn't been touched in years, like the rest of the room.

Zoey gave another sneeze.

She raised her hand to wipe away the layer of dust. Zoey coughed as the dust particles flew to the air and made Zoey feel slightly uncomfortable. She did not like the thought of dirt. She felt unclean. Zoey shook her head trying to ignore the dust –which wasn't an easy task due to her surroundings- and covered her mouth with her other hand. She looked back to the box and saw on the lid in cursive gold writing her mother's name.

_Lucy Alena Emeraude_

The box had been her mother's when she was alive and inside, to what Zoey had only guessed at, was her mom's most treasured belongings. The box and its contents were handed down to Zoey after her mother's passing. Zoey was free to do anything she wanted to do with the box. She could open it and see its secrets but she did not. Zoey did not open the box. It was not like the box had any locks or spells that restricted her from seeing its inside, no; she could just simply lift the lid.

Zoey did not open the box for the simple reason that she was afraid of what she'll find. Zoey was afraid to find out what her mother has treasured all her life. She was afraid of _knowing_ her mother.

The trance Zoey was in was broken by a scream.

Zoey bolted up and accidentally hit her foot against the wooden box. She hissed in pain before grabbing her wand from the bed and darting out of the room leaving the ajar.

Zoey's heart beat against her chest as she crept towards the stairs carefully avoiding the broken objects on the ground. Her ballet flats didn't stand a chance against the broken vase. Zoey's eyebrows knitted in worry and panic as she placed a shaky hand on the wall. She was not expecting anyone to visit and her aunt, who always came unannounced, was currently out of the country traveling the world with her latest boyfriend.

_'She shouldn't be back yet,'_ Zoey thought as she considered the possibility of the unsuspected visitor to be her _beloved _aunt, _'Even if she was…she wouldn't come here…'_

Zoey silently climb down the stairs shifting her eyes as she tried to catch sight of any evidence on who the visitor was.

_'If it was her… she would have called for me already…she would have made a comment on the state of the house as well…it couldn't be her… it just couldn't'_

"Zoey?" a slightly worried voice called, "Are you here?"

Zoey felt her eyebrows shot up as she clamored down the remaining steps. She skidded to a halt and her eyes widened. By the fireplace was a short, plump woman with flaming red hair. The woman turned towards Zoey and she, Zoey, instantly took note of her kind face and brown eyes. The woman approached Zoey, opened her arms and brought her into a hug.

"There you are Zoey dear," the woman said, "I was beginning to worry. I thought you were attacked or something?"

"W-what makes you say that, Mrs. Weasley?" Zoey asked as she faced the opposite wall, Mrs. Weasley had not brought her out of the hug yet.

"Just by the state of your house it looks like you put up quite a fight…if there was a fight that is," Mrs. Weasley held Zoey at an arm's length and gave her a stern motherly look, "There was no fight was there?"

Zoey shook her head.

"Good. Now tell me dear what on earth happened to you?"

Zoey bit her lip as she figured that her current physical state was something to worry about. As usual, she was frail and small and her hair wasn't in a kept state but guessing by Mrs. Weasley's wrinkled nose and scanning eyes that wasn't Zoey only problem. She figured that she was heavily covered in dust just like the room she was previously in.

"It isn't that bad is it?" Zoey asked as she tried to get a look at her clothes.

"Sweetheart," Mrs. Weasley said with a slightly amused and disapproving tone, "You and your clothes are gray and powdery."

"Er –I was cleaning out some stuff," Zoey said as she scratched her nose. She gave a heavy sneeze that seemed to shake some of the dust off her causing the particles to be suspended in air for a while.

Mrs. Weasley gave a small "Tut, tut," before waving her wand. In a second, all the dirt and dust was removed from Zoey. Zoey gave a small smile before pulling down her overly large pale yellow shirt.

"Now," Mrs. Weasley said as she kept her hand. She gave a look around the living room, "Care to tell me what happened here?"

"Nothing, nothing happened," Zoey said hastily and uneasily as she continued to tug onto her shirt. Mrs. Weasley gave her a disbelieving look before letting the topic go.

Mrs. Weasley once again brought out her wand and gave another flick. The light of the house had turned on illuminating the mess within. Mrs. Weasley shivered when she got a cleared look at the destruction. She gave a wave and the chairs and tables were brought ride side up along with the other objects that flew to their place. The curtains were mended and draped the windows as the vases and glasses were repaired and a bouquet of white roses decorated the vase.

Zoey kept a passive look as the cleaning processed continued.

After about five minutes that entire living room was fixed and as good as new.

"Now, I don't think I want to get a look at the rest of the house right now," Mrs. Weasley joked as she turned to look at Zoey. Zoey did not meet her eyes for she focused her gaze to the pile of torn paper on the ground. The photographs weren't able to be fixed.

"Well, we can't do anything about that. They've been torn for too long," Mrs. Weasley said, "Were they very happy memories?

"No…they weren't even mine," Zoey said as she gave Mrs. Weasley a smile

* * *

"Mrs. Weasley? If you don't mind me asking, but is there a reason for your visit?" Zoey asked as she spun her mug in her hands. She was currently sitting in a clean and fixed kitchen with Mrs. Weasley. Mrs. Weasley had given the kitchen a good clean up like the living room.

"Oh, yes. I have almost forgotten. Thank you for reminding me," Mrs. Weasley said as she placed down her own mug, "The boys and Echo have been begging for your visit"

"Begging?"

"Yes, more on the twins than Echo. They have been complaining that they haven't heard from you for far too long and you have declined their invitation last time," Mrs. Weasley said with an amused look as if she were recalling the twins complaining on their lack of communication with the gray eyed girl.

Zoey blushed and looked down at her mug, "I didn't want to be rude"

"Honestly dear, if there's one thing you are absolutely not, it's being rude," Mrs. Weasley said, "We would always love to have you over. The more the merrier I say"

"Just don't overdo the merry part. Knowing the twins, my house will be crumbling down," Mrs. Weasley said in an afterthought.

Zoey laughed and looked at Mrs. Weasley with admiration that mirrored a child looking at her own mother.

"So when can I visit?"

"Visit? You'll be staying over until School resumes"

"Bu-"

"No buts, now get your bags and I'll wait down here. Merlin knows how the upstairs looks like," Mrs. Weasley said as she shook her head and gestured Zoey to go along and get ready.

Zoey left the kitchen and dashed up the stairs jumping over the harmful objects on the floor and barged into her room. Her room was no better than the rest of the house. The bed was overflowing with pillows and some were on the floor. Her blanket was half and half on the bed and floor. Her desk had everything but studying materials and her closets door was broken and hung desperately on its hinges. The curtains looked sewn shut and the floor had crumpled pieces of parchment and ink stains.

She gave a sigh of relief that Mrs. Weasley didn't come with her because she was surely going to have a heart attack at the sight. Zoey approached her suitcase, which was carelessly beside her bed with its contents lying on the floor. She hastily picked up the objects and dumped it in the suitcase along with her clothes. Zoey was particularly glad that she didn't have much to wear for it would have been harder to pack.

Zoey hastily closed her suitcase and dragged it to the door she made a quick check on her appearance when she passed by her life sized mirror.

The mirror was broken near the bottom and had several smudges on the glass. Zoey didn't really care because she could still see her reflection. Zoey noted that her hair was in its typical unruly state and her glasses were still large and circular. Her structure was still frail and small (though she gained _some _height) and her skin was still pale. She wore and overly large pale yellow shirt that came to her knees and elbows. She wore black cycling shorts that slightly peeked from beneath the shirt. On her feet were her black ballet shoes.

Zoey grabbed hold of her suitcase and for the second time that day walked down the stairs to see Mrs. Weasley. Mrs. Weasley was already by the fireplace when Zoey came to view.

"Ready?"

Zoey nodded her head and approached the fireplace. She took a handful of Floo Powder and looked a Mrs. Weasley.

"Go ahead dear"

"THE BURROW!" Zoey exclaimed and she disappeared into the flames.


	14. Chapter 13: Switch teams with me

**Chapter 13: Switch teams with me**

Zoey stumbled out of the fireplace and landed on something soft. She coughed a bit and rubbed her eyes. She didn't know where her glasses were. They most likely fell of somewhere. Zoey swallowed a bit and noted her throat was rather dry. She groaned.

"Gee Zoe," she heard someone say at the same time she felt the ground beneath her rumble; "I know you missed me and all but do you really have to tackle me to the ground?"

Zoey gasped as she lifted herself up and came across sparkling blue eyes. The same blue eyes she came across in many embarrassing situations. She felt her cheeks redden.

"Smm-mooth, Zoey. Just smooth," Echo giggled from behind George as they came from the kitchen to find out what happened.

Zoey sent a glare (a rare action from the Emeraude girl) towards her friend before picking herself up and inching away from both Fred and the fireplace. She watched from under her lashes George smirking and stepping back to be beside Echo.

George bent down a bit and whispered to Echo, "Why don't we have moments like that?" His voice held a slight whine as he jerked his head towards a kneeling Zoey and a grinning Fred.

Echo smirked at him in return before whispering back, "We are too important to have moments like those"

George, not expecting such an answer, blushed.

"Oi! Lovebirds!" Fred's voice brought George and Echo back to somewhat reality, "Mind stepping away from the floo network? I expect mom to be arriving soon"

"Did you have to ruin the moment, Fred?" Zoey asked as she stood up and dusted off her shirt, "But…I don't see what's taking Mrs. Weasley so long… she couldn't have ended up cleaning the rest of the house could she?"

"She might as well have, but what took her such time? Mrs. Weasley's a pure blood after all," Echo shrugged.

"Just because -," but Zoey was not able to complete her statement because Mrs. Weasley had appeared in the fireplace. She smiled up at them before stepping out.

"Just make yourself at home Zoey dear," Mrs. Weasley said as she kissed both Fred and George on the head, "You haven't done anything that you shouldn't have, have you?"

"Of course not!" Fred exclaimed as he mocked hurt

"You wound us mother with your mistrust," George said as he placed a hand over his heart and staggered a bit.

Zoey watched as Mrs. Weasley rolled her eyes at her sons and retreated to the kitchen. Echo followed after her muttering about how hungry she was. Zoey shifted at her feet and took hold of her suitcase. She looked at the direction of the stairs. Mrs. Weasley had said she would be staying over until school begins. Zoey's only problem was that she didn't know where. She never stayed over at the Weasley's long enough to have to sleep over.

The twins noticed her slight discomfort.

"You'll be staying with Ginny," Fred said as he took hold of Zoey's suitcase, "Forge, after you"

George sent a grin at the two of them before heading up the stairs. Fred gently pushed Zoey towards the same direction. She stumbled a bit before grabbing hold of the stairs railing she took several steps before stopping abruptly. Fred crashed into her back.

"Sorry, love. Why'd you stop?"

"I should carry my luggage," Zoey fidgeted as she reached over to the handle of her suitcase. Fred gently swatted it.

"No can do, Zoe," he said as he transferred the suitcase to his other hand.

Zoey's eyebrows knitted in slight worry as she slowly ascended up the stairs shortly after George called back to them. She walked down a short hall before coming across a room that's door was slightly ajar.

"And here's your stop milady," George said jokingly as he slightly pushed the door open.

"Thank you," Zoey held back a laugh as she tried to keep a rather sophisticated air about her.

"The pleasure's all ours m'dear," Fred said as he bowed and kissed her hand. Zoey's eyes widened and another blush crept on her cheeks. Fred took no notice as he stood back beside George, grinned and left back downstairs.

Zoey bit her lip as she watched the twins figures disappear from her sight. He eyes glazed a bit over as she pictured Fred's grinning face and sparkling eyes in her mind. She did not want to destroy such a perfectly imperfect boy and his family.

Zoey knew calling the Weasley's "imperfect" was no insult (that is until she says it out loud) for her view on them is the exact opposite of her view on her own family. The Emeraude Family was the most accurate example of perfect with their flawless skin, breath-taking smile and the ability to get along with everybody. The Emeraude's were one of the most riches wizarding families and also one of the most powerful. It was said that each Emeraude Family member held a special power that no one in the wizarding world could imagine.

Zoey did not know if this was a fact for she never experience having anything happen to her that was unexplainable. Magic not included.

She shook her head at the thought of her having a special power and went back to thinking about how perfect the Emeraude's were. Zoey recalled one of the Elder Emeraude's say that each Emeraude home was decorated to look the same as the other with big bedrooms and beautiful red roses to decorate each room and to give the house a more homey feeling.

Homey. Zoey shuddered. It was the exact opposite of what she felt in her own home.

On the other hand, The Weasley Family was nothing like the Emeraude. They were the opposite; therefore, they were imperfect. The family wasn't exactly rich but they lived happily with each other. Their house looked like it could fall apart at any moment but Zoey knew it stayed up strong. The inside might not be as organized as the other Emeraude houses but it was clean and there was nothing to complain about. The Burrow didn't have a specific smell to Zoey. No, it just gave off a pleasant scent that made her feel all warm inside. Yes, _this_ was the perfect example of Homey.

_'Maybe I should find a better word instead of "imperfect",' _Zoey thought to herself as she stared into the wall, _'Hm… They're just… them… I can't find something to describe them with…Maybe I should ask Echo… she has a massive vocabulary…'_

As Zoey dwelled on the subject of describing the Weasley's she couldn't stop her mind from wandering to Fred.

She couldn't exactly explain why she had a crush on him rather than his brother. It was true, to Zoey's observation, that George was the more…gentler and nicer twin but, not saying that Zoey like the "bad boys", Zoey could not help but note that Fred was always the one that was with her when things went bad.

Would Zoey say she was in love with Fred Weasley? No, she was just thirteen; she did not know what love was.

"You fancy Fred, don't you?"

Zoey jumped a bit in her place as she whirled around to see a red headed girl slightly leaning against her doorframe. She had the same brown eyes as her mother.

"Ginny," Zoey sighed as she opened her arms, "You scared the chocolate frogs out of me"

Ginny gave a laugh as she ran towards Zoey and enveloped her in a hug.

"I seriously don't know where you come up with those… Scared the chocolate frogs out of you? How does that work?"

"Come to think of it. I don't really know," Zoey said as she patted Ginny's head causing the smaller of the girls to let go.

Ginny smiled as she approached Zoey's suitcase and dragged it into her room. She, with the help of Zoey, lifted the suitcase and dropped it on the spare bed. Zoey smiled in thanks.

"You still haven't answered my question," Ginny said after a few minutes of silence, "Do you fancy Fred?"

Zoey blinked several times before opening her mouth to answer but before she could get the words out the door of Ginny's room slammed open revealing Echo whose hair was tied up in a ponytail yet her bangs still covered half her face. In her hands was her broomstick.

"Zwei, the three of us are going to play Quidditch. Wanna come with?"

"Quidditch?" Zoey asked in shock, "Are you sure about that?"

"We need one more member," Echo said

"And you think it's wise for me to be that 'one more member'?" Zoey asked as she raised her eyebrow in question. Surely, Echo knew she was no good on the broom.

"We need one more member," Echo repeated

"B-but I don't even have a broom," Zoey reasoned as she re-tied her hair nervously.

"How many Weasley's do you think live in the Burrow?"

"Well, Bill's gone and so is Charlie. So five Weasley kids but seven Weasley's counting Mr. and Mrs. Weasley," Zoey replied as she raised each of her fingers indicating each Weasley.

"Some of them aren't in the game," Echo said as she held her broomstick tighter in her hand, "More broomsticks for you"

"B-"

Echo did not let Zoey argue. She grabbed hold of her wrist in an iron grip and dashed down the stairs and headed out of the house

* * *

"So here are the teams," Fred said as soon as they equipped Zoey with a broom and safety equipment such as a helmet, "Echo and Zoey versus me and George. Simple as that"

Zoey bit her lip as she awkwardly held her broomstick awkwardly in her hands. She did not like the sound of flying.

"Strictly no daydreaming during Quidditch, unless you want to fall of your broom and land on the ground," Echo spoke aloud.

Zoey tensed, "What would make you think that I would daydream while up in the air? I'm not mental!"

"I didn't say anyone, Zwei"

"What?"

"Hey!" George called out

"Are we playing or not?" Fred asked as he mounted on his broom.

Both of the twins kicked off the ground and were now up in the air. Echo mounted her broom as well but not before whispering: "Watch for the Quaffle," to Zoey. Echo kicked off.

Zoey bit her lip as she awkwardly kicked off the ground and wobbled a bit as she reached the same level as Echo.

The game has begun.

* * *

"Time out!" Echo hollered as she balanced on her broom and made a "T" formation with her hands

"What?" the twins asked as they flew towards her. Zoey just aimlessly bobbed on her broom as she tried to regain balance. It looked like she did not hear Echo's exclamation.

"I just realized that these groupings are unfair since the two of you are Beaters and well, one of us is… a rookie at this," Echo said as she shot a glance at Zoey.

Fred raised an eyebrow, "And what does being Beaters have to do with this?"

"You _both_ are Beaters"

"I don't see anything unfair about this Echo," George said, "Beside's we're just playing with the 'Quaffle' here. No Bludgers in this game so technically being Beaters has nothing to do with this"

"Switch teams or die by broomstick," Echo merely said, maintaining balance on her broom

"But you still haven't given us and answer Echo. Why would you want to switch teams? You were doing so well with Zoey over there," Fred smirked as he flew around Echo.

"Frankly, Zoey isn't much of a player"

"Ouch Echo. You didn't have to be so mean, "George said

"Look at her," Fred jerked his head towards Zoey, "She's doing brilliantly for a 'rookie'"

Echo turned her attention to Zoey and noted that Zoey was currently hanging upside down.

She looked back at the twins with an 'are-you-effing-kidding-me' expression on her face.

"Come one echo, just tell us your real problem with Miss Emeraude," Fred and George smirked.

"She can't fly"

"Is that all?" Fred asked with an eyebrow raised

"No need to get into details!" Echo said haughtily

"Er –guys?" Zoey called as she slowly flew towards them, often slipping on her broom, "I can hear everything you are saying and… Frankly, I agree. Can't you just put Ginny on the team?"

"Oh can't I please?" Ginny asked as she stood up from her spot on the ground. She was watching the game before Echo called a time-out.

"No!" Fred and George said at once before turning their attention back at Zoey

Zoey glanced at Gunny and saw her stick her tongue out at her brothers before retreating back into the house.

"You know," Echo said, "I'm one more nerve away from going to a desperate mode"

"You going to beg Echo?" Fred asked

"The floor's all yours. Figuratively speaking of course," George added.

Echo but her bottom lip as she sighed, "Could there be a switch of teams, please?" she spoke in a fake tone of voice that sounded innocent.

"Now, now, Echo," George waved his finger, "You have to be sincere"

Echo glared at George before going again. "Please, could there be a switch of members between teams? Just, please!" Now, Echo sounded like she wanted somebody not to die.

"Well," Fred pretended to think about it but before he could get any second longer in torturing Echo he, along with everyone else, heard Mrs. Weasley call that Lunch was ready.

"What? I did all that just for nothing?" Echo burst out before turning her attention back at the twins, "I'll get you. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but definitely, someday in your lives"

Echo tilted her broom down and swiftly flew back to the house. The twins shrugged not much minding Echo's threat and, too, tilted their brooms down and headed towards the house.

Zoey's eyes widened

"W-WAIT!" she exclaimed, "HOW DO I GET DOWN? YOU GUYS!"

* * *

**Honestly, I think the teachers _plan_ on giving all homework on the same day or something. It's murder I tell you... MURDER! anyway, A nice reviewer had asked if Zoey was ever going to tell Fred about her past. Well, lovely reviewer. I would say she is. When and how? That, I cannot say.**

**Anywayz~! Please review and if you have questions feel free to ask!**

**I only own what I own  
**


	15. Chapter 14: They were better

**Chapter 14: They were better**

"I really don't think you should have given that spell to Ron, Fred," Zoey said as she folded her legs under her as she sat down in her compartment. Fred and George had just caught up with her and told her that they had helped Harry Potter with his trunk in his compartment. In other words they actually _met_ Harry Potter.

"And why's that Zoe?" Fred asked as he sat down beside her, George at the front of them.

Zoey gave a shrug, "Well, it would be quite embarrassing for him to try out the spell in front of his friends or something. Not much of a first impression"

"He'll do fine," George said, "Beside's I don't think he'll do it anyway."

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, you'd think by now ickle Ronniekins would know not to trust us by now," Fred said

"Yes, _think_, Fred, think. He doesn't know that it isn't a real spell. Honestly! _'Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, Turn this stupid fat rat yellow!' _The poor boy believed you!" Zoey said as she pulled her hair tie off and shook her head. She returned her attention back at the twins and tensed.

Fred and George had smirks on their faces.

"Wow Zoe," Fred said as he leaned towards her a bit, "I didn't know you memorized the spell"

"Don't tell us," George began

"You actually tried it out?" the twins ended in unison.

"I –err- of course not!" Zoey stuttered out as a blush appeared on her cheeks, "I'm underage! It's i-illegal! Where's Echo anyway?"

The twins' smirks grew bigger as Zoey fidgeted. She would not admit to trying out, falling for, such a childish spell. At that moment, as if hearing her question, Echo had slid open the compartments door and sat down beside George.

"Zoey, I cannot believe I actually heard what you and the twins were talking about"

"What are you talking about?" Zoey said not quite meeting Echo's golden eyes. She sat up straight and stubbornly looked the other way trying to act as if she was looking for the trolley lady.

Echo did not answer Zoey's question. Instead, she pulled out a thick pocketbook from a bag she was carrying and went to the window of the compartment. She opened the window and chucked the book out. Zoey and the twins watched in shock as the saw the book fly away from their sight, a few pages in the breeze before, too, disappearing.

"Filthy little thing," Echo muttered.

"What did you just do?" the twins asked in shock. Truth be told they did not particularly care for the book, they were merely curious of her actions.

"The writing was completely terrible. I couldn't grasp what the author wants me to understand, though I know it insults Muggles. Merlin, are there even wizards like this?" Echo asked as she returned to her seat and pulled out another book from her back.

"Why would you even pick up a book that insulted muggles?" George asked

"I thought you were pro-muggles like the rest of us," Fred added

"I had wanted to see what other wizards thought of muggles generally. I really wanted to see if what they have written was shallow or actually reasonable," Echo merely said

"But naturally, wouldn't the answer be obvious? The author of that book was a pure-blood was he not? Majority of them despise muggles…heck, they despise Muggle-borns as well," Zoey said as her eyes glazed over. The Emeraude crest flashed before her eyes.

"Hey!" the twins exclaimed.

"Mind you, we're pure-blood," Fred said with a slightly angry look.

"So am I," Zoey said, "That's why I said _majority. _I didn't exactly say it was the Weasley family did I?"

"No….but-" George was interrupted.

"No buts you guys have the purest pure-blood I've ever seen," Zoey scrambled over her words. Once again she had failed to give the best description for the Weasley family.

"Not to many," Fred said rather darkly, "We're considered blood-traitors"

Zoey opened her mouth to speak. She wanted to say that they were not blood-traitors to her. She wanted to say that 'blood-traitor' was too much of a harsh term for people who actually cared for the non-magic. But she was not able to get the words out for Echo had interrupted her.

"A half-blood wrote it," Echo said as she tried to direct the conversation away from the 'blood-traitor' topic, "I'm not that stupid to pick up a book that was written by a pure-blood. What am I a Ravenclaw for?"

_'Being a Ravenclaw has nothing to do with it,' _Zoey thought to herself and instead said: "Ah, and how was he a half-blood? Where was the muggle blood from?" Flashes of the Emeraude family came before her eyes. Zoey could not think of a reason why she was engaging herself in such a conversation. She took shame that she may have begun the topic in the first place. _'What's happening to me?'_

"Just drop it okay?" Echo grunted, not aware of Zoey's inner dilemma, "I just don't like shallow and unreasonable writing from authors. Period."

Zoey did not reply. She bit the inside of her cheek and looked the other way. She rested her head against the wall and slowly closed her eyes. Her head was pounding and her heart was beating against her chest. She felt sick. She faintly heard Fred asking if anyone wanted to play a game of exploding snap before she fell asleep.

* * *

"There you are you filthy brat," a tall, beautiful woman with waist length blonde hair said with a scowl as she reached over to Zoey. Her long manicured fingers scratched Zoey's scalp as she grabbed a handful of her brown hair. She gave a harsh tug and Zoey stumbled out of the cabinet with a cry of pain.

"Shut it," the woman said as she lifted her hand and brought Zoey to her knees. She bent down a bit so she could be leveled with Zoey, "Why have you been hiding?"

Zoey let out a whimper as her tears fell down her face.

"Or the better question would be," the woman said ignoring Zoey's tears, "_Where _have you hid _it?_"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," Zoey gasped as she fell back down to the ground. She felt a harsh kick towards her stomach. She gagged.

"Liar!" the woman howled, "Where did you hide it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about! I have nothing to hide!" Zoey cried as she inched back to the cabinet, her back hitting the hard wood. She let out a scream as the woman pulled out her wand and aimed it at her.

"You wench! You have it with you somewhere in this house! Your mother left it for you! I know it!...and…I want it," the woman hissed as she pushed the tip of her wand to Zoey's neck.

Zoey let out a sob.

Zoey felt her heart beat rapidly against her chest as she felt the wand go deeper. She was beginning to fear that it would draw blood, the tip was rather sharp.

"Come one Zoey dear," the woman said in a voice that was suppose to sound gentle but it appeared more malicious to Zoey, "Just give the object to your aunty and no one would get hurt."

"I don't know what object you're talking about!"

Zoey screamed. She felt blood trickle down her neck.

"Stop lying! You know what I'm talking about! The thing! The _thing_ that filthy sister of mine –your mother- left for you! I want it now!"

"She left nothing for me! Nothing! The house was in ruins wasn't it? Nothing survived! Nothing! I have nothing!" Zoey cried as she placed a shaky hand on her neck. She was getting dizzy.

"That _object_ surely survived! It was important to your mother! She would have casted a spell that would let it survive something like that!"

"I don't know anything! Mum never told me anything! I've never seen this 'object' in my life!"

"How would you know?" the woman dipped down and whispered in Zoey's ear, "Maybe she showed it to you and you just didn't realize it. Think hard Zoey dear. Was there anything _interesting _that Lucy dearest decided to share with her hideous daughter?"

Zoey thought back to the days with her mother. She felt a painful pang in her heart. Her mother, she still remembered her kind and loving face, the exact opposite of the woman in front of her. Zoey closed her eyes as she tried to remember. She was so young when her mother passed. She wouldn't remember anything that far back. She was merely a toddler.

There was a ring… a necklace…. A photo album from when her mum was a teenager. No… she didn't know where they were… they disappeared from her sight right after her mother showed it to her. There was a headband and a silver chain… they disappeared as well.

_'Think harder,'_ Zoey yelled in her head as she felt her blood damp her hand further. She shivered slightly as she felt the red liquid flow further down her neck.

A Hogwarts letter…. A mirror and…. And… a box.

Zoey's eyes flashed open.

"You know what the object is now?" the woman asked

"N-no," Zoey stuttered out the lie as she tried not to make eye contact. She focused her gaze on the wall.

"Liar," the woman hissed, "You're just like your whore of a mother and blood-traitor dad. Horrible imprints on our perfect pure-blood family."

Zoey froze.

"The Emeraude's and the Black's were the most honorable pure-blood families out there. Sure, there were some _imperfections_ but we got rid of them easily… but now… the damage is done," the woman said, "Those blood-traitors made themselves known. Just think. A family full of Slytherin's and he sorted into Gryffindor? And your mother… She _chose_ to study in that horrid school. She wanted to be _different_.

"She associated herself with blood-traitors, mud-bloods and half-breeds. Look what she's done! Brought shame to the family! Married that boy! And… had you… Now look… she's dead and he's in jail. Just _perfect."_

The woman gave off a cackle.

Zoey drew in a breath. Her father….her mother…. She was so young when they left her but she could still remember their faces. She could still remember how nice and loving they were. Nothing like how her aunt described them.

"Shut up," Zoey found her voice.

"What was that?" her aunt glared.

"Shut-up," Zoey repeated, "You have no right to talk to them like that. You have no right to degrade them"

"And what makes you say that? I knew them longer than you. I know how they were. They were nothing like the rest of their family."

"You're right. They weren't," Zoey drew in another breath, "They were better."

Her aunt's glare hardened and her lips formed a straight line. Angry red blotches appeared on her face as she drew her wand at Zoey.

"I would not be spoken to like that," she seethed, "_Crucio_"

* * *

The train gave a jump and Zoey found herself walking up with a start. She reached her hand to her forehead and noted that she was sweating heavily. She pushed her glasses back up her nose and felt her hands shaking. She looked at her reflection on her watch but couldn't see herself clearly. Zoey figured she looked pale and sickly.

"I should stop falling asleep during these trips," Zoey mumbled as she remembered all her dreams since first year. She shuddered.

"Then that would ruin the tradition," Echo, who was in a relaxed position with a book covering her face, spoke. Echo bookmarked her page and closed it. She rubbed her eyes before looking at Zoey. Her eyes widened.

"Nightmare?"

Zoey bit her lip. "Yeah," she said hoarsely, "You could say that"

"Oh. You could share it tom me if you want to, I guess. I hear that's what friends say to comfort each other," Echo said as she slightly inched forward.

Zoey looked down. It was almost like what Fred had said to her. "It's fine…really. I don't want to bother you with sometimes as…childish as a nightmare."

"Some people die by nightmares, Zoey"

"Did you really have to say that?" Zoey tensed, "Anyway… it's nothing. Where are-?" she made a hand gesture indicating the empty compartment. The twins were missing.

"Odd thing really. They went off with Bridgit to prank Percy. Apparently, Percy deducted points from Bridgit for pulling a prank on him. She wasn't too happy so she teamed up with the twins to get back at him," Echo said as she looked out the window, "Percy seems to enjoy is new 'Prefect' status"

Zoey gave of a small laugh. Percy had mentioned not only once, twice but the entire summer that he had gained the title "Prefect". Fred and George had not missed a moment to mock him about it.

A silence fell.

"Echo?" Zoey asked timidly as she started to play with the hem of her skirt, "I-if you don't mind me asking but… How do you know the Weasley's? Where are your parents?"

Echo looked back at Zoey, "Well, the Weasley's…we met when my parents came to their home (for what reason I can't remember) and brought me along. Then the Weasley kids started to play with me, though I always hesitated before," Echo said, "As for my parents, they're very busy, so much that I hardly see or hear word from them. They might as well have separate families."

"How could you say that?" Zoey asked in shock

"Just a guess. Every time I return to my house, everything's in a mess and covered with thick loads of dust. Merlin, it's always the same every summer! Mum and Dad always get in a fight. I don't know why, and I wouldn't waste my time finding out. It'll only be a big crap fact that somehow my parents don't even know I exist."

Zoey remembered the room in her house filled with dust, her mother's box in the middle of the room, untouched. Zoey felt a sudden pain in her neck.

"Dust? Why's that?" she asked trying to distract herself from the pain.

Echo sighed, "They come home at one point in the year, when I'm at Hogwarts no doubt, and that's all I know. I just can't think of a reason why they act like that. Seriously, it's annoying"

"So the rest of the year… no one's there? It just gathers dust?" Zoey asked. Pictures of her own home flashed in her mind.

"I don't clean it up after a while, it's just going to end up in a wreck if I did," Echo said and reopened her book, signaling the conversation was now dropped.

Zoey got the hint and looked down. She could not think what was worse. Having no parents (thought her father was in jail, it was close to not having one) or having parents that didn't know you exist. She tried to imagine the Beaumont home. Surely, it could not be as bad as hers.

She looked out the window and stood up.

"We'll be arriving soon," she said, "Let's get ready"

"There better be chocolate in the Great Hall," Echo muttered before, too, standing up.

* * *

**And here's Chapter 14! YEY~! *clap, clap, clap***

**Anyway, thanks for the reviews! You all are such wonderful people.**

**I dedicate this chapter to "YukiKyoMomiji" because she asked about Echo and how she knows the Weasley's (well, the actual question is why is Echo always with the Weasleys but hopefully this chapter answered that question as well) and what happened to her parents. If you could see, that bit was explained a bit near the end :D**

**And~! "Takara Matsudaira" I hope we can live through the homeworks and requirements and someday reach the day where we are free of work!**

**So, I would like to once again thank you all for the reviews, alerts and favorites!**

**Please review (yes some more XD if it's not to much trouble) because I love reading them and they truly urge me to right more. And don't be afraid to ask questions! I would try to answer them as best as I can!**

**Have a wonderful life!**

**I only own what I own!  
**


	16. Chapter 15: Percy the Perfect Prefect

**Chapter 15: Percy the Perfect Prefect  
**

Zoey cheered with the rest of her house as Hannah Abbott was sorted into Hufflepuff. She watched and clapped as the pink-faced girl took her seat with the rest of the Badger-Batch (a nickname Echo came up with for the house) the Fat Friar was waving merrily at the new addition to the house. Zoey gave another cheer as Susan Bones joined the table.

Zoey observed that most of the First Years looked a little frightened as they waited for their turn to be sorted. She noted that their fears could be from not knowing what house they'll be in and or they were still shaken from thinking that the Sorting Ceremony would have been harder than merely placing a wise old hat in their head.

Zoey knew for a fact that Ron had expected something more challenging than wearing a hat.

_"You did what?" Zoey gasped in disbelief as she jumped of the train. From a distance, she could hear Hagrid rounding up the First years._

_Fred gave a laugh, "I just told ickle Ronnie that he had to wrestle a troll for the Sorting Ceremony"_

_"Brilliant," George said as he patted his twin on the back and headed towards the carriages._

_"Not brilliant. Knowing Ron, he believed what you said!"_

_"That's the best part," Fred said as he stepped into the carriage that could be pulled with no horse._

_Zoey gave a shiver as she stared at the creature no one else could see. That creature was the one pulling the carriages to Hogwarts. The creature that only -from her knowledge- she would see and what many believed to be invisible or non-existent. To believe that the carriages pulled themselves._

_"No it's not Fred," Zoey scolded as she sat beside Echo who was quietly reading a book, "I bet you've scared the boy! You should have just told him the truth"_

_"And where's the fun in that?" Fred asked_

_"You should stop babying the boy. He can handle himself," George added_

_"With the lies you've told him? The spell, the sorting?" Zoey raised an eyebrow._

_"Besides," Fred said waving off Zoey's comment, "Just telling Ron that all he had to do was sit and have a hat placed on his head wouldn't scare him."_

_Zoey rolled her eyes and thumped Fred on his shoulder (though it didn't really affect him). "Anything else you've told Ron that I should know about?"_

_"That's for us to know," Fred began_

_"And you to find out," George ended._

Zoey clapped her hands as Justin Finch-Fletchley was sorted into Hufflepuff.

She waited patiently as the other First years went by. Hermione Granger was sorted into Gryffindor soon followed by Neville Longbottom. Draco Malfoy was sorted into Slytherin together with Theodore Nott and a pug-faced girl named Pansy Parkinson.

"Potter, Harry"

Zoey watched as everyone in the hall broke into whispers. She heard many ask:

"_Potter, _did she say?"

And

"_The _Harry Potter?"

She bit her lip and observed that "Harry Potter" was a small and skinny boy with untidy jet-black hair. He, too, had glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. Zoey watched silently, as did the rest of the hall, as Harry sat on the stool and had the Sorting Hat placed on his head. It was so big that it covered some of his eyes.

The time Harry sat on the stool seemed longer than the rest but soon enough the hat exclaimed:

"GRYFFINDOR!"

And everyone erupted in cheers.

Zoey watched quite fondly as Harry walked over, shakily, to the Gryffindor table. She saw Percy stand up to shake Harry's hand and laughed as the Weasley twins started shouting "We got Potter! We got Potter!"

"Okay! You got him, now shut it!" Zoey heard Echo exclaim from the Ravenclaw table.

The cheers died down and the Sorting continued. Zoey watched as Dean Thomas joined the Gryffindor's and Lisa Turpin joined the Ravenclaw's. Soon enough it was Ron's turn. Zoey kept her fingers crossed as Ron took his seat on the stool. No sooner than a second the hat yelled out "GRYFFINDOR!"

Lastly, Blaise Zabini was sorted into Slytherin.

Zoey looked down at her table and prayed that Dumbledore wouldn't choose now to make a long speech. She was getting hungry. She couldn't even remember if she ate anything during the trip to Hogwarts.

Like the heavens heard her prayers Dumbledore ended his greetings with "Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"

Zoey could have sworn she was drooling when the plates in front of her were magically filled with food. She hastily took a chicken leg, mash potatoes and gravy and placed them on her plate as she ate with great speed. She was sure that none of the Hufflepuff's would notice her un-ladylike behavior. After all, she was sure they didn't even know she was there.

Sooner than she had imagined the plates of food disappeared and Dumbledore once again stood up. She patted her belly, glad that it was now filled, as she focused her attention to Dumbledore. He gave the final reminders ending with a warning that no one was allowed to go to the third-floor corridor on the right hand side unless they wanted to die a painful death.

_'That's a nice thing to say before bed,' _Zoey couldn't help but think.

* * *

Zoey sat on a table at the corner of the library with a piece of parchment in front of her and a quill in her hand. It had only been a few days into the term and Zoey already felt at home. Hogwarts had that effect on her. She sighed as she dipped her head down and started to sketch onto the parchment.

Her mind wandered back to all the times she had fallen asleep during the train ride and she painfully remembered all the dreams she had. Unconsciously, she had drawn a box in the middle of the paper surrounded by turned over furniture and broken glass.

"Blimey Zoey! I didn't know you were that good at art!"

Zoey jumped at the voice and saw Fred looking over her shoulder.

"Fred!" Zoey gasped, "What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like?"

Before Zoey could reply Echo, George and Bridgit emerged from behind the shelves each approaching Fred and herself. Zoey hastily folded her drawing and stuffed it into her pocket.

"Tell me, Fred, why am I dragged into this? I've got Potions to attend to," Echo said as she stood beside Zoey.

"Potions smotions," Fred said childishly, "Besides, it's Lunch right now and you've got Potions _after _Lunch"

"But I want to finish early…," Echo grumbled

"You already have assignments?" George asked as he took a seat across from Zoey, beside Bridgit who was beside Fred.

"Of course. It's Snape we're talking about"

"_Professor_ Snape," Zoey found herself correcting.

"You know, when you correct Echo it makes me think of Percy when he… you know tries to control Fred and George," Bridgit started, "Always making them act and do stuff his way"

Fred and George gave a snort while Zoey looked wide eyed at the Ravenclaw.

"No… I couldn't… do I?" she stuttered out

"No Zoey. I'm just messing with you," Bridgit gave a smile.

"Speaking of Percy," Echo began, "You guys never told us what you did to him on the train"

"Let's just say…things got a little flashy," Bridgit said as a smirk formed on her lips.

"Okay, now I don't like where this is going. Can I go to Potions now?" Echo asked as she folded her arms across her chest.

"Why Echo, Why wouldn't you want to hear-" Fred started

"-What we did to Percy? Don't tell me you're protecting 'Percy the Perfect Prefect'," George finished

Echo scowled, "I wouldn't do such a thing"

"So what did you guys do to Percy?" Zoey asked

"Well, do you want to hear it or are you heading off to Potions and miss out on this amazing story?" Bridgit asked, looking playfully at Echo.

Echo bit her lip before giving a hard look at everyone, "Fine, I'll stay. But I won't take part in conversing with you people"

Zoey rolled her eyes and smiled. "Typical. So what happened?"

Bridgit grinned. "Well, when you were asleep, I walked into the compartment-"

"-and was looked so angry that you could see the smoke coming out of her ears," George interrupted

"Red-face and all," Fred added, "She could have been confused with the Hogwarts Express"

"Anyway," Bridgit continued choosing to ignore the twins' interruptions, "They, well Echo, asked me what was wrong and I answered that Percy gave me a demerit because I was planning a prank on the Slytherins"

"So, when we heard that Little-Miss-Wannabe-Prankster over here wanted to get back at Percy, we couldn't resist the opportunity to suggest a prank for the bloody little prefect," Fred continued.

"So what was the prank?" Zoey asked curiously with a tilt of her head.

"I put a spell on my camera that would make clothes turn invisible," Bridgit said sending a glare at Fred for his annoying comment

"We then walked up to Percy and took a picture of him," George said already beginning to laugh.

"He even smiled like a bloody politic!" Fred added, "He was completely clueless!"

"What do you expect from a pompous prat? A 'Hello'?" Bridgit asked sarcastically.

"So," Zoey interrupted, "What happened after?"

"His robes and uniform disappeared and he patrolled the train half naked!" George answered making Fred and Bridgit smirk.

Zoey held back a bark of laughter, "H-he didn't even notice?"

"No he didn't!" Bridgit laughed, "By the time he realized it he ran around the train screaming 'Where's my badge?'"

Fred and George joined in the laughter.

"He was running around half-naked and all he cared about was his freaking prefect badge!" Bridgit said.

Zoey let out a laugh before quickly covering her mouth. She hoped Madam Pince did not hear her.

"Detention was so worth it," Fred said still laughing

"Detention?" Zoey asked as she controlled her laughter, "On the first day back?"

"What's so surprising?" George asked

"We _are_ the Weasley Twins!" Fred said

Zoey shook her head, "Should have known"

Suddenly the bell rang.

"Oh… Lunch's over?" Zoey asked as she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

"Apparently," Bridgit said as she pushed back her chair to stand up.

"What classes do you have next?" Zoey asked as she, too, pushed back her chair.

"Potions obviously," Echo spoke for the first time in a long time as she got up as well.

"Same here," Bridgit said as a look of annoyance appeared on her face, "I hate Snape"

"We've got Charms," the twins said as they stood up in unison and pushed their hands in their pockets.

"How about you Zoe?" Bridgit asked

"I've got Potions too," Zoey replied with a small smile.

"Well, we better go before Snape blows a cap and deducts points," Echo said, she really wanted to get to Potions.

"Yeah, we should," Bridgit agreed.

Zoey watched as Bridgit, Echo and George turned to leave to library. Without meaning to, she placed her hand in her pocket and slightly played with the parchment. Her eyes glazed over as she remembered the dusty room, the box and the pain of a thousand knives her aunt gave her. She gave a shudder.

"Are you cold?"

Zoey jumped. She had forgotten Fred was still with her. She turned to look at him and noted he was leaning against one of the many bookshelves looking at her.

"No…just remembered something," she bit her lip.

"Was it a bad memory?"

"I guess you could say that," Zoey gave a weak smile.

"You want to talk about it?" Fred asked as he walked over to her and pushed a strand of hair away from her face. Zoey blushed. Should she tell him?

"N-not right now…," she whispered, "We'll be late for class."

She felt Fred's hand softly graze her cheek before taking hold of her own hand. Her blush deepened.

"Okay," he said, "Let's go then?"

Zoey smiled as he grinned, "Sure"

* * *

**And here is Chapter 15~!**

**Did I do this instead of my project? Yes! PROCRASTINATION AT ITS BEST! (or irresponsibility XD)**

**A little story telling before the dedications: I am part of the softball intrams in my school. Sadly, we lost but I still feel very happy because for the first time I was able to hit the ball on my first try! I was like "Think Beater. Think Beater. Think Fred. Think George. Think AWESOME!" and I hit it! YESH!**

**Right.**

**I dedicate this chapter to my two awesome friends (one of them being "ZoomSkater14")who helped me once again in typing it up :D Love you!**

**I also would want to dedicate this to "Taka" may we be able to finish all our requirements! "YukiKyoMomiji" for her amazing curiosity that inspires me for new chapters that you all will be seeing in the future, "yvonna" for her question and reviews and "wHaT's In A pEn-NaMe " for asking a "Fred/Zoey moment" sorry if it's a little small but it's there! :D**

**I would also like to thank all you awesome people who reviewed, alerted and favorited! You are all so beautiful!**

**Now for some question and answers: Most of you ask if Zoey's ever going to reveal her past to her friends I can't say much on it but Yes she will. When and how? I can't say.**

**Will she meet her father again? Of course. How? I can't say. when? I think it's obvious :P**

**Are Fred and Zoey going to develop a relationship and kiss? Of course! When and how? i can't say :D**

**And that's it for today!**

**Don't forget to ask questions and review!  
**

**I only own what I own  
**


	17. Chapter 16: Zoey's Day

**Chapter 16: Zoey's Day**

"There look! Next to the tall kid with red hair."

"Wearing the glasses?"

"Did you see his face? His scar?"

Zoey heard people whispering as she passed by the Gryffindor Tower. She was hoping to catch sight of the twins but instead encountered a group of students surrounding the area ogling at _The_ Harry Potter. Zoey shook her head as she hugged her books to her chest. She doubted she would be able to find the twins so she headed off to a random direction.

"First Echo and Bridgit are nowhere to be seen and now I can't even catch sight of the twins," Zoey mumbled to herself as she headed down on e of the hundred and forty-two staircases in Hogwarts, "The universe wants me to be alone I know it."

Zoey briskly walked with her head down as she tried to dodge the other students who came to see the Gryffindor boy.

"Just leave him alone. Giving him that much attention won't do him any good," Zoey muttered as she picked up her pace. She picked up her pace when she heard the clacking of shoes. Her eyes grew wider. She sucked in a breath as she made a quick turn down a corner and bumped into a hard yet soft surface.

She stumbled back.

"It does not do well to walk with one's head down, Miss Emeraude,"

Zoey gasped as she looked up to see a tall, thin man with a sliver beard so long that it could be tucked into his belt.

"Professor Dumbledore!" she squeaked, "I'm so sorry. I-I didn't realize-"

She paused when Dumbledore raised his hand.

"No blood no foul Miss Emeraude," he said with a smile, "Now would you tell me why where you in such a hurry? I believe classes don't start in half an hour so you're in no danger of being late."

Zoey blushed, "I- er- I was just going for a walk… It's such a beautiful day and… yeah."

Dumbledore nodded, "I believe so. It's not too hot and not too cold. The sun isn't blazing either but," he paused, "How would you know? Your head was down."

"I…I…I lied…," Zoey confessed as she looked down. Her hair was not tied so it fell to cover her face.

"But why?"

Zoey looked back up to see Dumbledore's blue eyes studying her. It looked like he could see straight into her soul.

"I'm not sure," she said very quietly. She was afraid of getting in trouble with the wise old wizard.

As if hearing her thought Dumbledore spoke, "You are in no trouble Miss Emeraude. I say in such times when encountering someone you do not know well and can see they are your, please excuse me for my lack for a better word, superior you feel the need to lie to not get in trouble," he said with a twinkle in his eye.

Zoey nodded her head for she didn't really know how to respond.

"Now, if you don't mind me asking but where are your friends Miss Beaumont, Miss Smith and the two Mr. Weasley's?"

"I don't know, Sir," Zoey responded, "I was hoping to see Fred and George but the Gryffindor Tower seems to be…. Very busy at the moment and I haven't been able to catch sight of Echo and Bridgit yet…"

"I see…I see," Dumbledore nodded in understanding, "If you don't mind me asking-"

"Not at all Sir!" Zoey interrupted before blushing, "Sorry… go on"

"But don't you have any friends in your own house? It's good to have friends from all houses but what about from your own?" Dumbledore asked as he stared into her gray eyes.

"I…don't want to be a bother to them, sir." Zoey said

"And why would you be? Miss Black," Dumbledore asked as he pushed his half-moon glasses up his long and crooked nose.

Zoey did not respond. She was frozen in her spot staring wide eyed and open mouthed at her headmaster. Flashes of her broken home and hear evil aunt appeared before her eyes before disappearing and being replaced by a darkly handsome man with the same gray eyes as herself.

"I think I just caught sight of young Mister Weasley," Dumbledore said acting like he did not notice Zoey's shocked state, "I believe he may point you to the direction of his brother's. Maybe you can also get well acquainted with young Mister Potter."

Zoey blinked.

"Well, I better head back to my office," Dumbledore said before turning around, "Please feel free to come by if you have any questions or problems Miss Black. Oh, and I'm particularly fond of the Muggle sweet called 'Sherbet Lemon'," and with a twinkle in his eye, Professor Dumbledore left.

* * *

Zoey sat on a large rock near Hagrid's hut as she read a particularly large book. She still had not caught sight of any of her friends so she decided to take this opportunity to catch up on her reading, after all with the twins around you could never go as far as a single sentence before your book was chucked out and you were being teased by the Weasley pranksters.

Zoey booked marked her page before looking up only to see Ron and Harry heading towards her. Ron waved.

"Hey Zoey," he said as he stopped by in front of her. Harry stood rather awkwardly at his side.

"Hi Ron," Zoey smiled, "How have your classes been so far?"

"Fine I suppose. History of Magic is a bore though"

Zoey laughed.

"Oh! Do you have any idea what's up with Quirrell's turban?" Ron asked slightly eager. Quirrell had said it was given to him as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie.

"_Professor _Quirrell," Zoey corrected as she stood up to her full height, "And wasn't it given to him by an African Prince?"

"But do you actually believe that? It smells funny and all"

"Well, from what the twins said it's most likely stuffed with garlic. I wouldn't really know," she said with a shrug. She then faced Harry, "Hello. I don't believe we've met. I'm Zoey"

She held out her hand. Harry studied her for a moment half-expecting her to act like most of the people he's met so far. After a few moments he shook her hand.

"Harry. Harry Potter."

"Well, Harry. How have your classes been?" she asked politely.

"Wow, Zoey. You're acting much like a mother right now," Ron snickered.

Zoey rolled her eyes and smiled. She waited patiently for Harry to answer.

"Pretty much the same as Ron's…but… Zoey can I ask you a question?"

"Alright"

"Does Snape always interrogate students in front of the class with questions they can't possible know?" Harry asked.

Zoey paused for a moment as she recalled her first class with Snape back in her first year.

_"Tell me Miss Emeraude," Snape said as he lowered his parchment with the students' names. He was calling out the attendance, "What is the difference of an Animagus and a Werewolf?"_

_'This is potions isn't it? That was a Defense Against the Dark Arts type of question…,' Zoey thought to herself before whispering an "I don't know"_

_"What is the usage of a Bezoar?"_

_"I don't know, sir"_

_Snape looked like he was enjoying the fact that Zoey did not know the answers to his questions. _

"Err- I don't think he does it to _all _students," Zoey said

"Only me?"

"No! He did it to me as well. Asking all sorts of questions like what the Bezoar was for and all that. He even asked me a Defense Against the Dark Arts question," Zoey added.

"Can he do that?" Harry asked

"He's Snape he can do whatever he wants," Ron said, "That and he's been wanting that position for ages. That's most likely why he asked you that question Zoey"

"Anyways, just try to stay on his good side"

"The only people who are on his good side are the Slytherin's" Ron muttered.

"He does seem to favor them," Zoey agreed.

"Wish McGonagall favored us," Harry said.

"Getting of the topic of favoritism," Zoey said with a clap of her hands, "By any chance, Ron, have you seen your brothers?"

"Which one?"

"Fred and George"

Ron paused to think for a moment, "No I haven't. I don't think I saw Echo either."

"Oh, well thank anyway. So where were you two heading before talking to me?" Zoey asked when she realized that the two First years couldn't possibly be planning on spending the rest of the day with her.

"We were heading off to Hagrid's," Harry said jerking his head towards the hut, "Would you care to join us?"

"No, it's alright. I better get going. Say 'Hi' to Hagrid for me!" Zoey said as she started to head back towards the castle. With a final wave, she left.

* * *

The next day, Zoey finally caught sight of the twins and made a bee line towards them. She was just a few feet behind them when she caught sight of Harry and Ron. They were having a conversation on brooms.

"Good Morning," Zoey said politely as she approached the four boys.

"Good Morning," Harry replied with the same politeness while the three Weasley's made due with a simple "Morning" greeting.

"So what are on the agendas for you two?" Zoey asked Ron and Harry.

"At three-thirty we have Flying lessons," Ron said, eager written on his face.

"That's nice," Zoey smiled.

"Nice on a count that the school brooms are horrible," Fred said.

"What makes you say that?" Harry asked

"Well, they tend to vibrate when you fly to high," George said as he pushed his hands into his pockets.

"That and they always fly slightly to the left," Fred added

"You're over exaggerating," Zoey said as she placed her hands behind her back.

"And what makes you say that?" Fred asked, "From what I saw, your flying was dreadful"

"That wasn't the fault of the broom," Zoey blushed, "My flying skills naturally suck."

"It can't be that bad," Harry said

"Oh it is. She couldn't even get down from her broom when we went flying last summer," George snickered.

"You played Quidditch without me?" Ron asked slightly angry.

"We do a lot of things without you, ickle Ronnie," Fred said.

Zoey bit her lip before hooking her arms with both Fred in George in hopes that they would drop the subject.

"Well, we better be heading to class right now," Zoey said, "Good luck with flying! Bye!"

Zoey dragged the twins far enough that they already lost sight of the two First year boys.

"What are you talking about Zoe?" Fred asked

"We don't have classes yet," George said.

"I know. I just didn't want you two to cause any trouble," Zoey said

"Us trouble? Never," the twins said in unison.

Zoey rolled her eyes

* * *

Zoey sat in between Fred and George the day Harry Potter had received his Nimbus 2000. She was eating silently for she didn't really know what to say to the twins right now and Echo and Bridgit were still nowhere to be seen. She had checked the library and the Black Lake but they weren't there. She even took a quick walk by the Ravenclaw Table but they weren't there either.

Zoey sighed.

"What do you suppose that is?" she heard Fred ask George.

Zoey and George looked at where Fred was pointing and saw six owls carrying a long package and an owl following behind them with a letter in its beak.

The owls dropped the package in front of Harry knocking his bacon to the ground.

"Maybe it could be a broom?" George guessed when she estimated the length of the box to a normal broom.

"Can't be," Fred said as he ate a spoonful of oatmeal, "First years aren't allowed to have brooms," Fred explained when Zoey gave him a confused look.

"But then what would he use to fly on?" Zoey asked, "He is on the team isn't he?"

"What?" George asked in surprise.

"Harry made the team. Ron said something about Harry catching a Remembrall, Professor McGonagall seeing him, other events happening, and him joining the team as the new Seeker," Zoey said as she drank her glass of Pumpkin juice.

"Blimey," the twins said in unison.

"Well we better congratulate him," Fred said as he stood up at the same time George did.

"Oh don't bother him," Zoey pleaded.

The twins didn't appear to hear her for they walked off to the direction of Harry and Ron.

* * *

**And here's a small update. I titled it "Zoey's Day" because well, not much is happening here. It's almost like a filler chapter.**

**Sigh... so much homework. I have a Filipino Oral test to make and a math research/project to do... there might be more that I just forgot to do. My gawd! I want to die.**

**Anyway, Question and Answer time!**

**"ZoomSkater14" asked "Does Dombledore know about Zoey's past?" Well, as you can see that question was slightly answered at the beginning of the chapter.**

**"BookKailei" was asking about Bridgit's past. My answer to that is "You'll have to wait and see :)" Bridgit's past will be revealed in the near future... or something... Sorry for my vague answer. Just be patient. I will soon reveal who she really is. "BookKailei" also asked who among the three girls would end up with the twins. I would have to say Fred and Zoey and Echo and George :)  
(Was that a spoiler? No... not really... maybe?)**

**Anyway (again) this doesn't show any Fred/Zoey moments and Bridgit and Echo don't even appear in this chapter. I'm sorry. I just wanted to show that Zoey is now acquainted with Harry and that she is on good terms with Ron. **

**Also, I apologize if the events aren't in proper order. I know that Harry get's his Nimbus 2000 some time after Fred and George tell him that they're Beaters and all that. Here, in this story, I made it that he received his broom before that they tell him. Sorry. I just wanted to wrap that scene up before the "TROOOLL IN THE DUNGEON!" part. There's a little sneak peak for you all ;)**

**I might update later today that is if I am able to complete my requirements in time.**

**Have a nice day!**

**Don't forget to review and ask questions.**

**I dedicate this little chapter to all you special people out there who reviewed, asked, favorited and alerted! :D**

**I only own what I own  
**


	18. Chapter 17: Hippogriff Dung

**yeah... this chapter doesn't have the "TROOOOOOL IN THE DUNGEON!" scene like I said it would. Sorry, that would hopefully be in the next chapter :)**

**Anyway, thank you for all those who reviewed, alerted and favorited! I love you all!**

**Okay, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter! (sigh I haven't placed any quotes in so long)**

**I dedicate this to my two awesome friends who helped type up this chapter along with the next one :D Love you guys!  
**

**PS: I've noticed that I've had some typos in my previous chapters. I apologize.**

**Don't forget to review and ask questions!**

**I only own what I own!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 17: Hippogriff Dung**

Zoey clutched her books to her chest as she walked in between the twins. They were passing by the field when Zoey caught sight of Harry talking with the Gryffindor Keeper, Oliver Wood. She noticed a suitcase type of thing in the middle of the two of them and hazily saw about three large balls. One of the balls was in the hands of Oliver.

"What are they doing?" Zoey asked as she stopped to see Oliver toss the ball to Harry.

Fred and George stopped to look and both wore grins on their faces.

"Looks like Wood's explaining Quidditch to Harry," George said

"You see that big red ball Zoey?" Fred spoke in a tone people used to speak to children, "That's a Quaffle. Say it with me Koo-wa-fle"

Zoey rolled her eyes and lightly shoved Fred's shoulder. "I know what a Quaffle is," she laughed.

"Oh looks like Wood just released the Bludger," George said.

Zoey's eyes widened as she looked back at the scene. One of the two balls in the suitcase was gone and Harry had a bat in his hand. She gasped as she saw the Bludger zooming towards Harry. Harry pulled back his arm and gave it a hard swing sending the Bludger away.

George gave a whistle.

"Oh it's coming back," Fred said

The Bludger zoomed back and Oliver wrestled it to the ground before locking it back in place. Zoey shivered.

"I really hate that thing," she said before clutching her things closer to her chest. She took a look at her watch.

"I've got to head off to Divination now," she told the twins, "You guys heading to DADA?"

"Yeah," George said

"With Quirrell the Squirrel," Fred said as he and George imitated Quirrell's twitchy manner.

Zoey gave a laugh, "Be nice"

"Aren't we always?" the twins said with a slightly surprised look as they placed their hands over their hearts.

"Uhuh," Zoey said before rolling her eyes and giving a smile. She ran towards her Divination class.

* * *

Zoey headed towards the Seventh floor of the North Tower where she entered her Divination classroom. In her hand was her favorite handkerchief which she used to cover her nose and mouth when she fully entered the room. She took a minute to look at her surroundings. The room has at least twenty circular tables crammed inside that were surrounded by armchairs and fat pouffes. Everything was dimly lit and the curtains and windows were closed. The room was warm and a fire was burning under a crowded mantelpiece that gave of a heavy, sickly sort of perfume. The shelves were crammed with different kinds of objects that Zoey wished she had more time to study such as the tattered playing cards and the countless silvery crystal balls.

To Zoey's relief she caught sight of Echo sitting on the second row of tables. Echo was tapping on her notebook while looking around the room.

Zoey stumbled over the other tables and chairs before reaching her Ravenclaw friend. She dropped her things on the table before taking her seat. Her mouth still covered she whispered to Echo, "Where have you been these past few days? I haven't seen you or Bridgit anywhere!"

"I'm sorry Zwei, I haven't informed you that we have been staying in the Astronomy Tower, Bridgit and I, I mean,"

"Astronomy Tower?" Zoey asked, "What did you do there?"

Echo merely shrugged, "Not much. I just go there to read. Bridgit on the other hand… go ask her."

Zoey bit her lip as she lowered her hand and placed it on her lap. Her eyebrows furrowed a bit as she opened her mouth to speak but before the words could come out something at the corner of her eye caught her attention.

There stood her Divination teacher Professor Trelawney with her gaudy shawls, cloaks and bangles and her thick glasses perched on her nose making her eyes appear ten times their size.

"Good Afternoon my class," she spoke and the class began.

* * *

As the rest of the class looked into their crystal balls and read through their books Zoey pulled out a square piece of parchment from her bag and laid it on her table. She folded the paper to make a triangle and folded the two opposite ends of the triangle together to form a smaller triangle. She opened it up and started to fold the corners towards the center till she ended up with a square. She flipped it over and folded the corners towards the center again. She folded the square in half, unfolded it and folded it in half the other way.

Lastly, she unfolded it and pulled the four ends together making a diamond-like shape. She picked up the four square flaps and placed her fingers inside. She moved the four parts around until she was satisfied.

Echo, who was previously tediously staring into space, caught sight of what Zoey was doing and asked, "Mind if you tell me what you're doing?"

"A muggle Origami Fortune Teller," Zoey whispered as she pulled out her quill and ink bottle and started to scribble on the flaps. She first wrote Gryffindor then Hufflepuff after Ravenclaw and lastly Slytherin.

She opened it and started to write the numbers one to eight inside. She no longer opened the remaining flaps to write down the supposed "fortune" she just folded everything into place and tapped it with her wand. It glowed a faint yellow before returning to normal.

Zoey turned to Echo and started to explain her little project. "You see, the traditional way here is to write four colors on these flaps," she pointed, "but instead I wrote the four houses. Inside," she opened it, "there are eight numbers and underneath these numbers there is a fortune.

"The rule here is that first you pick a color – but in this case, a house. I spell it out and then you pick one of the four numbers you can see, after that I move the fortune teller in and out to the number of your chosen –err- number. Then, you pick another number and it will open it to reveal your fortune.

"The difference here is that once again, it's the founders and the fortune changes. Muggles, they can't do magic of course so they write down their own fortune like "Be careful on Tuesday" or "Do a good deed today" but after a while you end up memorizing which number has the fortune you want to hear or avoid so it gets boring and you have to make a new one. Mine, I charmed it to change so no two fortunes are the same for the current player," Zoey ended with a gasp of breath

"So you wanna try it out?" Zoey asked

"Just get me out of boredom," Echo said

"Alright then, pick a house," Zoey muttered under her breath so as not to catch Trelawney's attention.

"Slytherin"

Zoey gave a small cough and started to mover her fortune teller in an in and out motion, "S-L-Y-T-H-E-R-I-N," she spelled. She opened her fortune teller on the letter N and the numbers eight, seven, three and four showed, "Now, pick a number"

"Eight," Echo said

Zoey started to count until the number eight, the same numbers showed, "Pick another number"

"Four,"

Zoey lifted the flap of number four and a small opaque yellow light emitted from it. With black cursive writing Echo's fortune appeared. _Something dangerous would happen on the last day of the tenth month. _It read before disappearing.

"Oooh! Halloween! The day of mischief," Bridgit said, startling Zoey and Echo.

Echo slightly jumped before scoffing, "Big deal. That fortune doesn't mean anything"

"Bridgit! When did you get here?" Zoey gasped and shot a confused look towards Echo.

"I was here the whole time," Bridgit answered innocently.

"You were?" Zoey laughed, "Oh! You wanna try this? Wait do you know what it is?"

"I'll be having my mind somewhere else," Echo waved them off.

"Yup, I know what it is!" Bridgit answered, ignoring Echo's comment.

Zoey shook her head at her violet haired friends before facing Bridgit fully. She held up her fortune teller.

"Okay then. Now, pick a house"

"Ravenclaw," Bridgit answered

"R-A-V-E-N-C-L-A-W," Zoey spelled, "At least you're loyal to your house," she jokingly said

"Yes, I am aren't I?" Bridgit said with pride in her voice.

The numbers one, two, six and five showed "Pick a number now," Zoey instructed.

"Five"

Zoey counted up to five. The numbers seven, eight, three and four showed. "Now pick again," she said

"Eight"

Zoey opened the flap and once again a small opaque yellow light appeared along with Bridgit's fortune _Your deepest darkest secret would be revealed and those you care most for will be put to the test. _Zoey furrowed her eyebrows as she re-read the fortune.

"Uhm… that doesn't make sense," Bridgit said half-heartedly as she watched the fortune disappear.

"Really?" Zoey asked as she folded her fortune teller up and flipped it in her hands, "Wonder what's wr-"

Zoey paused. There was a shadow covering her. She gulped as she looked up and saw Professor Trelawney looking down at her.

"What are you three doing?" she asked

Zoey's hands started to shake as she tried to hide the fortune teller.

"Well…?" the magnified eyed teacher asked, looking at the three of them.

"Well, ma'am," Zoey stuttered out, "W-we were just playing with a muggle fortune teller that I charmed"

Echo coughed beside Zoey, "If you charmed it, it wouldn't be muggle anymore"

Zoey jammed her elbow in Echo's ribs to silence her.

"Young lady, there is no such thing as a fortune teller made by muggles," Professor Trelawney said with a smug look on her face.

"That's why it's called muggle. _Muggle,_" Echo emphasized.

"I'm sorry ma'am," Zoey apologized

"No Zoey, you shouldn't say sorry! It's divination, we should be learning about fortune telling no matter what way," Bridgit said smirking and grabbing Trelawney's attention.

"Excuse me, but unless she can prove that it tells the future then it's not considered a fortune telling device," the teacher said smirking.

"Show her Zoey!" Bridgit said already annoyed with Trelawney.

"Ah… are you sure?" Zoey asked worriedly as she held her fortune teller in her hands.

"Yeah, give it to her," Bridgit said

Before Zoey could say anymore, Trelawney snatched to fortune teller out of her hands and placed them on her own. "Now, tell me how to work this device before you can prove anything," she said

Zoey began to explain the rules before Trelawney held the fortune teller firmly and shoved it in Zoey face. Some of the students laughed at the sight.

"Pick a house," Trelawney said

"H-hufflepuff," Zoey stuttered out. Trelawney moved the fortune teller at lightning speed before shoving it back to Zoey's face showing the numbers once, two, six and five.

"Five," Zoey said. Bridgit laughed at Zoey predicament.

Trelawney, not hearing Bridgit or any of the other students, once again moved the fortune teller in such a pace that it looked like it would rip. It was once again shoved into Zoey's face. "Seven," she whimpered.

Trelawney opened the flaw and the yellow light came back out. Zoey, Echo and Bridgit gulped at the fortune.

_You are in deep hippogriff dung._


	19. Chapter 18: An idea gone too far

**Chapter 18: An idea gone too far**

It was passed dinner time and Zoey, together with Bridgit and Echo, was heading back up the Seventh Floor of the North Tower; Zoey nervously but her lip as she played with the sleeves of her robes. She never got detention before and when she imagined getting one, though she never actually thought she would, she had hoped it would be in the morning for Hogwarts looked rather scary in the dark.

Zoey jumped when she heard cackling down the corner.

"Don't be so nervous Zoey, it's only detention…it's not the end of the world," Bridgit said, rubbing Zoey's shoulders for comfort. Zoey continued to nervously play with her sleeves as her eyes darted from one side of the castle to the other.

"But I've never gotten detention before," Zoey said as she looked up at Bridgit. She then looked back down only to see Echo sitting in a corner rocking back and forth while wrapping her arms around her knees. "Shit. Detention. End of the World." Echo muttered.

"Look at her!" Zoey exclaimed as she whipped out her hand to point at Echo, "What exactly happens in detention?"

"Detention. Mind-numbing nothingness," Echo muttered again as she continued to rock back and forth.

At the sight of Echo Zoey felt her panic rise, "How can the twins survive detention every other day?" Zoey moaned as she leaned against Bridgit.

"You two are over-reacting, I mean, look at Fred, George and I? We get detention all the time, but we're normal," Bridgit said making Echo and Zoey look at her oddly, "Okay, _I'm _normal, I don't know what went wrong with those two"

"You call yourself normal?" Zoey asked slowly. Bridgit gave an innocent smile.

"Let's just get this over with," Zoey sighed as she clutched onto Bridgit's arm for dear life.

Echo stood up from the corner and joined the other two in entering the Divination classroom. When they opened the door they were greeted with a surprise.

"Look what the cat dragged in," Fred said making Bridgit smirk

"I can't believe I'm stuck in this lake and I can't escape because I'll get in more trouble," Echo said as she leaned against one of the tables. Zoey looked at her oddly. "What are you talking about?" she asked but it seemed as though Echo did not hear her.

Bridgit released Zoey's hold before walking towards the twins and whispering, "Don't mind her. She hasn't been onto one detention and she's already gone crazy" She said with e jerk towards Echo.

Fred and George nodded their head before focusing their attention back to the "noobs" or detention.

"So Zoe," Fred smirked, "What did a goody-two-shoes like you do to get landed here?"

Zoey licked her lips as she played with her sleeves again. She felt her cheeks burning, "F-fortune telling"

"That's it?" George asked

"Aren't you suppose to fortune tell?" Fred asked as well, "You _were _in Divination right?"

"It was more like.. Trelawney couldn't accept that what Zoey did was kind of Fortune Telling," Bridgit said, "Stubborn Loony"

"It was just muggle origami," Zoey mumbled as she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

The twins looked at her oddly.

"What's 'Origami'?" George asked her with a genuinely confused expression

Echo coughed and answered for Zoey, "Origami the Japanese art of paper-folding, gidiot"

Zoey let out a snort at Echo's choice of word. She later blushed when Fred looked at her. "Sorry," she blushed. Fred shook his head before turning his attention back to the others.

"What's Japanese then?" Fred asked making Bridgit burst out in laugher.

"Dear Merlin," Echo sighed as she slumped to the floor. Zoey bit her lip to keep herself from laughing at the twins' question. She could understand why they didn't understand what 'Origami' was for they were raised in an all wizard environment but not knowing g what 'Japanese' was, was just a bit laughable.

There was no time for explaining to the clueless pure-blood wizards for the door opened revealing Professor Trelawney in all her gaudy shawl glory.

"Loony," Echo coughed.

"Everyone in your seats," Trelawney said as if she did not hear Echo's comment. Bridgit had stopped her fit of giggles.

The five students made their way to their assigned seats, Zoey with George up front, Echo and Brigit behind and Fred just a little bit beside Zoey and George's table. "Why do I have to be alone?" Zoey heard Fred grumble as he slumped on his seat.

Trelawney began to explain to them how their detention was going to work out.

"Three of you are here because you tried to make a fake fortune telling device, while the other two are here because they thought it was funny to have dung bombs replace my crystal balls and explode in their classmate's faces," Trelawney said as she gave them all a death glare that couldn't be taken seriously since her glasses made her look like a bug, "Now, what I want you all to do is write a two scroll essay on why Divination is important. Go on now. Begin!"

As the hippy, a nickname Bridgit came up for Trelawney, finished discussing their detention, the five students took out their school materials and started to write. Forty minutes had passed and Bridgit and Echo were nearly done with theirs. Zoey was half way through and the twins barely had two paragraphs written.

"You two should focus and stop messing around," Echo said, not taking her eyes of her scroll.

"Why? Little Miss Perfect afraid of getting in trouble? Wait, you already are in trouble," George retorted, making Trelawney look up at them

"I hate you, gidiot. Along with your brother, Captain Stupidity," Echo glared

"Hey!" Fred said, "I'm obviously the gidiot!"

"No, no, no Gred you are deeply mistaken. You are obviously Captain Stupidity," George said with a diplomatic sort of tone.

"Oh but that's where you're wrong dear Forge. _You _are Captain Stupidity," Fred said with a shake of his head, "What do you think Zoe?"

Zoey looked up from her essay, "Does it matter? You both are morons"

"I concur," Echo smirked as she patted Zoey's shoulder.

"That hurts Zoe. Right here," Fred said pouting and pointing to his heart. Zoey didn't seem to hear him for Bridgit then said: "Don't insult the morons of the world! Fred and George are way worse than them!" she said acting offended for the morons.

"World? Seriously, World? I thought the whole universe," Echo laughed to herself.

"Hmm… good point," Bridgit said giving Echo a low-five

"Hey!" the twins exclaimed, obviously getting offended.

"Well, what else are you? We could always call you girls to insult you more, but that would be insulting us more," Bridgit said.

"Hideous feminine specie," Echo said

Zoey shook her head as she turned back to her essay, "Seriously you guys keep it down," Zoey said as she tried hard to not get into any more trouble.

Time passed and eventually Trelawney bored herself to sleep. Fred and George took this opportunity to pack up their unfinished essays and get up from their seats.

"Where are you guys going?" Echo asked as she kept her quill and placed her essay on Professor Trelawney's table.

Fred and George didn't seem to hear her for they were in deep discussion.

"We should pull a prank on Trelawney," Fred said making George smirk and nod

"What?" Zoey asked in shock as she placed her essay on the table as well.

"We should pull a prank on her as pay back for detention!" George explained.

Echo pulled up her bag and approached Fred and George to thump them on their foreheads, "This is not a good thing to do, Tweedledee, Tweedledum"

"And since when did we do anything good?" Fred asked as he angrily rubbed his forehead.

"Normally, I would agree to this, but she's still a teacher and even a harmless prank is still a major offence," Bridgit said as she joined them

"Don't be such a weak girl. Where'd the prankster within you go?" Fred teased knowing he was puching Bridgit's buttons. They exited the classroom.

"Fred, don't," Zoey pleaded as she quietly closed the door

"Yeah listen to Zwei," Echo said, her voice now very serious

"You're such girls!" the twins said, continuing on their way to wherever they were going.

"Why do you want to prank her?" Zoey asked as she followed them. They were going down a path unfamiliar to her.

"Because revenge is sweet," Fred said

Zoey's eyebrows knitted in worry as they started to ascend stairs. She was beginning to panic.

"Wait a minute," Bridgit started, "Why are we going to the Astronomy Tower?" Bridgit shouted at the twins.

Zoey jumped and started to shake. The Astronomy Tower was the tallest tower in Hogwarts.

"The stuff we need is up here," George bluntly answered.

The twins pushed open the door and it made an eerie creak. They entered with Echo and Bridgit following closely behind. Zoey stared at the door in fear before entering herself.

"Listen gidiots, this isn't a good idea," Echo said as the door swung close.

"If you don't think this is a good idea then why are you here?" Fred asked the three girls.

"Because we're sure that you'll do something more utterly stupid than the things you've already done!" Bridgit answered.

"Oh will you just shut it you little Miss Prankster Wannabe, we know that you got the skill but you don't have the courage to be a prankster," Fred said with a hard glare.  
That was the final straw for Bridgit. She pulled out her wand and fired a stunning charm towards him.

Zoey let out a scared gasp as Fred dodged it.

"What the bloody hell is you problem!" George shouts back at her. He, too, pulled out his wand and shot a jinx at her. Bridgit dodges the jinx as well and Echo fired a blasting charm towards the twins getting irritated by their behavior.

"S-stop," Zoey stuttered out but none of them hear her. She started to panic as they all held their wands high ready to cast a spell at any moment.

"STOP IT!" Zoey screamed as she ran in between the four of them. She was too late. They all shot their spells at once and it all hit her at the same time. Zoey gasped in pain as she stumbled and hit the cold, stone wall before slumping over and was dangerously close to falling of the tower.

Either she was frozen in shock or from the spell, Zoey did not know. She could hear the scared yells of her friends but she could not respond. Her glasses fell off.

* * *

**Hey~! The title say it all. The idea of the prank just went to far, things got out of hand and BAM! yeah...**

**My chapter are shorter than usual... sorry about that. It's test week and there are still a lot of requirements and homeworks. I just can't wait for it all to end!**

**I had a lot in mind to say... It's early morning right now... I have to get ready for school...**

**Anyway. That "TROLL IN THE DUNGEON" scene isn't appearing the way I've planned... oh well xD**

**garsh I'm tired. I wanna go back to sleep. My pillows are still cold. **

**I dedicate this to my friends again and to everyone who took the time in reading this story...**

**yawn**

**me tired.**

**Don't forget to review and ask questions!**

**I only own what I own**

**(PS: the ending is a bit anit-climatic... maybe? I don't know... stay tuned for the next chapter!)  
**


	20. Chapter 19: Troll in the dungeon missed?

**Chapter 19: Troll in the dungeon missed?**

People had said that the pain of the Cruciatus Curse was worse than having a thousand white-hot knives pierce ones skin. That was an understatement. Zoey's body was indulged by mind numbing pain when the curse was casted and it still felt the same after it was lifted. She could feel knives piercing her skin and through her skull. Zoey felt tears flow down her face as she lay limp on the cold, hard floor. Her head throbbed painfully when her aunt's shoes _clacked _on the floor making it echo in her ears.

"So, are you going to tell me where it is?" her aunt hissed

Zoey did not reply, she could not reply. She could not speak, think, breath. Zoey felt like she was merely a rag doll who was tossed aside because her owner, who once loved her, had found a new brand new toy. The only flaw Zoey could see in this comparison was that her aunt never loved her. She let out a pained whimper as she felt her aunt's nails scratch her scalp as she grabbed a handful of her hair.

"You're not going to tell me… are you?" her aunt whispered, "Let's see if you'll talk when you're dangling from two-hundred-fifty feet from the ground"

Before Zoey knew it her aunt's grip tightened and everything around her darkened. She felt as if she was being pushed around in different places. She felt her chest tighten, her eyeballs being forced back into her head and her eardrums being pushed further into her skull. She also felt as if she were being squeezed through a very tight rubber tube.

As all the awful feelings ran through Zoey it was just worsened when she felt a sharp pain on her left arm.

Zoey felt the surface beneath her change to a rough and jagged one. Her aunt still had a full grip on her hair but it wasn't enough to hold Zoey up. She slumped down as a wave of pain shot through her body.

She let out an ear-piercing scream

"Oh poor baby," her aunt cooed, "Did you get splinchy winchy?"

Her aunt grabbed hold of her injured arm and jerked her upwards. Zoey let out another scream.

"Now then," her aunt said as she let go of her hair and pulled out her wand, "Should we do this like witches or muggles?"

Zoey did not reply. She whimpered and cried as she tried to free herself from her aunt's grip. The grip tightened.

"Stop squirming you little brat,' her aunt murmured as she walked towards the big gaping hole in the stone wall. Zoey felt the cold harsh wind blow by her and she hissed. Her aunt held tighter on her arm as she forced her wand to her neck.

"So are you going to tell me now?"

Zoey said nothing. She felt weak, she was draining blood fast. Her aunt's grip was tight but it was not strong enough to fully hold Zoey up. Zoey's body slumped and her head bobbed to the side. Almost half of her was hanging out of the hole. She could have fallen if her aunt didn't hold on to her.

Zoey felt the tears in her eyes overflow and fall down her cheeks. She was frozen to the spot as her gaze was focused on the ground beneath her. She was so high up that it was hard to distinguish what was below her. It was late at night that was what Zoey knew for the sky was dark and the wind was cold. Down below her she couldn't tell if it was cement, grass or the ocean. A thick opaque fog covered her view. A tear drop fell and woke Zoey up from her trance. She started to squirm.

"Let me go!" she yelled as she tried to break free, which wasn't much of a good idea seeing as she would fall.

"Alright," her aunt said maliciously as she loosened her grip. Zoey felt herself slipping and her eyes widened. Without much choice she gripped onto her aunt's arm.

"Aha," her aunt cackled, "Afraid of heights now are we?"

Her aunt released her hold on Zoey's arm before quickly catching it again. Zoey let out a scream. Her head lolled to the side and her eyes were once again focused beneath her. This could not be just two-hundred and fifty feet, Zoey thought to herself in fright.

"So…where is it?"

"I told you! I don't know! I don't know where the box is! I don't know! I DON'T KNOW!" Zoey screamed with all her might. She felt her face burn from her screaming and her head throbbed, "Please! Please! Get me out of here!"

Zoey took in large gasps of breaths as her tears continued to flow down her face. Her aunt stayed silent.

"So it's a box then?" her aunt whispered with a malicious smile on her lips. Zoey felt herself falling.

* * *

Zoey's leg jerked causing her to wake up with a gasp. Her eyes shot open and stared into a dull, white ceiling that looked an eerie gray from the dim light emitted by the lamp on Zoey's bedside table. Zoey's head throbbed as she groaned. She slowly turned her head to the side and caught sight of her glasses. They were crooked and broken beyond fixing.

She turned her head to the other side and saw a white curtain that separated her from the other beds, it was the same at the foot of her bed and on her other side. She was trapped in a white-curtained box. _Box_ Zoey shuddered. She brought up a shaky hand to wipe away the sweat from her forehead. She looked down her arm and saw a long scar.

She frowned.

Zoey tried to sit up but regretted it deeply as she felt her neck and shoulders were stiff and shot a numbing pain through her body. How long has she been asleep? She wondered.

"H-hello?" Zoey called out, her voice was hoarse and it was barely loud enough to make an echo in the room. Zoey guessed she was in the hospital wing. She hoped Madam Pomfrey was awake. "Hello?" she tried again, "A-anyone?"

Zoey licked her chapped lips as she waited for some sort of sound of acknowledgement. Nothing.

_What time is it?_ Zoey wondered. The room was dark and she felt a cold wind blow. She bit her lip as she tried to get a comfortable position under her blankets.

Zoey felt her eyes drop.

* * *

Zoey was thrown harshly at her bedroom wall. She and her aunt had apparated back into her house and her aunt threw her away like she was last season's witch's robes. Zoey gasped for breath as she tried her best to sit back up. She managed to get into an upright position and leaned against her broken cabinet.

"So, it's a box then," her aunt said as she twirled her wand in her hair and paced around the room, her shoes _clacking _on the marbled floor.

Zoey made no sign of hearing the question; she simply stared at the cabinet door that hung pathetically on its hinges.

"Now tell me," her aunt said as she squatted in front of her, "What's _in _the box?"

Zoey mumbled.

"What was that?" her aunt glared.

"I don't know," Zoey said a little bit louder as she glared at her aunt from under her lashes.

Her aunt raised her hand and slapped her, her nails making long red lines on her pale cheeks. Zoey felt tears well up in her eyes but she did not let them fall.

"You should learn your place," a high girlish voice that seemed to be flavored with poisoned honey said from behind her aunt. Zoey focused her eyes on the newest person in the room. Her aunt wore an evil smile on her lips as she stood up and turned around.

"Do-"

* * *

"MISS EMERAUDE!"

Zoey's eyes opened again and this time it was greeted by a soft sunlight. It was morning but the sun wasn't fully up. Zoey was glad she didn't wake up to a blazing light. She breathed in deeply before focusing her gaze to the figure holding her down.

"M-Madam Pomfrey?" Zoey stuttered out. Madam Pomfrey gave a nod before releasing her hold on Zoey. She then placed her hand underneath her and helped her up. Zoey had no choice but to let Madam Pomfrey help her for her body was as stiff as a statue. Zoey held a rather uncomfortable look when she realized she couldn't move her neck properly or feel her legs and arms.

Sensing her discomfort, Madam Pomfrey waved her wand and Zoey felt a little pressure on her numb limbs before the stiffness disappeared. Zoey rolled her head in a circle before smiling softly.

"Thanks," she said.

"You're Welcome," Madame Pomfrey said before taking a bottle from Zoey's bedside table and handing it to her, "Now drink up"

Zoey took the bottle and sniffed it. She made a face. "What's this?"

"A Calming Draught"

"For what?" Zoey asked before blushing, "Oh Calming…sorry… but why do I need a calming draught?"

Madam Pomfrey tucked in her wand. "I would say to calm you but that isn't the answer you're looking for is it?"

Zoey shook her head.

"You were thrashing in your bed. Screaming all sort of things like "I don't know where the box is" or "Let me go!" it really gave me a fright," Madame Pomfrey said as she drew back the curtains that made Zoey feel like she was caged a bit.

"H-how long was I asleep?" Zoey asked nervously as she brought the bottle to her lips but not exactly drinking it.

"About four days"

"Four days?" Zoey asked in shock as she brought the bottle back down. In her dream it just felt like one day.

"Yes, four days," Madam Pomfrey confirmed before telling Zoey to drink the potion. Zoey made a face that could be compared to a child who was being forced to take his cough syrup. She tilted the bottle to her lips and gulped it all down before handing the bottle back to Madam Pomfrey and trying to keep her gag reflexes in check.

"What happened exactly?" Zoey asked.

"Maybe I can take it from here Madam Pomfrey," a voice said making Zoey gasp and look behind Madam Pomfrey. There stood purple haired, golden eyed, Ravenclaw girl, Echo.

"Miss Beaumont," Madam Pomfrey asked in slight surprise, "Shouldn't you be at breakfast?"

"I already ate, Madam Pomfrey," Echo said plainly through sleep-deprived eyes.

Madam Pomfrey gave her a suspicious look before walking away to put away the bottle. Zoey watched as she disappeared behind one of the shelves that held most of the potion bottles.

"So what happened?" Zoey asked when she was sure Madam Pomfrey was out of ear shot.

"I served detention. Stupid gidiots," Echo mumbled as she rubbed her eyes.

"Detention?" Zoey asked, "Echo, what happened? What happened in the tower? Tell me everything, please"

Echo breathed in and exhaled, "Well, you almost fell of the Astronomy Tower. We saved you from falling to oblivion. Then you began screaming and trashing around. Professor McGonagall heard and saw us. She got you to the hospital wing. After that, we got another detention for skipping detention and loitering after curfew"

"Screaming? What was I saying?" Zoey asked as she started to busy her hands with twisting her blankets.

"You said you didn't know where the box was," Echo raised an eyebrow

Zoey licked and bit her lip as she looked out the window. "What happened during the four days I've been asleep?" she asked, changing the subject

"Been a blur actually. You should ask Bridgit. My head is throbbing from catching up in homework. Which reminds me, I have to go now," Echo said in a rush before handing her an envelope, "This came for you today."

Zoey flipped the envelope and saw her name written in a slightly rushed scrawl. She looked up and caught Echo waving at her before leaving the Hospital Wing. Zoey looked back down at the envelope and carefully tore it open. She pulled out the piece of parchment inside and unfolded it.

_My dearest Zoey,_

_I hope you are doing alright now. You gave Remus and I quite a scare when we heard what had happened to you. We were just about to floor to check up on you but were advised that it wasn't the wisest of decisions at the moment. We hope that you are doing alright and pray that you haven't been having those awful nightmares again. If you do, you know you can tell me about it right? I'm sorry but I have to keep this letter short for Remus and I have to get going. We are in a rush. We hope to see you again soon._

_Love,_

_ Aunt Maria._

_P.S. Remus had signed your Parental approval slip for your Hogsmeade visits. Sorry it's a little late. Hope you have fun. I know your mother and I did ;P_

Zoey smiled softly before pulling out another piece of parchment from the envelope. She held it up high as if checking to see if it were real. She admired her Uncle's penmanship; it was neat but yet had its boyish scrawl to it. She placed the envelope and parchment back on the bedside table before Madam Pomfrey came back out. In her hand was another bottle.

Madam Pomfrey had waved her wand several times to see if anything was wrong with Zoey. Zoey had to opened her mouth and stare straight at a wall while a light shone in her eyes. She also had Madam Pomfrey press a hand on her back as she had to take deep breaths. After several minutes Madam Pomfrey held the bottle to Zoey's face.

"What's that?" Zoey couldn't help but ask as she took the bottle.

"Dreamless Sleep Potion," Madam Pomfrey answered, "From my observation you have been having very disturbing nightmares. Having a dreamless sleep would do you some good"

Zoey looked inside the bottle and noted that the potion was purple in color. She shrugged her shoulders and drank it all. She slowly handed the bottle back to Madam Pomfrey before falling back onto her pillows and closing her eyes. She felt that her slumber would last longer than an hour

* * *

Zoey felt herself waking up and once again felt a slight stiffness in her neck. She didn't know how long she had been asleep, for all she knew she could have slept the entire day or more. Zoey didn't particularly care how long she slept though, she was actually glad. She could not remember how long it's been since she felt so calm after a sleep. She felt her bed shift slightly.

Zoey opened her eyes and was one again greeted by a dimly lit room. She moved her head slightly to the side and gasped at the sight.

"Fred!" her yell was muffled for Fred had swiftly covered her mouth almost as if he knew how she would react.

"Shhh," Fred whispered as he released his hold on Zoey, "You want me to get caught or something?

Zoey shook her head, "What are you doing here?"

"Visiting you of course," Fred grinned.

Zoey blushed, "B-but why?"

"Well," it was Fred's turn to blush, "I feel sorta responsible for you being here so…yeah. Sorry about all this," he made a hand motion, "I shouldn't have come up with the idea to prank Trelawney-"

"Professor Trelawney," Zoey couldn't help but correct

"- yeah, that one. Well, it was just… an idea gone too far. George and I never dreamed you would get hurt."

"You mean you guys wouldn't dream that there would be a fight and I would get caught in crossfire?" Zoey offered as she raised her eyebrow and offered a small smile.

"We figured there would be slight disagreement but never would have thought it would get so…intense," Fred said as he looked around the room. Zoey grinned when she saw Fred nervously ruffle is hair.

"It's fine Fred," Zoey said, "I mean… you didn't plan on jinxing me…right?"

"Never would dream of it!" Fred said in his loudest whisper, "But…blimey… you forgive pretty easily…not like- never mind"

Zoey cocked her head to the side, "Well… yeah… I guess I do… but… what do you mean?"

"Let's just say me and George should steer clear form Echo and Bridgit from now on"

Zoey gave a laugh. "They're that mad?" Fred made a face as he nodded his head.

"What happened while I was asleep?" Zoey couldn't help but ask.

"Nothing much. Well, there was that troll that broke into the Dungeons," Fred said with a shrug

"What?" Zoey gasped

"It's nothing to worry about. Ron, Harry and Hermione took care of 'im."

Zoey stared at Fred in disbelief. How could three First-years 'take care' of a violent troll? How did the troll break in? How'd they stop him? Question after question filled Zoey's minds as she tried to visualize what had happened. Soon enough another question popped into her mind.

"Hey, Fred?" Zoey whispered, "How did you get here? You know without running into Filch or anything. How'd you know you wouldn't accidentally walk in on Madam Pomfrey while she's checking up on me?"

Fred raised his eyebrow, "The Marauder's map. What else would I use?"

"The what?" Zoey asked clearly confused.

"The Marauder's map," Fred repeated.

"Just because you repeat it doesn't automatically make me know what it is," Zoey laughed.

"The Marauder's map. The map George and I nicked from Filch back in first year. You know the map of Hogwarts that shows everyone, what they're doing of every minute, of everyday," Fred said, "How could you not know it? We showed it to Echo and-"

"Bridgit"

"Bridgit," Fred whispered, "We showed it to Echo and Bridgit…Zoe, I'm so-"

"No need to apologize," Zoey said, "There was no need to showing it to me. I mean, you guys would have more use of it. Not telling me would be the same as telling me. Either way, I wouldn't use it."

Zoey looked down hiding her quivering lip. She knew she had no use for such map but it still hurt that they didn't show it to her. It hurt that they actually forgot about her. Zoey kept her head down even when she felt Fred's hand graze her cheek and moved up to brush her hair away from her eyes. He moved his hand down to her chin and tilted it upwards so she would meet his eyes.

"You have very beautiful eyes," Fred whispered.

Zoey felt her blush return as she stared deeply into Fred's blue orbs. She desperately wanted to say "No, _your _eye's are beautiful," but she kept it to herself. She thought it was far too cheesy. She breathed out a "Thank you," instead.

She felt Fred's hand leave her chin and instead brought it to the back of her neck. He pulled her towards him and lightly kissed her cheek. Zoey's eyes widened and her blush intensified as Fred realeased his hold on her and stared back into her eyes. After a minute or two, thought felt like a year to Zoey, Fred abruptly stood up.

"I-I should get going now," he stuttered out not quite looking at her.

Zoey didn't reply. She watched as Fred quietly brisk walked towards the Hospital Wing's doors. He placed his hand on the handle and looked back. He gave an awkward wave before leaving. Zoey's mind seemed to be going in slow motion for she waved back five minutes after he left. She was brought out of her trance when Madam Pomfrey approached her.

"What are you doing up?" she asked

Zoey jumped a bit before scurrying under her blanket covers, hiding her red face.

"P-please don't look at me," she stuttered out

"What are you talking about?" Madam Pomfrey asked

"I- err- he- map- visit- angry- troll- kiss- awkward- arrg!" Zoey rambled as she reached for her pillow and placed it on top of her head. She pressed it to her face muffling her voice as she continued to ramble.

"What are you doing, Miss Emeraude?" Madam Pomfrey asked slightly bemused at the thirteen-year-olds actions.

* * *

**Hey! Hello! Wazzap!**

**Before anything I would like to apologize for my typos in my previous chapter and if ever this chapter. **

**And with that out of the way. I did not put the Troll scene here because I did not know how I could squeeze Zoey into that scene. Yeah.**

**This chapter is rather long. Sorry about that. Sorry also if any of the characters are kinda OOC.**

**Anyway, test week right now. I might die tomorrow due to my tests and my HELE project which I still haven't done. I still have to complete my math project too. Shizz.**

**Now, most of you were asking for more fluff or in other words "Fred/Zoey" moments and here it is! Near the end of the chapter! Yey! **

**A lot of you have also been asking when Zoey was going to tell them about her past. Please be patient! She will in time :D**

**Well, I have to finish my requirements now. Sigh. I wanna cry.**

**Thank you all for reviewing, asking, alerting and favoriting! YOU ARE ALL SO AWESOME!**

**Please don't forget to review and ask questions!**

**I only own what I own  
**


	21. Chapter 20: UnFred Like

**Chapter 20: Un-Fred Like**

"Good Luck," Zoey whispered as she tiptoed a bit in order to hug both Fred and George. It was now the month of November and Zoey was finally released from the Hospital Wing. She was welcomed back by her friends in Gryffindor and Ravenclaw house but none in her own. The only contact she had from her house was from a boy, who was about a year older than her, who gave Zoey her missed assignments.

Zoey released them from the hug and grinned up at them. She felt a little bit lighter and freer. She no longer had that awkward feeling that she got whenever she hung out with the twins. It had subsided a bit. Zoey figured that from her first dreamless sleep in years she could just be herself in front of them. Who "herself" was she was still in the process of figuring it out.

"Thanks Zoe," Fred grinned in return as he ruffled his hair. The awkward tension they had from Fred's midnight visit had disappeared. It only came back when it was mentioned, lucky for them only George knew about it.

"But not like we needed it," George laughed as he nudged his brother in the ribs.

Zoey bit her lip as she stared at the more "gentle" (for lack of better word) twin. He seemed to be trying too hard to be his usual Weasley self. Zoey caught George looking off at a different direction as Fred started to chat with their friend Lee. She looked towards the direction he was gazing at and caught sight of Echo. Echo had been eating on her house table recently and seemed to be avoiding the twin's altogether, same goes with Bridgit. Zoey watched as Echo stood up and joined Bridgit in leaving the Great Hall.

Zoey looked back at George and watched his eyes follow Echo until she was no longer in sight. He had sort of a pained expression on his face.

"She's still not talking to you?" Zoey asked in a soft voice so as not to catch any unwanted attention. George made a small jump before looking at Zoey his eyes somewhat wide.

"Sorry Zoey didn't catch that," George grinned as her rubbed the back of his neck.

"Echo," Zoey said, "She still isn't talking to you is she?"

"If you haven't noticed Zoey _both _Echo _and _Bridgit haven't been talking to either of us, _Fred _and I," George said making unnecessary emphasizing.

"But the fact that you're avoiding right now is that _Echo _is ignoring _you_," Zoey said as she pushed her new pair of glasses up the bridge of her nose.

George stared at her dumbfounded, "Gee Zoey, I think you've been hanging around Ravenclaws to much," he said, "But-"

"Come on Forge!" Fred grinned as he thumped George on the back, "Time to kick some Slytherin arse!"

"Fred!" Zoey blushed. Fred merely grinned wider as his signature twinkle came to his eyes.

Fred then gave Zoey a one-armed hug before thrusting his fist into the air. "Let's do this!" he exclaimed before dragging George along with him following the rest of the Gryffindor team. George stumbled a bit before looking back at Zoey. "We'll talk about this later," he mouthed to her before fixing his pace and began joking with Fred.

* * *

"Bleh!" Zoey exclaimed as she stuck her tongue out in disgust, "That must have tasted awful!"

She pulled out her wand and tapped her glasses twice muttering a charm under her breath her glasses glowed a faint red before thickening in their size. She had charmed her glasses to work a bit like Omnioculars. She focused her gaze towards the bottom of the Quidditch Pitch and saw Harry thrusting the snitch into the air. He had nearly swallowed it.

"He didn't _catch _it, he nearly _swallowed _it," Zoey heard the Slytherin, Marcus Flint, complain.

Zoey shook her head as she tapped her glasses again to return them to normal. She pocketed her wand before leaving the stands. She did not want to stay in the very noisy and crowded area any longer. She was afraid she might be trampled on with the rate of force everyone was pushing against her whilst their cheering.

Zoey pushed and squeezed through the many Hogwarts students who were cheering. When she finally made her way through her jumped of the barely four inch height away from the green grass and landed with a soft _thud. _She fixed her Hufflepuff scarf before walking off towards the Black Lake. As she was walking she caught sight of the Gryffindor team leaving as they were still yelling out their victory. She stared intently at the twins hoping to catch one of their attentions.

George looked at her.

Zoey jerked her head a bit and turned around heading to the Black Lake. As she drew closer she heard footsteps behind her and a hand hold onto her shoulder. "Hey," George said as he softly caught his breath. He had to run a bit to catch up to her.

"Hey," Zoey smiled, "Congrats on the game….where's Fred?

"Told him I had to go back to get something," George replied, "What? Do you think I would actually let him over hear this conversation? He'll never let me live it down. George Weasley being _sensitive _I have a reputation to live up to!"

Zoey raised an eyebrow before laughing softly. She couldn't move her mouth too much she felt her face go a little numb from the cold weather. She removed her hair from her ponytail in hopes that it could warm her up a bit more. She was very sensitive to the cold since she didn't have much body fats to keep her warm.

"So wanna take off where we left off?" Zoey asked as she crossed her legs before sitting down so she was in a pretzel position. She looked up at George.

"Do we have to?" George whined before taking a seat himself. Zoey smirked in triumphant.

"Okay," Zoey said, "Now let it all out."

"I'm not going to cry!"

"I didn't say you would…. You aren't are you?" Zoey tensed.

"I'm not," George sighed and looked towards the lake, "Echo is ignoring me right now…she's a little pissed off from the little accident."

Zoey nodded her head, "But I told her I was fine and that I forgave you and Fred already"

"Really you forgave us?" George asked.

"Duh. I wouldn't be talking to you right now if I didn't now would I?" Zoey asked, "I thought you already knew?"

"Obviously I did not,"

"Really? But I would have thought Fred-"

"Wait, wait. You told Fred you forgave us? When was this?"

"A little after I woke up so… on the night of the fourth day after the accident?"

"Night? He… he took the Marauder's Map and visited you didn't he?" George asked with a smirk on his lips and wiggled his eyebrows.

Zoey blushed. "I-err- no- wait! We're getting off topic here!" She stuttered and tried to muster up her best glare.

"Sorry Zoey but you can't match up to Echo's," George sniggered, "Hers can put any Slytherin to shame."

"Now we're back on track!" Zoey said with a snap of her fingers, "So how long has this been going on? You know the ignoring part"

George licked his lips as he focused his gaze back onto the lake. It was so silent around them for everyone had retreated back into the castle. Zoey watched patiently as George's eyes seemed to fog up in thought.

"I guess…it began right after you were taken up to the Hospital Wing. We were given a hard lecture on skipping detention, loitering and the dangers of being up at the Astronomy Tower fighting. McGonagall was flaming in anger when she saw what we did to the tower and the fact that we almost killed her just added fuel to it," George said as he continued to look at the lake, "McGonagall had given us all detention and it just increased Echo's anger towards me and Fred because she was already a little behind requirements and the detentions would be interfering…that's what she yelled at me at least. What she's really mad at is that you almost fell to your doom because of us"

Zoey bit her lip, "But you guys didn't mean too and it was my fault at interfering at the wrong time"

"You wouldn't have to interfere if we didn't have that blasted idea to get back at Trelawney. Face it, it all starts from there," George barked.

"Well… you guys wouldn't have had the thought of getting back at her if I didn't make that Fortune Teller and landed Echo, Bridgit and I in detention and if we weren't in detention then we wouldn't have tried to stop you and Fred then the fight wouldn't have happened, I wouldn't have interfered and nearly got myself killed and Echo wouldn't be mad at you," Zoey said in one breath. She took a deep gulp of air. Her cheeks and nose now tinted pink from the heat she produced from speaking fast.

"Don't try to put them blame on yourself, Zoey," George groaned as he ducked his head into his arms which he balanced on his knees.

"That's not what I was trying to do. I was just trying to point out that the whole thing didn't necessarily start off from when you and Fred got the idea of pranking Professor Trelawney," Zoey said, "And anyway don't stress to much about Echo. She'd come around"

"And what makes you say that?"

"Well, you're one of her oldest friends, she couldn't stay mad at you forever…that and she's coming this way," Zoey said as she pointed towards the direction a figure decked in blue was coming from. George whipped up his head and caught sight of the violet-haired girl with books in her arms. Leave it to Echo to bring _books _to a Quidditch match.

Zoey noticed his cheeks had a pink tint to them.

Echo came to a halt just a few feet away from them.

"Zwei, there you a-" Echo had stopped short when she side-glanced at George and back to Zoey and coughed before straightening herself up, "I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?"

After a short whole, no one had responded, "I guess I am then," Echo muttered before turning on her heel and walking back.

Zoey watched as George shot up, "You aren't," he responded before blushing hard.

"I guess you should have said something when I asked," Echo said over her shoulder before walking again.

George sighed before looking back at Zoey. Zoey made a hand motion and mouthed, "Go after her." George straightened up before grabbing hold of Echo's hand before she was out of reach.

Echo made a swift turn and harshly asked, " What?"

George didn't falter, "I'm sorry," he said as he looked her straight in the eye.

Echo looked down and swatted George's hand off her wrist before continuing walking.

"What do you want me to say Echo?" George exclaimed not caring that his hand stung a little, "Zoey forgave me, why can't you?"

"Because I'm not Zoey"

Zoey decided that this was going nowhere and it was her time to intervene. She stood up, walked towards George and stood beside him. "Come on Echo. He said he was sorry. What's the real problem here?"

Echo's face went into an agonizing one. She had dropped her books to rub her temples, "Honestly, I don't know anymore. I don't know how I feel and I can't think"

"Then tell us what's on your mind then. Just spit it out," Zoey said as she took a step forward.

"I don't know"

"Then what's keeping you from forgiving George? Why are you avoiding him? In truth, I can't see his fault in all this," Zoey made a hand motion to indicate 'all this'.

"I don't know"

"Then what do you know, Echo?" George asked

"A lot," Echo rubbed her temples once more before bending to get her books.

George sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Echo was being stubborn. He looked back at Zoey. "This isn't going anywhere," he whispered to her.

"I can see that," Zoey said in an equally quiet tone.

"Let me take care of this," George said jerking his head a bit indicating Echo.

Zoey bit her lip, "Are you sure?"

"I'll be fine"

Zoey nodded her head before looking back at Echo, "Well I better get going! See you!" she said quickly before dashing back up towards the castle.

* * *

Zoey stopped after a few minutes to catch her breath. She was never much of a runner. She brought her hand up to wipe her forehead and noted that though her face was a little warm from the running she was still a lot colder than normal people. She hugged herself.

She quietly strolled down the hall as she wrapped her arms tighter around herself. She was wearing a Hufflepuff scarf, an oversized long-sleeved yellow shirt that reached a little bit passed her thighs, skinny jeans and knee high boots. To most she would have looked pretty warmed up in the November breeze but she still felt cold.

Zoey slipped through a couple of seven years in a corner and jumped over a lost toad. She skipped lightly before almost running into someone from around the corner.

She took a couple steps backwards before getting a good look at the person.

"Fred!" Zoey gasped. Fred however stayed put. He didn't laugh or grin or tease her or do anything that he would have normally done when he ran into her. He just stayed put and starred at her. Zoey tensed.

"Fred?" she asked tentatively as she stepped closer to him. Fred didn't say anything. Zoey wondered if he had been hit by a curse or was stupefied. Fred closed his eyes and sighed.

Fred's hand moved to brush Zoey's bangs away before bringing it down to graze her cheeks. Zoey felt her blush come back two-fold as Fred's hands once again found its way to the back of her neck. Slowly he pushed her forward and he ducked his head low. His face was so close to hers she could feel his warm breath. His lips centimeters away.

Then he stopped.

"Sorry,"

* * *

**Hey! :D Here's chapter 20~**

**Taka had a thought that went something like this: "Have you ever thought of have a George and Zoey moment that Fred somehow witnesses making their relationship a little bit confussing?"**

**Well... the review went somewhat like that XD**

**Anyway, here you go! A little George and Zoey moment that ECHO witnesses but did Fred witness it too? Maybe, maybe ;)**

**Anyway, I'm _thinking _about making the next chapter the last chapter on their third year so I can start typing on their fourth year :D**

**Hopefully, this would go as planned.**

**Still have tests and there's still an art project that I have to do... dammit.**

**oh well! hopefully I will survive.**

**This chapter is dedicated to Taka for giving me the wonderful idea for this chapter! :D**

**Also, thanks for the reviews, favorites, questions and alerts! They are all much appriciated!**

**Please don't forget to review and ask questions!**

**I only own what I own!  
**


	22. Chapter 21: The Unruined Picture

**Chapter 21: The Un-ruined Picture**

Zoey sat in the chair next to Harry's bed as she watched the rise and fall of his chest. Hours, Days, Weeks passed since her little moment with Fred and like the first time it was not spoken between either of them and this time George didn't know about it. Zoey did not know what made Fred do what he did. It was completely unlike him but Zoey never got the chance to ask. After Fred had apologized he walked away. He next day he acted the same as ever, same goes for Christmas and the days after.

Zoey did not know what to think.

"Interesting finding you here Miss Black," an old voice came from behind Zoey. She jumped in her seat and whirled around.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Zoey gasped.

"Shh. You don't want to wake Harry now do you?" Dumbledore asked as he brought a finger to his lips. Zoey nodded her head and stood up to leave.

"Where are you going Miss Black?"

"Sorry sir but… I thought you would want to talk privately to Harry…so…yeah," Zoey said rather awkwardly.

"There's no need," Dumbledore said, "As you can see Harry is not even awake yet. You can stay."

Zoey nodded her head before sitting back on her chair. She reached for Harry's small, slightly scratched hand and rubbed it. She tilted her head a bit as she continued to watch the rise and fall of his chest. She stayed quiet not really knowing what to do in the presence of her headmaster. She wasn't as close to him as Harry.

After a while Dumbledore spoke.

"You seem to be very close to Harry, Miss Black," Dumbledore said as he looked at the pile of gifts near Harry's bed. Zoey watched as he picked up a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and read the back.

"No… Ron and Hermione are his best mates… I-I," Zoey could not go on. She did not really know what she was to Harry.

"I?" Dumbledore asked, "You feel a sort of connection to him don't you?"

Zoey bit her lip as she continued to stroke Harry's hand, "I guess you could put it that way…"

Dumbledore placed the box back down and proceeded to pick up a chocolate frog box, "Tell me Miss Black. Do you know who your parents are?"

Zoey's eyes widened. She did not expect such a question to come up. "Of course sir," she said in a quiet voice.

"Hmm… can you tell me their names?"

"L-lucy Alena Emeraude and…and," Zoey looked down at hers and Harry's hands.

"And?" Dumbledore urged her to continue.

"and Sirius Orion Black," Zoey said as she released her hold on Harry's hand and started to play with the sleeves of her robes. She bit her lip.

"Ah yes…yes…," Dumbledore said as he placed the chocolate frog box down and walked towards Zoey, "If I am correct- and please correct me if I'm wrong- they were married were they not?"

"They were," Zoey whispered

"Then why do you introduce yourself with your mother's surname but not your father's as you should?" Dumbledore asked with kindness in his voice.

Zoey stayed quiet. She let go of her sleeves and started to play with the bangles on her wrists, a gift she received from Bridgit and Echo for Christmas. "You know who my father is, sir"

"Ah but of course," Dumbledore mused as he looked back at the gifts near Harry's bed. He had a smile on his lips when he came across a Hogwarts Toilet seat. Zoey's mouth twitched up a bit.

"I reckon it's from Fred and George," she said with a soft voice.

"Yes, yes," Dumbledore chuckled, "I believe once Madam Pomfrey catches sight of this she'll have to confiscate it."

Zoey watched as Dumbledore scanned the other gifts. She quietly reached for Harry's hands and continued to stroke it once more. She placed her hand on the bed and bent over to rest on her arm. She listened to the soft footsteps of her headmaster. It was not the same as the horrid clacking of her aunt's shoes.

"If you are not as close to Harry as Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger then who are- what's the word you youngsters use?- your 'best mates' as you say," Dumbledore asked. Zoey observed that the question may appear rude to most but with Dumbledore it just came out as curious.

"Echo, Bridgit, Fred and George, sir," Zoey replied as she sat upright.

"I see…I see…," Dumbledore trailed off, "And would you say you could trust them with anything?"

"I'd die for them," Zoey said.

"Nothing too rash Miss Black but I admire your loyalty," Dumbledore said with a smile, "But if you don't mind me asking…do they know about who you truly are?"

Zoey stayed silent.

"Please excuse me if the question came off as rude. I was merely being curious," Dumbledore said

"It's alright sir…no…they don't know…," Zoey said.

"Are you planning to tell them anytime soon?" Dumbledore asked.

Zoey's eyes focused on the ground beneath her, "I've thought about it," she whispered, "but… I just don't think it's the right time"

"And when would the right time be, Miss Black?"

"I don't know"

Dumbledore stayed quiet as he observed the small girl. She was short and skinny for her age and her hair always seemed to have a mind of its own. He had observed that she spent most of her meals over at the Gryffindor table and had heard from Professor Sprout that the girl had no friends in her own house. The daughter of the Emeraude outcast and the mass murder was troubled and scared. She was someone who did not know how to open up.

"From experience, I have learned that I would always feel a bit lighter in the shoulders when I share a little bit about myself to very close friends who I know would understand," Dumbledore said as he absentmindedly twirled his finger around his long beard.

"But this isn't exactly _little _is it sir?" Zoey asked.

"Ah… I believe you're right," Dumbledore smiled, "You haven't visited my office this year Miss Black. You have nothing to ask? Nothing to tell?"

"There's a lot actually," Zoey said, "But it's just.. just…"

"Hard to put into words?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yeah… that one. Professor? I couldn't help but wonder… what happened to Harry? What caused him to be here in the Hospital Wind?" Zoey asked as she looked back at the black haired boy.

Dumbledore smiled as he walked back to the gifts. He picked up the box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. Zoey watched him curiously.

"I recall that in my youth I came across a vomit flavored one," Dumbledore said causing Zoey to make a face, "I must say I've lost my liking to them after that."

Zoey, sensing that Dumbledore was not going to answer her question, asked, "Sir? I've noticed that there are many –err- _odd_ flavors in there…how do they possible know what they taste like? I mean… did they actually taste earwax before making it a bean flavor?"

"Alas, I do not know Miss Black. I have wondered the same thing many times but never did I come across the answer," Dumbledore said with a smile.

Zoey smiled in return before standing up and releasing her hold on Harry's hand. "I better be going," she said, "It was nice chatting with you, Professor"

Dumbledore smiled as he watched Zoey head towards the door, "I enjoyed it myself. But please, Miss Black, please consider sharing more about yourself to your friends."

Zoey froze and the handle of the door as she looked back at her headmaster. Her eyebrows knitted in thought before slowly saying, "I will sir… goodbye"

She opened the door and left with brisk steps. She walked down the hall and made a rough turn running into something.

"We've got to stop meeting like this," someone laughed.

Zoey rubbed her nose and looked up to see Fred grinning down at her. Her mouth twitched upwards.

"I agree," she laughed as well, "Where were you heading?"

"I was going to find you actually," Fred said as he scratched the back of his head, "Echo said you've been gone for a long time"

"Couldn't you have used the…the... Marauder's Map to find me? Wouldn't it have been faster?" Zoey asked.

"Yes, well," Fred began as he took her hand in his, "I thought a little time for myself would do me some good. You know, get some thinking done"

Zoey gasped and mocked shock, "Thinking? _The _Fred Weasley actually using his brains? Captain Stupidity acting smart? Is it the end of the world?"

Fred laughed as he bumped Zoey in the side causing her to stumble a bit. Zoey laughed as well.

"That hurt Zoe," Fred laughed as he pointed his finger to his right chest.

"Really now? And what are you pointing at?" Zoey asked as she raised her brow.

"My heart of course. Can't you hear it cracking?"

"Are you sure?" Zoey asked, "Cause last time I checked your heart was on the _left _side of your chest."

Fred looked down and blushed seeing his mistake. He quickly shifted his finger to his left chest.

"There you go," Zoey laughed.

_"From experience, I have learned that I would always feel a bit lighter in the shoulders when I share a little bit about myself to a very close friend who I know would understand,"_

Dumbledore's words rang in her head as she looked up at Fred. Fred was grinning widely as he continued to walk to who knows where.

Zoey thought quietly to herself as she recalled all the times she had had a nightmare. When the nightmares began to get worse Fred was always there when she woke up. He was there when she felt like the world was on top of her shoulders. He was there to bring her back to reality.

Fred felt Zoey's eyes on him and he looked down at her.

"Something on your mind Zoe?" he asked

_Zoe. _He was the only one who called her that.

Zoey shook her head.

_When will I tell them? _Zoey wondered to herself as she caught sight of Echo and the other's by the Black Lake. They waved at her and she waved back.

"Let's go then?" Fred asked her.

Zoey nodded her head. _Not now…I don't want to ruin this picture.

* * *

_

**And here's the last chapter of Zoey's Third Year!**

**Yey!**

**Clap, Clap, Clap!**

**Now hopefully tomorrow I can get up and typing their Fourth year!**

**wooohooo!**

**:D**

**I would like to thank "HayleyParadox" for the "heart joke" thanks me amiga!**

**Yeah... I can't speak spanish.**

**Oh well, chapter I bit shorter than usual.**

**Hope you enjoyed it!**

**Don't forget to review and ask questions! **

**I only own what I own  
**


	23. Chapter 22: What I want you to know

**Chapter 22: What I want you to know**

It was just a few more days before school began and Zoey was once again in her living room in the middle of total chaos. Her tables and chairs were turned over and there was broken glass on the floor together with a pile of torn up pictures and dead roses. Zoey sat in the middle of all this mess thinking to herself as she faced the fire place. She had been back for a few weeks now and she could still remember her shock when she came home via Floo Network.

Her house was in total shambles.

What's new? She would have thought to herself when she saw the mess but that time she knew the day she left her house for her Third Year in Hogwarts it was in perfect condition, the living room and kitchen that is. She knew for a fact that Mrs. Weasley had tidied up the place before she left for the Burrow. The most Zoey had expected when she got home was a thick layer of dust but no, what she saw was the scene before her now.

Someone was in her house.

That someone was _looking _for something.

Zoey quietly stood back up and smoothed out her dress that looked much shorter than it had been a few years ago. Her dress was black and had yellow polka dots decorating it. She had found it in her mom's all clothes that were left behind as a child and when she wore it, it reached half her shin that was when she was ten. Now, being fourteen, it reached her mid-thigh. She wore leggings beneath it along with her leg warmers.

She brushed back her bangs and it fell back to her face. Zoey huffed a bit before heading towards her staircase. She grabbed hold of the banister and made her way up the stairs, careful to avoid stepping on pointy objects that lay carelessly on them.

As Zoey walked down the hall she took time in looking up at the ceilings and noted that it was decorated in cobwebs and cracks. The walls seemed to have more scratches on them and even had some holes. Zoey passed by her bedroom and looked through the open door. Her bed sheets and pillows were cut open and all the stuffing was pulled out. Her cabinet's drawers were violently opened and scattered the floor. The door that hung on its hinges was no longer there.

Zoey shook her head and continued walking down the hall she passed by a door that remained unharmed. It was still pure white in color and had no scratches or the sort in it. It was still in one piece. Zoey placed her hand on the knob and slowly turned it. When she heard the soft click she pushed it open and gave a sigh of relief. Everything in it was still the same.

Zoey visited the room every day since she came back. Every day it was still the same. It was still unharmed and the furniture was still in place the only thing different about it was the layer of dust it seemed to have doubled since she left. Zoey looked to the middle of the room and saw the box. The box was untouched and had a new layer of dust on it.

Zoey licked her lips as she walked inside the room. She closed the door with a click and approached the box. Zoey did not dare touch anything in the room for she was afraid that the dust particle would float to the air and cause her to have a coughing fit. Zoey sat in front of the box and looked at it intently.

"Can't use magic to clean it up….," Zoey muttered to herself as she pulled out her favorite hanky and covered her mouth. She took a breath through to cloth and used her other hand to wipe away the dust with the other. The dust swept to the side and made a giant puff of smoke. Zoey squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath.

Zoey swatted the air around her and squinted her eyes. She looked at the box and once again saw her mother's name decorating the lid. She looked to the side of the box and saw a handle. She grabbed hold of the handle and pulled the box up. She gasped when she felt how heavy it was and started to cough for the dust had entered her lungs. She tightened her grip on the handle and limped towards the door. The box was much heavier than she can handle. She fondled with the knob before prying to door open. She fell out the room and coughed into her hand once more.

"Zoey?" a voice called.

"M-Mrs. Weasley?" Zoey gasped as déjà vu hit her. Echo had sent her a letter not too long ago about Mrs. Weasley coming over to fetch her. Zoey was once again going to stay with the Weasleys till school starts.

"Zoey?" Mrs. Weasley's voice became louder as she headed up the stairs. Zoey could hear the old staircase creaking from the speed Mrs. Weasley took as she marched up the stairs. When Mrs. Weasley caught sight of Zoey she gave of a gasp.

"What happened to you dear?" she asked as she approached the fourteen year old, "You look worse than last summer."

Mrs. Weasley made a disapproving noise before helping Zoey up. Zoey thanked her with a smile before looking down. Her bottom half was gray from the dust and when she reached up to the top of her head she felt the disgusting texture of dust mixed with hair.

"What have you been doing?" Mrs. Weasley asked as she waved her wand. Zoey felt the dust clear off from her and she smiled as she felt cleaner than before. Zoey brought the box to an upright position with great effort.

"I was just cleaning out that room," Zoey jabbed her finger towards the direction of the white door. Mrs. Weasley looked to her right and knitted her eyebrows in concentration.

"Zoey dear," Mrs. Weasley said, "What room?"

Zoey gave Mrs. Weasley a confused looked before looking to her left. The white door was still there. "That room," Zoey said, "The one with the white door."

"I don't see anything dear," Mrs. Weasley said, giving Zoey and worried expression.

Zoey looked equally worried. Was she the only one who could see the door to her mother's old room? She didn't know. Zoey chose to change the topic.

"So… I'll be staying over at the Burrow then?" Zoey asked with a polite smile. Mrs. Weasley returned it.

"Of course dear," Mrs. Weasley said grabbing hold of Zoey's hand, "Are you all packed?"

"I never unpacked to be honest. I've just been living off from my suitcase," Zoey said with a chuckle.

"Why's that dear? Surely your parent's told you to unpack," Mrs. Weasley said stopping in front of Zoey's room.

"M-my parents aren't here," Zoey looked down at her feet. She couldn't bear to look into Mrs. Weasley's motherly brown eyes.

"They're not? Then what about your Guardians? Your parents didn't leave you all alone did they?" Mrs. Weasley questioned.

"Ah…er…Mrs. Weasley, do you mind shrinking this box? It's very heavy and I don't really want to carry it everywhere if it's this big," Zoey changed the subject as she motioned towards her mother's box, "Please?"

Mrs. Weasley gave her a suspicious look that read 'We'll talk about this another time' and waved her wand again. The box shrank to the size of a muggle key chain. Zoey held it in the palm of her hands and Mrs. Weasley waved her wand again, "Accio," she said and Zoey's suitcase flew towards them.

Zoey hooked her keychain sized box to her suitcase before holding onto the handle of her suitcase.

"Ready to go?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

Zoey gave a smile before nodding her head. _I can't keep everything a secret anymore, _she thought nervously to herself as she followed Mrs. Weasley down the steps heading to the fire place

* * *

"YOU COULD DO WITH TAKING A LEAF OUT OF PERCY'S BOOK!"

Zoey shot upright from her bed and almost fell off. She was having one of her rare dreamless dreams. She looked around the room and noted the Ginny was just slightly stirring. Zoey crawled out of the bed and looked out the window. She saw a blue car parked outside with Mrs. Weasley with her hands on her hips yelling at the twins, Ron, Echo and even Harry was there but she was sure he wasn't getting any of the scolding.

Zoey threw her blanket back onto the bed before quietly exiting the room. She looked down at herself and thought she was pleasant enough to go outside. She was just in and oversized shirt and leggings nothing to be embarrassed about. Zoey crept down the stairs and entered the kitchen that was slightly cramped. Zoey looked at the special Weasley Clock and watched as Ron's and the twin's pictures move towards "Home".

Zoey fully showed herself and saw Harry sitting on one of the kitchen's chairs. Zoey watched as Mrs. Weasley continued to cook breakfast at the same time she was shooting dirty looks at her sons and Echo. Zoey looked at Echo and mouthed "What happened?"

Echo only shrugged and smugly pointed to Harry, "Ask him"

Zoey gave her a questioning look before fully looking at Harry. Harry caught her gave and smiled, "Good Morning," he greeted.

"Morning," Zoey greeted in return. She took a seat beside Echo and sent curious looks to the Weasley boys who were present at the table. None of them caught her gaze for they were busy munching on their breakfast as Mrs. Weasley continued to tell them off.

"flying an illegal car halfway across the country – anyone could have seen you-"

"It was _cloudy _mum," Fred interrupted her

"You keep your mouth closed while you're eating," Mrs. Weasley snapped.

Zoey gave him a shock look, "You did what?" she asked in disbelief

"They were starving him!" George said to his mother.

"I would have to agree with George, you know, Mrs. Weasley, no one could last a day without hungering for something…," Echo trailed off

"Hungering?" Ron asked in disbelief, "You can't even last an hour without chewing on a pastille or what not!"

"Like you could last a week without anything to eat!" Echo crossed her arms and looked away.

Zoey raised her eyebrow at the two of them. Echo had made her statement rhyme and it amused her. Zoey licked her lips and caught sight of Ginny. Ginny's eyes widened at the sight of Harry.

"Ginny, my sister, she's been talking about you all summer," Ron whispered to Harry.

"She'll be wanting your autograph," Fred grinned before catching his mom's eye and bending his head over his plate. Zoey thumped him on the arm. Fred looked at her with an eyebrow raised but Zoey returned the look with her eyebrows furrowed.

Fred shrugged before stretching his arms, "Blimey I'm tired! I'll just head of to-"

"Not so fast mister," Mrs. Weasley said before telling her sons that it was their fault that they didn't get any sleep last night. She had sent them off to de-gnome the garden and told Harry that her could go right on to bed. Harry declined her offer and said he wanted to help in the de-gnoming.

"You should just go to bed. De-gnoming is dull work," Echo said before finishing her food at lightning speed. Harry stared at her plate wide-eyed while the others acted as if the disappearance of Echo's food at lightning speed happened everyday,which it did.

Mrs. Weasley then picked up a book written by a bloke named "Lockhart" and checked if he had any tips on how to de-gnome a garden. George groaned.

"We know how to de-gnome a garden mum," He said.

Zoey watched Fred lean over to Harry and whispered, "Mum _fancies _him"

Zoey made a face at him and Fred laughed. Zoey then turned to Echo, "What's so fancy-able about the Lockhart bloke?" she asked with a look of disgust, "He isn't that attractive"

"I couldn't agree more. His face looks like a rat's arse if you asked for my opinion," Echo utteres as she leaned against the kitchen table.

"That's a bit harsh," Zoey muttered with a laugh before watching the boys leave the kitchen and headed to the garden, "I want to watch the de-gnoming process," Zoey said, "I've never seen a gnome before"

"Come on then," Echo grabbed for Zoey's wrist and lead her outside.

* * *

Zoey sat on the closed toilet seat as she played with her keychain sized box. She tossed it into the air before catching it with the other hand. She repeated the process not really caring what happened inside. She knew that her mother, being smart as she is, would have casted a spell that let whatever inside the box stay in one piece not matter what happened, after all if it survived the destruction of her last home it could survive being tossed into the air by a fourteen year old.

Zoey let out a gasp when a hand caught the box when she tossed it in the air. Zoey turned her head to the side and saw Fred grinning down at her with the box in his hand.

"I could have been dressing up in here you know," Zoey said as she stared at his hand which held the box.

"You couldn't have," Fred said.

"What makes you so sure?"

"You didn't lock the door"

"You could have knocked," Zoey said

"I did," Fred said, "Five times actually. When I didn't receive a response I just twisted the knob and pushed it open. Found you tossing this…this…what is this exactly?"

Fred opened his hand and picked up the box and held it with his pointer finder and thumb brining it close to his face as he observed it. Zoey felt her heart skip a beat.

"I-It's a keychain," she stuttered out as she stood up to take the box back. Fred held it out of her reach.

"A what?" he asked.

"A keychain. It's a chain muggles use for their keys," Zoey explained as she tried to reach for her box again. Fred once again held it out of her reach by putting it behind his back

"And why would they use that?"

"I don't know!" Zoey said as she tried to get her box back. She reached behind him with her right hand but he moved it to his other hand. She reached for it with her left but he did the same thing again, "Do I look like a muggle to you?"

"No, Zwei," Zoey gasped as she looked out the door to see Echo standing there, "But you do need privacy if you're going to do that," Echo pointed a finger at their position.

Zoey looked at the position she and Fred were in and noted that she had her arms wrapped around his waist when she tried to reach for her box with both her hands. She felt heat rise to her cheeks as she released her hold on him and took a few steps back. She could hear Echo's laughter disappear as Echo walked farther down the hall and away from them. The door softly shut close from the push of the wind.

"Can I please have it back?" Zoey asked after a few moments had passed.

"No, I don't think so," Fred said as he pretended to pocket the keychain.

Zoey's eyes widened, "Please give it back"

Fred headed to the door and placed his hand on the knob pretending to leave the bathroom. Zoey panicked.

"Can I please have it back?" She said a little bit louder, a cold sweat forming on her forehead.

Fred pretended not to hear her.

Zoey felt her mind go blank and before she knew it she tackled Fred to the ground trying to reach for the box, "Give it back!" she yelled tears forming in her eyes as she struggled to retain what was hers.

Fred's eyes widened at the sight of Zoey. He hadn't seen her in such a state before, not counting the time in the Astronomy Tower. That time it was tense times worse than her current state. Fred sat back up a bit and placed his hands on her shoulders stopping her.

"Zoe calm down," he said as he moved his hands to her wrist keeping her from getting the keychain back, "I wasn't going to keep it"

"Give it back….give it back," Zoey mumbled as she shook her head from side to side. She fell slightly limp.

Fred released Zoey's right wrist before reaching into his pocket to pull out the box.

"Why's this so important to you?" he asked as he placed the keychain into her freehand.

Zoey didn't reply…she didn't thank him; she simply stared at her right hand that now held the box.

"Zoe?" Fred asked, "Is there something you aren't telling me?"

Zoey's body went frigid as she slowly looked up to meet Fred's eyes. She felt a tug in her chest. She wanted to tell him everything. Right then and there she wanted to pour out all her problems and prayed he would understand. She prayed that he would accept who she truly was.

Zoey bit her lip and wriggled her left wrist free from Fred's grip.

"I never knew the function of a rubber duck," she whispered trying to keep her feelings in check.

"What?" Fred asked in confusion

"A rubber duck," Zoey repeated, "Mr. Weasley asked me what its function was the other day and I honestly don't know what it is. I know it's a muggle squeak toy sort of thing they keep near their bathtub but I don't know what it does. It isn't soap or anything. Maybe it's for decoration? I really don't know."

"Zoey… what are you-"

"I want to know what the function is….," Zoey said as she stood up and walked towards the bathtub, "Maybe if you had one in here I would know…"

Zoey didn't look at Fred she looked down and let her hair cover her face.

"I want you to know…," she muttered.

Fred's eyebrows knitted in confusion. She wanted him to know the function of a rubber duck?

"I want you to know… I want you to know…," she repeated over and over.

* * *

**Stress-levels going up a notch! I might not make it! GAH! D:**

**Anyway, here's chapter 22! Yey~! **

**Hopefully, the next chapter will be a little more light-hearted. Bridgit would be making her appearance again! I miss that girl she hadn't appeared much in these last few chapters! So anyway, stated tuned!**

**My eye's are getting sleepy XD**

**Friday tomorrow, stress-levels lowering? NOPE! It will not lower till I get my dilpoma! joke... XD**

**Anyway, thanks for all the reviews and favorites and what not very much appriciated.**

**Sigh... I really want to sleep now :D**

**Don't forget to review and ask questions!**

**I only own what I own!  
**


	24. Chapter 23: Concrete Angel

**Chapter 23: Concrete Angel**

"And I knocked down my porridge bowl right in front of him!" Ginny moaned as she walked side-by-side with Zoey. They had arrived at Diagon Alley not more than two minutes ago and were now hoping to catch sight of Harry for he had made a slight technical error when working with the Floo Network. In other words he didn't appear in his designated destination.

_"Why is it even called 'Diagon Alley", Zoey whispered to Echo as Harry took a handful of Floo powder and held it up as he took his place in the fireplace, "It sounds an awful like diagonally."_

_Echo opened her mouth to reply but was stopped when Harry coughed out "D-Dia-gon Alley," and disappeared into the flames._

_"He's doomed," Echo said._

_"Why's that?" Zoey panicked._

_"He didn't say it clearly," Echo shrugged before taking a handful of Floo Powder for herself._

"Just play it cool with him," Zoey advised, "Be yourself….Well…that's what I hear from all those Witches Magazines. I wouldn't really know"

Ginny laughed at Zoey's awkward expression, "Where did you read that article? What magazine?"

"Does it really matter?" Zoey asked, "They all say the same thing 'Be yourself' or 'make him fall in love with the _real _you' I wouldn't say it's a bunch of rubbish since it's true but it's so obvious isn't it? Why would witches like us need to be told that? It's natural instinct isn't it?"

"I wouldn't really know. Dad says that muggle girl's have magazines that say the same thing," Ginny said as she looked around Diagon Alley. She stopped and stared longingly at Ollivanders Wand Shop.

"So it _is _natural instinct," Zoey laughed as she grabbed hold of Ginny's arm, "Come on we have to find Harry and stop by at Gringotts first"

Ginny numbly nodded her head as she allowed Zoey to drag her off. She was still staring back at the wand shop. Zoey squeezed through the crowd and was faintly reminded of her First Year of Hogwarts when she tried to make her way through the Hogwarts students so she could reach her Herbology class in time. Zoey chuckled under her breath.

When she finally reached Gringotts she caught sight of The Weasleys, Echo, Harry, Hermione and Hagrid.

"Mornin' Zwei," Echo spoke as soon as Zoey had reached her.

Zoey raised an eyebrow at her friend. They had already greeted each other at breakfast. Zoey shook her head and greeted her in return.

"Now that we're all here we can go get what we need," Mrs. Weasley said as she turned around and entered Gringotts Wizarding Bank.

Zoey looked around Gringotts and marveled at its size. She hadn't visited the bank in ages for she never needed to take much money out. She remembered her first time in the bank and got a bag full of galleons, sickles and knuts enough to sustain her for three years. Zoey tapped the bag inside her pocket it was pitifully empty.

Zoey was so distracted by the Goblins who worked in Gringotts that she jumped in surprise when she heard Mr. Weasley exclaim delightedly: "But you're _muggles!_"to Hermione's parents.

Zoey laughed as Mr. Weasley jumped excitedly over the Muggles money. She felt Fred tap her shoulder.

"We're leaving," Fred said to her as he pointed at Harry and Ron who were following a goblin who was going to lead them to the underground vaults.

"Right," Zoey muttered and looked behind her to see Echo having a conversation with Hermione. Echo had said that she already got all the money she needed. Zoey shook her head before quickly following Harry and Ron. She reached into her pocket and pulled out two keys, one silver and one a shimmering green, which had a silver chain around them. She wrapped the chain around her wrist and held the green key firmly in her hand as she sat in the small, goblin-driven cart.

Zoey felt like she was going to be sick the moment they stopped at the Weasleys Vault. She stumbled out and almost fell if Ron didn't catch her.

"You alright, Zoey?" Ron asked as he helped her back up.

"Yeah…thanks," Zoey then looked at Ron with wide-eyes, "Blimey Ron! Did you grow again?"

Ron blushed but it went unnoticed by Zoey for she had followed Harry into the Weasleys vault. Zoey's face fell a bit when she saw that it only contained a small pile of silver Sickles and one Galleon all of which Mrs. Weasley swept into her bag.

"George, don't hit your brother's head!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed when she turned around to leave.

"He's not George, I am!" George said in shock when he thought her was going to get in trouble for something he did not do.

"Sorry dear," Mrs. Weasley apologized, "Fred, apologize to Ron!"

Zoey watched as Ron rubbed the back of his head and Fred glaring at Ron. Zoey's eyebrows knitted in confusion. She really didn't want to witness a fight especially hundreds of feet below the ground.

When Fred refused to apologize Mrs. Weasley rolled her eyes in exasperation before turning to Zoey. "Last stop is your vault dear," she said as she climbed back onto the cart. Zoey bit her lip as she climbed back onto the cart. She closed her eyes as she felt the cart go back in motion.

"Vault seven hundred and ten," the goblin said as he stopped the cart.

Everyone exited the cart and watched patiently as Zoey, once again, stumbled out of hers. She caught herself before giving the green key to the goblin. The goblin opened the vault and everyone gasped.

Inside Zoey's vault were galleons, sickles and knuts pilled up one another to form mountains so tall that they had to crane their necks to see the top. There were cubbyholes and treasure chests that they were sure held galleons and the like within them. Zoey nervously pulled out her bag from her pocket and walked over to one of the cubbyholes to sweep all of its contents into her bag. She straightened up before looking at the Weasley boys' shock expressions.

"Merlin, Zoey," Fred breathed out, "How loaded are you?"

Zoey blushed.

"Fred! That's rude of you to ask!' Mrs. Weasley scolded as she walked back to the cart.

"It isn't mine," Zoey said as she sat back down into the cart, "It belongs to the Emeraude's"

"So? It's still yours isn't it?" George asked, "You are an Emeraude aren't you?"

"Yes, well… they don't really like me entering the vault that much…," Zoey trailed off as the cart started to head back to the surface.

"Is that why you filled you bag to the brim?" Harry asked

"Yeah… I'm estimating that it's enough to last me four years…," Zoey said as she looked inside her bag.

"Why's that? You could always come back before the new school year can't you?" Ron asked as he too looked into Zoey's bag.

Zoey swiftly closed her bag, "It's not that easy," she said.

* * *

Back outside they all separated. Percy left to get new quills while Fred and George went off with Lee Jordan. Mrs. Weasley and Ginny went to get robes and Mr. Weasley insisted on taking the Grangers out for a drink. Echo had disappeared long before they came out from the underground vaults.

"She said she saw something that caught her eye," Hermione said before walking off with Harry and Ron.

Zoey bit her lip. She had an hour before going to Flourish and Blotts to get her books. Zoey placed her keys in her pockets and held tightly onto her bag as she headed back into the crowd. She stopped in front of the Magical Menagerie.

The shop was very cramped and noisy and every inch of wall was covered with cages. As Zoey stared at a transforming rabbit she wondered vaguely what she was even doing in the shop, she wasn't really a fan of animals.

"Hey there, Zee! What are you doing here? Looking for a pet?" Someone said from behind Zoey making her jump and turn in around in surprise. It was Bridgit.

Zoey placed a hand over her heart, "Don't scare me like that," Zoey said with a smile, "I don't really know. I'm not that fond of animals to be honest"

"Ohh, to bad, I love animals. I actually have a pet, but he's not allowed in Hogwarts," Bridgit said with a pout.

"Really?" Zoey said as she led Bridgit out of the Magical Menagerie, "What kind of pet is it?"

"A puppy!" Bridgit answered getting a child like tone in her voice.

Zoey's eyes widened, "Oh really? So who takes care of him when you're away? Is he with you now?" Zoey asked as she looked down and searched the ground as if thinking the dog would suddenly appear.

Bridgit laughed, "I thought you weren't fond of animal Zee? But yeah he's here, but I keep him somewhere safe," Bridgit answered patting the backpack she was carrying, "And as for who takes care of him…well I leave him with my uncle," she answered Zoey's question with her voice turning slightly odd.

Zoey who was making her way through the crowd all the while holding onto Bridgit so they wouldn't be separated looked at her in shock. "You keep him in there?" Zoey exclaimed as they stopped in front of a Music and Book store.

"Yup, my puppy, well Shinji is right in here with toys, water and food! He's a teacup poodle you know," Bridgit answered as she opened her bag.

Zoey gasped as the white dog popped out with its tongue lolling out of its mouth.

"Isn't he cute?" Bridgit asked, petting the little animal.

"Y-yeah…cute," Zoey stuttered out as she continued to stare at the dog. Shinji was absolutely adorable but Zoey found herself scared to touch him. What if she did something wrong?

Sensing Zoey's thoughts Bridgit placed Shinji on her hand, "You can pet him if you want, he doesn't bite"

Zoey reached out her shaky hand and let her pointer finger touch the top of Shinji's head. She moved her finger in circles all the while keeping an arm's length distance.

"Don't tell me you're scared of Shinji?" Bridgit asked, smiling widely, as she saw Zoey's face when Shinji licked her finger.

Zoey didn't respond, she kept her lips tight in a firm line as she held back her scream .She didn't know what to do next. When Bridgit noticed Zoey's look of horror, she placed Shinji back in her bag after giving him a hug.

"Okay Zee, Shinji's back in the bag you can breathe now," Bridgit said smiling at Zoey.

Zoey breathed out and smiled in return. She then began to hear a soft tune coming from the back of her. She turned around and caught sight of a guitar, "I thought that was a muggle instrument," she said as she pointed at it.

Bridgit looked towards the direction where Zoey was pointing and smiled when she saw the guitar. "Do you happen to know the song 'Concrete Angel'?" Bridgit asked Zoey from out of the blue.

Zoey's eyes glazed over a bit as the tune played in her head. It was a lovely song and Zoey couldn't help but hum along when she heard it but something in the song just made images appear in her head. It's message perhaps? "It's a muggle song isn't it?" Zoey asked.

"Yup, do you know it?" Bridgit asked again

"I – I may have listened to it once or twice," Zoey muttered, "But yeah I know it…. Why do you ask?"

Before Bridgit answered Zoey's question, she had already dragged her to the spot where the guitar was. "Because I can play, so why don't we put on a little show to get people into a shopping mood?" Bridgit answered, getting the guitar.

Zoey watched in horror as Bridgit began to tune the instrument, "You can't be serious!"

"I'm always serious," Bridgit answered, getting a look from Zoey, "Okay, no, not really, but come on! Please!" Bridgit said, making a funny puppy dog face.

Zoey raised an eyebrow at Bridgit, "You know that doesn't work on me," she said. Suddenly, someone tapped Zoey shoulder and when she turned around to see who it was she saw the shop owner smiling and holding out a microphone.

"No – I – err – I'm not -"

"Oh yes we will!" Bridgit cut in, taking the microphone and giving it to Zoey by force.

Zoey's eyes widened as Bridgit dragged her outside the shop and held her guitar. Zoey looked to the crowd and so most of them stopping to watch what was going on.

"Ready?" Bridgit asked as she started to count down. She started to play.

A beautiful melody ran through the air and the witches and wizards were amazed at the soft sound Bridgit was creating. Zoey gulped as she held onto the microphone with shaky hands. She felt her knees buckle up when more people stopped to watch.

"I don't see how this is going to put them in a shopping mood," Zoey mumbled softly before taking a deep breath.

_"She walks to school with the lunch she packed_

_Nobody know what she's holding back_

_Wearing the same dress she wore yesterday_

_She hides the bruises with the linen and lace, oh"_

_"The teacher wonders but she doesn't ask_

_It's hard to see the pain behind the mask_

_Bearing the burden of a secret storm_

_Sometimes she wishes she was never born"_

Zoey took another deep breath before holding the microphone closer to her mouth as she began the chorus

_"Through the wind and the rain she stands hard as a stone_

_In a world that she can't rise above_

_But her dreams give her wings and she flies to a place _

_Where she's loved Concrete Angel"_

Zoey closed her mouth as Bridgit's playing once again flooded the air. Images of herself being pushed around by her aunt flooded her mind and she felt her eyes water. Zoey took another deep breath.

_"Somebody cries in the middle of the night_

_The neighbors hear but they turned out the light_

_A fragile soul caught in the hands of fate_

_When morning comes it will be too late."_

Zoey repeated the chorus as she remembered the days she woke up from another beating from her aunt. The pain that traveled down each and every limb of her body, the scars she would see on her arms and legs and the bruises that formed on her back and stomach.

_"A statue stands in a shaded place _

_And angel girl with an upturned face_

_A name is written on a polished rock_

_A broken heart that the world forgot"_

Zoey ducked her head as she repeated the chorus for the last time.

_"- Where she's loved…. Concrete Angel," _she held the note for the necessary length before placed the microphone at her side. She took deep breaths as the crows erupted in applause. She felt her cheeks warm up as she evened out her breaths. She then heard the soft clattering of coins pilling on top of each other.

Zoey looked to her right and saw Echo standing a little bit away from her holding a black bowlers hat out and had a sort of greedy look in her eyes. People were approaching her and placing galleons, sickles and knuts into the hat.

"Pay up. That tear-jerking performance wasn't free," Echo said as she took a bit out of her pastille.

Zoey's eyebrows shot up as she faced Bridgit, "Why are they paying her?" she asked in shock.

"I have no idea," Bridgit said before yelling, "Hey, Echo! We were playing over here and you start collecting money? When did you even get here?"

Echo turned around while still holding her pastille in one hand and the bowler hat in the other, "Nothing is for free."

"Life is free isn't it?" Bridgit answered, smirking.

"I thought this show was," Zoey said as she looked back at the crowd, "Okay… Thank you all for your generosity… err – you can go now"

The crowd obeyed and slowly went back to their own business. Echo shrugged as she walked off into the Music and Bookstore.

"Yes, thank you very much!" Bridgit added to the crowd who still remained and followed Echo into the store taking Zoey with her. Bridgit and Zoey returned the instruments.

Zoey watched as Echo went through the aisles of books. "You should give back the money," she said as Echo began to scan the books.

"Shush-shush," Echo spoke as she picked up a book and placed it back after getting a good look on the cover, "You would expect me to remember the faces of those who gave me their money?"

"And you couldn't use your own money because…?" Zoey asked as she made a hand motion telling Echo to explain.

"My money's exact for our school materials. If I use it I would be one or two books short," Echo deadpanned.

Echo picked up a book and smiled when she saw the cover. She ate the remained of her pastille and held the book to her chest and headed towards the counter. Echo placed the bowler hat on the counter and piled up the amount she needed.

Zoey sighed exasperatedly and looked at her watch, "Let's hurry on to Flourish and Blotts." She said as she turned around and left the store.

* * *

**And here's Chapter 23~ Yey! Bridgit makes her appearance again! *Clap clap clap***

**And here we see Zoey sing~ yehey!**

**Okay... I had something to say but then my friends called and now I'm like... gurrgle... brain dead.**

**Lol, I would love to credit and dedicate this to "ZoomSkater14" and "HayleyParadox" for helping me with this chapter and also "yvonna" for her question. You guys really inspire me with your curiosity.**

**I do not own the song "Concrete Angel" I am just a humble person who loves the song and thought it fit Zoey.**

**what else... weekend now! More updates! Yey!**

**I thank you all for your reviews, alerts, favorites and questions!**

**You are all beautiful**

**Don't forget to review and ask questions!**

**I only own what I own! :D  
**


	25. Chapter 24: Not now

**Chapter 24: Not now**

When Zoey, Echo and Bridgit reached Flourish and Blotts they were not surprised to see it filled with women around Mrs. Weasley's age trying to get upfront where Gilderoy Lockhart would be standing and signing copies of his books like "Magical Me" and what not. Zoey watched as Bridgit and Echo began to push through the crowed, she followed soon after.

"Calmly, lady's please… Don't push there… mind the books now….," a harassed looking wizard said by the door.

Zoey bit her lip as she once again squeezed her way through the crowd. She really didn't favor her visits to Diagon Alley when it was overly crowded. Zoey gasped when a witch jabbed her elbow at Zoey causing her to stumble. Zoey fell onto someone.

"You alright, love?"

Zoey looked up and saw Fred grinning down at her, his arms grabbing hold of her. He helped her stabilize herself before leading her towards the line. They sneaked up it and caught sight of the rest of the Weasleys, Grangers, Echo, Bridgit and Harry. Zoey watched as a breathless Mrs. Weasley began to pat her hair.

"That Lockhart bloke is going to sign books soon," Fred said in Zoey's ear as the women in the bookshop began to scream in excite.

Gilderoy Lockhart came into view and sat on a table filled with pictures of him, each giving the same pearly white smile. Zoey gave a shiver when the pictures all gave a wink.

"Forget-me-not-blue," Echo said from beside her.

Zoey looked at her questionably, "Pardon?"

"His robes, it's forget-me-not-blue, same as his eyes," Echo explained as she opened her new book and began to read it.

Bewildered, Zoey looked back at Lockhart but her attention was caught by a short, irritable man who was jumping all over the place taking pictures of Lockhart. The short man snarled at Ron and said that the pictures were for the _Daily Prophet. _

"Big deal…," Ron said, rubbing his foot.

Zoey watched as Lockhart turned to look at Ron but then caught sight of Harry. "It _can't _be Harry Potter?" Lockhart said jumping to his feet. Zoey began to feel sorry for Harry as the crowd parted and began to whisper excitedly. She felt Fred hold her closer to him as everyone drew their attention to the area where Harry was.

"I feel for you," Zoey mouthed to Harry as Lockhart shook his hand and began taking pictures with him saying things like "Together we'll make the front page" and "Nice big smile, Harry!" Zoey rolled her eyes at Lockhart's antics as he began to make a speech on giving Harry all of his books free of charge. She couldn't possibly see what the women found so _dashing _about Lockhart. He was just odd in Zoey's opinion.

Zoey watched as Harry staggered under the weight of all Lockhart's books. Harry walked away from the crowd and gave all his books to Ginny saying that he would buy his own.

"Leave him alone," Zoey heard Ginny say when a blonde boy, Draco Malfoy, began taunting Harry making comments like "You can't even go to a bookshop without making front page"

"Git," Zoey heard Fred say from behind her, his arms still holding onto her.

"Who's he?" Zoey whispered to Fred not wanting the blonde boy to hear her.

"Malfoy's son," Fred answered, "You know Malfoy right?"

"Yeah…," Zoey muttered as her eyes glazed over a bit, "I heard your dad mention him once or twice…He doesn't sound like a nice man."

"He isn't. That one there is his son, Draco. He's in Ron's –"

Fred stopped and Zoey stiffened when she heard Draco's comment. "Not as surprised as I am to see you in a shop, Weasley. I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for all those."

Zoey felt herself glare at the twelve-year-old boy. Mr. Weasley began to push through to crowd and struggled a bit with Fred and George. She watched as he began to have a conversation with a man that stood beside Draco, Mr. Lucius Malfoy. Zoey felt her eyes widen at the sight of the man.

_"No…no… please leave me alone," Zoey sobbed as she felt a stinging pain on her right leg. She had once again not given her aunt the answers she needed. _

_"My, my, Damiana," a ruthless voice said from behind her aunt, "What have you got here?"_

_"My sister's daughter," Zoey's aunt, Damiana, said as she kicked her in the gut._

_"P-please…help me…," Zoey mistakenly asked Lucius as tears flowed from her eyes. _

_Lucius mouthed formed a smirk as he looked down at the helpless girl. He drew out his wand._

"Obviously not," Lucius's voice brought Zoey back to reality, "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard world if they don't even pay you well for it?"

"We have a very different idea on what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy," Mr. Weasley said.

"Clearly," Lucius said.

Zoey noticed Bridgit staring intently at the book in Lucius's hand. It was one of Ginny's. He then dropped the book back in Ginny's cauldron and Zoey heard an audible _clank. _Bridgit continued to stare at the book. Zoey tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"Can it be…?" Zoey heard Lucius's voice very close to her. She turned her head and saw him standing near her his hand reaching towards her. She felt Fred's hold tighten and guessed he was glaring at Lucius. She shivered with discomfort when Lucius brought his hand to her face and then pushed her bangs back.

"Little Zoey….Damiana's _favorite _niece," Lucius said as he tilted her head from side to side taking a good look of her, "Tell me… how's your aunt these days?"

"A-abroad," Zoey stuttered out. She learned that you would pay a horrible price if you didn't answer his questions the hard way.

"I see…," Lucius said before turning back to Mr. Weasley, "The company you keep, Weasley… and I thought your family could sink no lower –"

Zoey gasped as Ginny's cauldron went flying and Mr. Weasley lunged at Lucius knocking him to a bookshelf making very heavy spell books fly to the air and falling back down onto many of their heads. One fell on Zoey's shoulder making her wince.

"Get him, Dad!" Zoey heard Fred and George cheer while Mrs. Weasley shrieked. Fred let his hold on Zoey go and she was pushed back by some of the crowd as they moved away from the fight. Zoey fell down when Hagrid entered the bookshop and lifted Mr. Weasley in one hand and Lucius with the other. She felt her shoulder throb as Lucius glare from Ginny shifted to her. She knew deep down he was going to report these events to her aunt and somehow turn it to her fault.

Zoey did not want to go home anytime soon.

* * *

"So who's this 'Damiana'?" Fred asked as he plopped himself down beside Zoey.

It was a cool summer day and Zoey found it nice to sit out outside somewhere in the middle of the garden. She had busied herself watching the gnomes pop out once in a while sometimes saying foul words she had a hunch Fred and George taught them.

"I thought you guys were suppose to de-gnome the garden," Zoey avoided his question, "There's still three or four left"

"They keep coming back. Dad won't mind, he thinks there hilarious," Fred said looking at one gnome that popped out of a bush only to return to another one.

"Your _dad_ won't mind, but _your_ mom would," Zoey said facing him. She knew what he came to her for. It was to continue their discussion the other day.

_"I want you to know… I want you to know…," Zoey repeated over and over._

_Fred watched as her shoulders began to shake. He knew that was a sign that she was trying to stop herself from crying. He rubbed the back of his neck as he took a step towards her._

_"What do you want me to know, Zoe?" he asked her._

_Zoey shook her head._

_Fred sighed. He knew these signs. He watched the times Echo would put up a stubborn front when George would ask her what was wrong. He had experienced George asking him to leave so he would comfort her and get the answers from her in the end. Fred approached Zoey and sat by her side. He placed a hand on her shoulder._

_Zoey stiffened at the touch and turned her head slightly to him, her hair still covering most of her face but Fred could still see her eyes. Her gray eyes looked haunted from beneath her thick brown hair. Fred brought his hand to her face and pushed her hair back._

_"What do you want me to know, Zoe?" he repeated, "What aren't you telling me….Why aren't you telling me?"_

_"I-I can't," Zoey cried._

_"You can't or you don't want to?" Fred asked as he kept his hand stationary at her face brushing away her tears that fell, "Just tell me…"_

_"It's not that easy!" Zoey gasped._

_"What makes it hard?"_

_"Everything! I'm scared…scared that you…you guys will leave me when you know…," Zoey moved away from Fred_

_"I won't leave you," Fred said firmly approaching Zoey again._

_Zoey looked at him disbelievingly_

_"I promise," Fred said, "I would never leave you"_

_Zoey bit her lip as more tears fell, "I'll hold you up that," _

"Mom won't care if there were still a gnome or two," Fred said with a shrug, "So who's Damiana?"

Zoey bit her lip as she looked down. She began to pluck the grass from the ground, "Never you mind," she said.

"Never you mind," Fred said in disbelief, "You know her, Malfoy knows her – He's acquainted with her. She can't be good"

"Your dad is acquainted with him and he's good," Zoey said.

"You've been hanging out Echo too much," Fred said on how Zoey was acting, "Malfoy _hates _dad. He hates _blood-traitors. _Last time I checked, you aren't one –"

"You don't know that," Zoey muttered under her breath but Fred heard her. Fred looked at her with wide eyes while Zoey looked at him with worried ones. She didn't think he would hear her. Her heart started to hammer against her chest she felt the box in her pocket start to warm up.

"Zoe-"

"No…no…D-Damiana… she's my aunt. She's… friends with Mr. Malfoy," Zoey stuttered out as she looked the other way. She didn't want to look at Fred right now.

"Friends? Who would want to be friends with that slimy git?"

"I thought the slimy git was Professor Snape?"

"Anyone in Slytherin is a slimy git," Fred said seriously, "Your aunt…if she's friends with Malfoy then-"

"She can't be good news," Zoey finished for him. Fred gave a nod. "You're right… she isn't. She's ruthless and uncaring. She would do anything to get what she wants."

"She sounds like a big ball of sunshine," Fred said sarcastically. Zoey licked her lips as she looked back at him. Her eyes found his and she saw that he wanted to know everything. She felt a guilty feeling at the pit of her stomach because she couldn't answer all his questions. Not now. She couldn't tell him everything.

"You don't know the half of it," Zoey whispered. An impulse happened. Zoey didn't know what she was doing but it was too late to do anything about it. Her hand reached up to the sleeve of her robes and pushed it up showing Fred the scar that she got when she was splinched.

Fred's eyes widened at the sight. The scar on Zoey's arm was long and was easily shown for it was a bit darker than her pale skin. The scar started at her elbow and twisted a bit until it reached a few centimeters from her wrist. Fred felt a bubbling anger in his stomach.

"She did that to you?" Fred asked in anger as he brought her arm closer to his face to look at the scar.

"Not really… I was splinched when she used side-along apparition," Zoey said in a whisper. She couldn't hide that part of her life anymore. She figured sooner or later someone would have seen it.

"What else did she do?" Fred's eyebrows furrowed as he lowered Zoey's arm back to her side.  
Zoey shook her head.

"You can't tell me that's the only thing she did!" Fred yelled but Zoey brought her hands to his mouth.

"Please… don't," she pleaded, "She did other things…. Some worse than this…," she pointed to her arm.

"What else did she do?" Fred repeated as he tried to even out his voice.

Zoey felt tears in her eyes as she shook her head.

"Zoe, you have to tell me. If not me, mom or dad or the minister of magic! This has to be stopped!"

"It can't be stopped!" Zoey cried, "She had connections. Whoever I'll report it too nothing would stop her. She'll be to weasel herself out of anything. If she's best mates with Mr. Malfoy then obviously she's on good terms with the minister as well!

"I can't tell your parents either. Mrs. Weasley is already getting suspicious….," Zoey whispered.

"Does Echo know?" Fred said with a gentler tone

"No… you're the only one… you can't tell anyone…please Fred, I'm begging you!" Zoey said as she grabbed hold of Fred's shirt looking at him pleadingly in the eye.

"If I'm the only one who knows can you at least tell me what else Damiana has done?" Fred asked.

"I can't," Zoey said as her grip loosened

"Why not?" Fred felt his anger rising again.

"It's not that easy! I'll tell you…someday… just not now… I've said too much," Zoey said in a soft voice as she wiped away her tears. Fred brought his hand to her face and wiped her tears for her. He stationed his hand at the side of her neck and brought his face closer to hers.

Zoey felt like he was about to kiss her again but Fred didn't he moved his face to her ear and whispered, "You can tell me anything….I would never leave you"

Zoey felt a fresh batch of tears form in her eyes and let some tears fall.

_You don't know that_

She thought to herself.

* * *

**My garsh! I got to stop with the angst or I might have to change the genre of the story but then this isn't all angst now is it?**

**Anyway, Zoey had shared a little bit of her past to Fred now and he wants to know more. He wants to help her. Will she let him? Stay tuned**

**And here, we learn Zoey's aunts name, "Damiana". Now how did I come up with the name? Well I was **  
**searching one of those name meaning websites and came across the letter D's and found it! It said "Damiana: Feminine form of Damian, meaning "to tame, to subdue" and to euphamistically "to kill"."**

**So yeah...**

**Anywho, next chapter is going to be when they're in Hogwarts already and for a little sneak peak for any chapter within their 4th year for a mega Fred and Zoey moment! :D**

**I would like to thank all of you for your awesome reviews, questions, suggestions and offers for help. Really, I love you guys :D**

**Now, in here you have seen what had happened in the previous chapter, hope that was good enough to fill up your belly of curiosity. **

**What?**

**Okay, I'm getting weird. I must be tired!**

**Don't forget to review or ask questions!**

**I only own what I own  
**


	26. Chapter 25: A Message

**Chapter 25: A Message**

"I can't believe you guys did that!" Zoey said exasperatedly as she brought Ron and Harry into a hug. It was the day after they all returned to Hogwarts and from rumors, clarifications from the twins about the rumors and the howler Ron got this morning she had found out that Ron and Harry had driven Mr. Weasley's car to Hogwarts and smashed it into the Whomping Willow.

"Flying to Hogwarts and smashing into the Whomping Willow! You guys could have been seen! Hurt even!" Zoey said as she looked the two of them over to see any injuries.

Ron and Harry wore guilty looks on their faces.

"You were scene weren't you? How many?"

"Seven muggles," Harry answered.

"Seve– You guys are never going to fly that car ever again," Zoey said sternly

"Not like we would be able to," Ron said, "It drove away to Merlin knows where"

Zoey opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the twins.

"Calm down Zoe," Fred said as he placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, you're beginning to act like mum," George said as he appeared on her other side.

Zoey sent a glare at him.

"Nope, Echo still got you beat," George said with a laugh.

"Going back to the topic. Do you still have to lecture us Zoey?" Ron asked giving her a puppy dog look, "Haven't I suffered enough from the Howler?"

Zoey raised an eyebrow as Ron started to pout his lips.

"_That _doesn't work on me, but fine after that Howler I guess you guys are free to go," Zoey said with a wave of her hand and the two Second years grinned and ran off.

Zoey shook her head and gave a sigh. Maybe she _was _acting like Mrs. Weasley but she didn't see anything wrong with that. Mrs. Weasley, though stern, was a kind and loving woman whom Zoey idolized.

"What class do you have next, Zoe?" Fred asked her as he pocketed his hands.

Zoey pursed her lips as she tried to remember her schedule. "I – err – I think I have DADA with the Ravenclaws… ah butter nuggets"

"Butter nuggets?" George laughed, "Seriously, Zoey, where do you come up with those sayings?"

"They're my euphemisms for swears," Zoey blushed, "Anyway, butter nuggets because we have Professor Lockhart for a teacher right now. I'm sorry, but I don't believe he did the things he writes in his books"

"Don't let mum or Hermione hear you say that. They simply _adore _him," Fred smirked

Zoey laughed before bringing her bag further up her shoulder. "You guys have Potions first right?" she asked them.

"Blimey, Zoey! Did you memorize our schedules?" George feigned shock

"I didn't know you were a fan! Tell us, do you know when our bathroom breaks are?" Fred wiggled his eyebrows.

Zoey made a sound of disgust.

"I just over heard you guys talking about it!" Zoey said before securing her bag under her arm, "I should get going now. See you!"

* * *

Zoey plopped herself beside her friend Bridgit and pulled out her books. She gave the book a look of discomfort. Her book held the picture of her teacher and it gave her a pearly white smile and a wink. If it were up to her, she would rip it off and dump it in the garbage bin. Heck, she'll dunk the entire book.

"He's obviously a fake," Bridgit said, looking at the horrific face of Lockhart smiling.

"I know," Zoey said as she turned the book over only to see another of Lockhart's pictures, "He's so full of himself!"

"I know! I actually can't believe that Hogwarts hired an airhead that can beat Fred, George and even that Malfoy kid!" Bridgit reacted; wanting to vomit at the wizard's smiling face.

Zoey laughed, "He'll be gone after the year though right? Isn't that what usually happens?"

"They gotta do something about that," Bridgit answered smiling at her friend, "Because judging by our teacher now; it looks like their running out of options"

Zoey laughed again but stopped when she felt a shiver do down her spine. She turned around and saw majority of the class, females, glaring at her and Bridgit. Zoey turned back to Bridgit and said under her voice, "But the one-year teacher thing is rather suspicious. Why'd that? So you know?"

"Hmm," Bridgit hummed, "Sorry, but no matter how smart I am I can't figure out the answer to that"

Zoey nodded her head before turning to look at the classroom. Her eyes widened when she saw that the classroom was decorated with her professor's face each were of him in a different pose and place but all had the same smile and wink. Zoey noted that the girls in the class were gazing at each photo lovingly. Zoey made a face of disgust before she heard a door slam open and the girls suppressing screams.

"Me," an egotistical voice said making Zoey cringe before whirling around to see her professor, "Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class Honorary Member of the Dark Forces Defense League and five-time winner of the _Witch Weekly's _most Charming smile award – but I don't talk about that –"

"Yeah right," Zoey heard Bridgit murmur beside her

"- I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!"

Zoey heard the girls giggle.

"Bet, he'll say the same speech to _all _his classes," Zoey whispered to Bridgit.

"I bet that the Bandon Banshee was terrified by your face, or maybe you never even saw it," Bridgit whispered, annoyance evident in her voice

Zoey suppressed a laugh by covering her mouth. Suddenly, Lockhart waved his wand and on every table a piece of parchment appeared on the tables. Out of habit, Zoey pulled out her quill and ink bottle. She then turned the paper over and looked at it in disbelief.

"I see you've all brought my books," Lockhart said, "Today, we'll have a little quiz to see how well you've read them"

"He can't be serious!" Zoey whispered as she read the questions

"You have thirty minutes – start _now!_"

_1.) __What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?_

_2.) __When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday?_

The questions read.

"I honestly didn't read the book," Zoey said under her breath, "And what does this have to do with Defense against the Dark Arts?"

"Umm… In truth I think that he's a work of Dark Arts! He can't possibly think these are important right?" Bridgit answered, getting angry

"No these are very important, Miss Parker," Zoey said jokingly, "You see, he _obviously _defeated Bobbin the evil fairy warrior by boring him to sleep by telling him his first birthday injury!"

"Oh did he? I would have ran away the moment he said 'I'," Bridgit said laughing at Zoey's joke. Sadly, her laugh didn't unnoticed.

"Excuse me, young Ravenclaw girl at the back, but do you have something interesting to say to the class?"Lockhart says calling Bridgit's attention.

Zoey gasped and sat lower in her chair not wanting to catch unwanted attention.

"Well," Bridgit started, standing up from her seat, "I was just telling my friend here how I found this class –"

"Amazing? Oh no need for flattery," Lockhart cut Bridgit off, smiling.

"Actually, I was going to say stupid, useless or somewhere within those lines, but I could say Amazingly Horrible," Bridgit said, her voice sounding sickeningly like and angel.

Zoey looked at Bridgit in disbelief. She didn't know whether to stop her or to let her continue. She figured she didn't have a choice because she didn't know _how _to stop her at this point.

"What's your name?" Lockhart asked, getting mad at her insult.

"It's Bridgit Cari Parker, sir, and I must say that your pop quiz about your so called DADA books are really something…," Bridgit started, while the whole class stared at her.

"Bridgit…" Zoey whispered warningly knowing where her friend was going. Unfortunately, she was ignored.

"Let's see," she continued, "The first question: _What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color? _Sir, please do elaborate how this question will save me from the clutches of a banshee or even a pixie for that matter,"

Lockhart stared at her disbelievingly

"Well –" Lockhart tried to answer but was cut off.

"Next, _When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday? _Sir, how will this protect me from a boggart or any creature? Do you expect us to pull out our wands and say your birthday?" Bridgit was starting to irritate the professor now, but oddly her voice never changed from its sweet nature.

"Young lady, you will get detention if you do not stop," Lockhart said, hiding the anger in his voice.

"You should listen to him…," Zoey tried again but was once again ignored.

"Then give me detention, because what will we be doing? Reading you fan mail and having you sign our books?" Bridgit asked sarcastically and sweetly at the same time.

Lockhart's face was indescribable; he was really starting to get angry at Bridgit but she didn't seem to care.

"Might I let you know that these will help you in the future," Lockhart said, trying to get some piece of his pride back.

"Oh really now? Hmm… yes, one day when I am working as an auror and am faced in a life or death situation I will say: 'I know when Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday is… do you?' and I will be saved!"

When Bridgit said this, it was the last straw for Lockhart.

"That's it young lad, detention tonight until nine!" Lockhart said to her, making her sit down beside Zoey once again.

Zoey sighed as she covered her eyes with her hand and shook her head.

"Did I do something wrong?" Bridgit asked Zoey, making an innocent expression

"I can't believe you just did that…on the first day too!" Zoey said ignoring Bridgit's innocent demeanor.

* * *

Zoey walked side-by-side with Bridgit as they left their Defense against the Dark Arts class. She was glad to leave but still had that unnerving feeling to feel someone glaring behind her back. Zoey checked her watch and noted that Echo was still attending a different class than Bridgit and herself. She shook her head. _Why do I even know her schedule? _Zoey wondered to herself.

"Hey, how's… what's her name? The youngest Weasley… ah! How's Ginny?" Bridgit asked bringing Zoey out of her thoughts.

"Ginny?" Zoey asked, "She's fine I guess. Probably feeling like all the first years on their first day… why do you ask?"

"Oh no reason… but…when you see her, can you tell her something for me?" Bridgit asked, confusing Zoey a bit.

"Ah…sure?"

"Tell her…some reading materials are _not _to be read, written on or followed," Bridgit said before excusing herself saying she had to fetch something from her common room.

Zoey watched Bridgit's retreating figure with a curious gaze. What brought Bridgit to say such a thing? Zoey didn't have time to dwell on it. She still had a couple of minutes before her next class and she wanted to get their early, it was going to be Charms next.

Zoey jogged down the corridor and made a sharp turn causing her to bump into someone. She fell to the ground and heard the sounds of books fly to the sky and clamper to the cold hard floor. "Sorry, Fred," Zoey mumbled as she rubbed her sore bum and stood up.

"I'm not Fred," a girl's voice said with a laugh.

Zoey's eyes widened as she looked down and saw Ginny on the floor.

"Ginny!" Zoey gasped as she began to help the girl up, "Sorry about that, force of habit"

"I guess you bump into Fred a lot then," Ginny said as she began to pick up her fallen objects.

Zoey gave of a laugh, "You have no idea," she said as she began to help Ginny pick up her things. Zoey caught sight of a slightly battered notebook. She picked it up curiously and turned it over looking at its back. It seemed to a diary. Zoey raised an eyebrow; she didn't know Ginny kept one.

"Err – Ginny? What's this?" Zoey asked the eleven-year-old as she held up the notebook.

Ginny gasped and snatched the notebook out of Zoey's reach. Zoey stepped back in shock as Ginny hid the notebook behind her back.

"Is that your diary?" Zoey asked her.

Ginny's cheeks grew a shocking red at Zoey's question. Zoey laughed. "Hey, no need to be embarrassed," she said, "I keep one too"

"I-I'm not embarrassed!" Ginny said as she furrowed her eyebrows, her cheeks still red.

"Oh really? Let me read it then," Zoey said as she wiggled her eyebrows.

"You hang out with the twins too much," Ginny said laughing at what Zoey did, "Wiggling eyebrows doesn't suit you"

Zoey laughed, "I know.. wait huh?"

Ginny pushed the notebook into Zoey's hands. "Read it," she said, "I trust you"

Zoey raised her eyebrow and opened it. Inside was filled with pages all blank. Zoey flipped the pages but each one was as clean as the previous. She tried flipping it from back to front but it was still blank. "There's nothing inside," she said to Ginny, giving back the notebook.

Ginny smiled before rummaging in her bag and pulling out a quill and ink bottle. She quickly dabbed her quill and ran to Zoey's side. She held the notebook in one hand and the quill in the other.

"It does something really cool, watch," Ginny then wrote on the notebook. She wrote _My name is Ginny Weasley. _Zoey's eyes widened as the letters dissolved into the paper and later a reply emerged from the black paper. _Hello, Ginny. I see you're back from your classes._

"I-It-"

"It replies. Pretty neat huh?" Ginny said with a grin, "That way, I can consult in it and nobody can read what I've written. Want to try it out?"

Zoey took the quill Ginny had held out and took the notebook in one hand. She held the notebook at a low height so Ginny could see what she was writing. Zoey licked her lips before writing: _My name is Zoey. _Zoey watched as her words dissolved into the page and new ones came out. _Hello Zoey, are you a friend of Ginny's?_

"Oooh! Reply to him!" Ginny jumped excitedly.

Zoey brought the quill back to the page and wrote: _Yes, I am. Sorry, to cut this short but I have to be leaving for my class._

Zoey did not wait for a reply for she had already shut the notebook and gave it back to Ginny together with the quill.

"Sorry Ginny but what I wrote is true, I don't want to be late for Charms," Zoey said with an apologetic smile.

"Oh okay. I'll see you later then!" Ginny waved as Zoey dashed down the hall.

As Zoey was running to the Third Floor looking for her Classroom 2E she couldn't help but wonder if she forgot something. _Bridgit's favor! _Zoey screamed in her head as her pace slowed down. She looked behind her and realized she was too far away from Ginny to tell her Bridgit's message.

_"Tell her…some reading materials are not to be read, written on or followed,"_

Bridgit's words echoed in Zoey's minds as her brows furrowed in concentration. What had she meant by that? She didn't know. Zoey then turned back around and started to walk towards Classroom 2E.

* * *

**And another chapter done and I magically kept it away from being angsty!**

**I'm sorry but I feel like the past chapters have been rather sad so I'm trying to make up for it by having light-hearted ones!**

**This chapter has another Bridgit-Zoey Friendship moment!**

**Sorry, cause I feel like they don't have much of those moments. It's always either Echo, Fred or George so yeah...**

**Turns out Zoey and Bridgit aren't much fans of Lockhart?**

**XD**

**Okay, I would like to dedicate this Chapter to "ZoomSkater14" for helping me write this. You are so awesome**

**Also, to answer "BookKailei"'s question: Yes, Sirius is Zoey's real father :)**

**Anyway, thank you for all the reviews, favorites, questions and alerts!**

**You are all beautiful!**

**Don't forget to review and ask questions (XD)**

**I only own what I own  
**


	27. Chapter 26: Come with me

**Chapter 26: Come with me  
**

It was the crack of dawn and Zoey had been up and about earlier than that. Zoey didn't know what caused her to get up so early, usually she was the last one to get up when the temperature outside was still cold. She hugged her robes tighter to herself as she sat on a bench that was placed out on the field. She had her school bag on her side together with an open ink bottle. In her hand was a quill and on her lap was a battered notebook with blank pages.

The notebook happened to be Ginny's special diary. Zoey had it with her today because Ginny suggested that they should take turns in consoling in it.

_"Why'd you give me this?" Zoey asked Ginny as she held up the diary._

_"I figured we should take turns in, you know, writing in it," Ginny said as she swayed back and forth._

_"Why?"_

_"Because sometimes when I look at you, you seem to have a lot on your mind and sometimes it seems that there are some things you want to say but can't seem to say out loud… I figured if you wrote down your thoughts it would help you a bit…y'know?" Ginny said with a blush_

_Zoey felt her heart skip a bit. Was it that obvious? She licked her lips and smiled. "That's sweet of you Ginny but I told you, I have a diary of my own."_

_"Does that diary reply to you or give you advice?"_

_"No –"_

_"Then write in this one then, he really knows how to make you feel better," Ginny said with a smile._

_"He?"_

_"Yeah… he introduced himself as Tom," Ginny said with a blush, "Anyway, just try it okay? And no one would be able to read what you wrote so yeah… Just try it okay?"_

Zoey sighed as she dipped her quill in the ink bottle and brought it to the paper. She bit her lip as she thought about what she should say. What do you say to a talking diary? Not exactly talking but something with a mind of its own. Zoey looked up at the sky and noted that the sun was still barely up, she looked around the grounds and saw no students walking, and she looked back at the page and noted no words were written.

**_Hey, it's Zoey again. Sorry, I left without a proper good-bye._**

She wrote thinking the diary would remember her, after all he remembered Ginny.

Zoey watched as the words disappeared only to have new ones appear.

_Hello, Zoey. Don't worry, no harm done. I would have done the same thing. It's great to hear from you again but it's a little early to be writing don't you think?_

Zoey raised an eyebrow. How did the diary know that?

**_Err – yeah, I guess… I sort off woke up earlier than planned._**

_I see. Well, I don't want to be rude or anything but where's Ginny?_

**_Probably sleeping in the Gryffindor Tower, but that's not the answer you're looking for is it?_**

_No, it's not._

**_She told me that I should try to console in you. She said you'll be able to help me._**

_I would try my best to help you. I have helped Ginny with her problems. What do you need help in though?_

Zoey licked her lips. Should she tell him? Ginny's words echoed in her head _'No one would be able to read what you wrote'_

**_I don't really know how I should put it. I'm sorry but I don't know you as well as Ginny does._**

_I understand. Why don't we start over? Hello, my name is Tom._

Zoey smiled slightly and let out a small chuckle.

**_Hello, Tom. My name is Zoey Emeraude._**

_Emeraude? Not the second greatest pure-blood family Emeraude?_

**_Second? Greatest? I didn't know anything about that…_**

_Really? From what Ginny has written in me according to her History of Magic lesson the greatest pure-blood family is the Black Family and the second is the Emeraude._

**_The Blacks are extinct now, aren't they?_**

_Not exactly. They're still extant – through the female line though_

Zoey bit her lips as she read the line and watched it slowly disappear.

**_But they don't carry the Black family name…_**

_That's what I meant, Zoey. _

Zoey was about to reply but then she heard voices from a distance causing her to stop with her quill just centimeters away from the page. She looked up from the diary and saw the Gryffindor Quidditch team walking towards the Quidditch pitch. Zoey caught sight of the twins and her heart skipped a beat. Zoey panicked and scribbled a fast "Be right back" to Tom and she hastily stuffed the diary back into her bag. She closed her ink bottle and stuffed it in her bag together with her quill. She stood up and clutched her bag to her side, her head slightly throbbed. Zoey closed her eyes as she brought her hand to her head.

"I got to get this diary back to Ginny," Zoey muttered to herself as she made a run for it. She ran back into the castle and headed towards the Great Hall hoping she'll catch sight of the Weasley girl.

* * *

"Good Morning, Zoey!" Ginny greeted when Zoey skidded to a halt at the Gryffindor table. Zoey quickly took a seat beside the red-head and brought out the diary. She slid it back to Ginny.

"I said you could write in it today," Ginny said as she looked at Zoey with confusion.

"I – I have," Zoey breathed out.

Ginny raised an eyebrow, "Really? Did you share your feelings with it?"

"N-not really," Zoey confessed, she was never the greatest liar, "I introduced myself and then he – Tom said that my family was the grea – _second _greatest wizarding family out there"

"That's great and all but… I was hoping you would share your Fred dilemma," Ginny said with a smile.

Zoey felt her cheeks warm up at the eleven-year-olds words, "What do you mean?" Zoey asked as she removed her glasses and whipped them clean

"Don't act like nothing happens between you guys," Ginny said, "I saw you guys in the garden the other day, that and I notice that on some days you're all good friends and all but on other days there's like a tension between you guys, like something happened"

Zoey bit her lip.

"I know you don't want to talk about it. I heard Fred muttering that you won't tell him anything. That's why I told you to write in this diary here," She held up the diary and gave it back to Zoey.

"Just give it back to me tomorrow," Ginny then smiled, stood up and left the Great Hall.

Zoey watched as Ginny walked away. She held the diary close to her chest and felt her head throb. For a moment it seemed that her vision became foggy. Zoey shook her head and removed her glasses. She held it to the light to see no smudges or the like. She placed them back on and squinted her eyes. The fog disappeared.

"Just my imaginat-ah!" Zoey screamed as someone gripped onto her shoulder. She whirled around to see Fred trying his best not to burst out in laughter, while George was gripping hard onto the table trying to stop his laughing.

"Blimey Zoey!" George gasped in laughter, "I didn't know you could scream so loud!"

Zoey blushed and looked around the Great Hall. Most of the students were laughing as well. She looked back at Fred and saw his eyes watering from suppressed laughter. "Just go ahead and laugh," Zoey said laughing a bit herself.

"N-No," Fred said though laughter was evident in his voice, "W-w c-ca-"

Fred couldn't take it anymore he just clutched his side and began to laugh himself.

After a second or two everyone began to calm down. Zoey shook her head and smiled at the twins. "So why did you guys come and give me a heart attack? I thought you had Quidditch practice?"

"How did you know we had practice?" George asked

"Saw you guys heading to the Quidditch pitch," Zoey said as she placed the diary within her robes when the twins weren't looking.

"Oh really?" Fred asked as he wiggled his eyebrows.

Zoey laughed, "So did you guys have to tell me something?"

"Oh right, right," Fred said, "You have Defense Against the Dark Arts next right?"

Zoey gave a shiver, "Yeah, I do."

"And from what we hear, you aren't very fond of the way Lockhart decorates the room," George said as he stood beside his brother.

"Who is?" Zoey asked as if it was obvious that the entire school despised the décor.

"Half of the female population?" Fred guessed, "But we can see where you're coming from"

"So what about the way Lockhart decorates?" Zoey asked as the bell rang.

"We just think-" Fred began

"-That you would enjoy the classroom's-" George continued

"Latest design," the ended together as the bell rang

Zoey raised her eyebrow. "Wha-"

"Oh now you don't want to be late do you?" Fred asked as he and George began to push Zoey out of the Great Hall. Zoey tried her best to put friction onto the floor so she would be able to interrogate the twins on what they meant but no such luck, they were too strong for her and she just ended up gliding through the floor spluttering about.

When they reach the third floor and stopped in front of Classroom 3C the twins patted Zoey's back before disappearing to their first class being Transfiguration.

"Hey, Zee!" a voice called from beside her making Zoey jump, "Why are you here so early?"

"The bell just rang," Zoey said looking at Bridgit quizzically, "The twins pushed me here… saying something about Professor Lockhart's new design"

"New design eh? This I gotta see!" Bridgit said excitedly as she opened the classroom door

Zoey gasped at the sight. All the pictures of her professor that decorated the walls now had either mustaches, broken teeth or a black eye, sometimes a mixture of the three. The girls who were already in the classroom either glared at the pictures or were near tears when they saw their broken professor. Zoey couldn't help but feel proud of one of the twins' pranks.

"Those twins are geniuses! I applaud their decorating skills!" Bridgit said, causing the female population to glare at Zoey and her once again

"It was you, wasn't it?" A Hufflepuff girl, who Bridgit and Zoey didn't know, asked; anger evident in her voice.

Zoey eyes widened and shook her head. She then got a good look at the Hufflepuff girl and realized she was one of her dorm mates, sadly she didn't know her name.

"Sorry, but no matter how I hate that egotistical and narcissistic excuse of a professor… I didn't do this," Bridgit answered, admiring the new wall pictures with a smirk

Zoey then jumped in shock when she heard a rather girlish scream. She whirled around to see her professor near collapsing at the sight of this classroom. He stared at each and every picture with a horrified expression.

"W-who…. Who did this?" his voice was hoarse as he scanned the classroom.

"It was her, professor!" The Hufflepuff said as she pointed an accusing finger at Brigit.

When Lockhart's eyes landed on Bridgit's smiling face, he immediately called her name. "Miss Parker! How dare you do this!" he shouted, walking towards Bridgit and Zoey.

"What on earth would give you the idea that I did this?" Bridgit asked the sweetness in her voice obvious.

"She didn't do this, Sir!" Zoey defended.

"What do you mean she didn't? That obvious wide smile on her face is proof enough!" the lame excuse for a professor snapped at Zoey. Zoey shrank in fear.

"Just because I'm happy with the new design doesn't mean I did it… though how I wish I did," Bridgit answered, her wand in her hand ready to defend Zoey and herself if needed.

The professor backed away as he noticed the anger in Bridgit's voice but he did not stand down.

"Miss Parker, I thought that detention would be enough, but it seems as if you'll need worse punishment," Lockhart said, annoying Bridgit even more.

"Yeah, detention, that was great, we just wrote back to your fans!" Bridgit shouted, causing the female students to glare at her and the males to snicker.

"Bridgit stop it," Zoey said, tugging at Bridgit's arm

The girls continued to glare while the boys took a seat to have a more comfortable view of the show.

"You should listen to your friends, Miss Parker. You wouldn't want me to cast a spell on you," Lockhart said as he brought out his own wand. Zoey's eyes widened, he wouldn't go as far as to harm a student would he?

Sadly, before Lockhart could do anything Bridgit had shot a jinx at the teacher. Zoey's eyes, along with the rest of the class, widened in shock as Lockhart was blasted backwards and landed, very roughly, on the teachers desk making it skid across the floor. A shout was heard from the door.

"You attacked a teacher!"

Zoey and Bridgit turned around only to see Hermione standing by the door, books in her hands and a look of shock and disbelief on her face.

"H-Hermione, what are you doing here?" Zoey stuttered out, she still couldn't believe what Bridgit had done.

"I was walking to my class, when I heard a ruckus," Hermione answered as she stared at Lockhart who was groaning in pain.

"He deserved it," Bridgit said, looking at Hermione apologetically, "I'm sorry you had to see that, you can report me if it makes you feel any better"

Zoey looked at Bridgit with wide eyes, "I know you're comfortable with detention and all but for doing this you might be expelled!"

"It's fine, Zoey. I did attack a teacher. Go ahead Hermione," Bridgit said with a smile on her face.

Hermione shook her head, "Why'd you do it?"

"She either did it because she was accused or because Professor Lockhart snapped at me," Zoey said as she watched her professor stir. Some of the students approached him to see if he was alright.

"A little bit of both actually, but Hermione do you believe that this teacher is for real?" Bridgit asked, bending down so she was face to face with Hermione.

Hermione blushed, "Ron asked me the same thing the other day when Professor Lockhart released pixies in the classroom but couldn't stop them. He left Ron, Harry and I to deal with them."

"And you still believe he's for real?" Bridgit asked in disbelief.

Hermione ignored her as she looked back at Lockhart.

"How did you stop the pixies then?" Zoey asked.

"_Immobulus,_" Hermione answered, making Bridgit give her a thumbs-up.

"Good choice, but you should have used it on Lockhart, he's more annoying than pixies," Bridgit said earning a laugh from Zoey but a look from Hermione.

The female students then helped Lockhart up and escorted him to the Hospital Wing while the boys took this opportunity to skip class seeing as their teacher won't be back in time to do any lessons. This left the three girls alone in Classroom 3C. Hermione had insisted that she needed to see if Lockhart was alright but Bridgit persuaded her to stay.

"So Hermione, how's Hogwarts been treating you? I haven't been able to get a chance to know you better," Bridgit said as Zoey nodded in agreement.

"Everything's been fine. I just haven't made a lot of friends yet. I usually hang out with Ron and Harry or in the library," Hermione said

"Don't worry, you'll make a lot of friends soon enough," Zoey said comfortingly, "In my opinion it's a whole lot easier to have a small group of friends than a big one. Easier on the Christmas shopping too"

"That's Echo's opinion," Bridgit laughed, "But I have to agree. Besides the library is amazing anyway… especially the Restricted Section"

Zoey looked at Bridgit in shock. True, Zoey never really visited the library as often as her friend but she knew for a fact that the Restricted Section was, of course, restricted. "You've been to the Restricted Section?" Zoey and Hermione asked

"Once, twice… fifteen times," Bridgit answered with a shrug

_"Why?" _Zoey asked as she looked at Bridgit with questioning eyes.

"Uhm…," Bridgit said nervously, "Reading?" It sounded more of a question than an answer.

"But why there?" Zoey pressed on the matter

"Speaking of reading," Bridgit avoided the question, "Have you told Zoey my message?"

Zoey bit her lip and looked guiltily to the floor. She heard Hermione ask: "What message?"

"It was a message about an important matter," Bridgit said as she stared intently at Zoey. Hermione didn't look satisfied with the answer but dropped the subject.

"I – err.. I'm sorry Bridgit…it slipped my mind," Zoey apologized as she felt the diary pressed tightly to her side.

"It's fine, Zee… just don't forget next time, okay? It's very important. I have a feeling that she won't be able to dig herself out of the pit when she gets in too deep," Bridgit said, confusing Zoey and Hermione.

Zoey opened her mouth to ask further questions but the bell rang. Bridgit quickly jumped to her feet and grabbed hold of Hermione saying that she'll escort her to her next class. Zoey stayed rooted to her spot as the two girls left. Questions started swirling in her head as she pulled out the diary from her robes. She opened the battered notebook and once again saw blank pages. Whatever Tom had said when Zoey made her haste good-bye Zoey could no longer see. Zoey contemplated if she should write an apology to Tom or she should wait until she left the classroom.

Zoey brought out her quill and ink bottle but then moment she pressed her inked quill on the page a voice startled her making her scratch the quill on the parchment, drawing a long black line on the page. The line disappeared. Zoey quickly shut the notebook and stuffed it in her bag before jumping to her feet and whirling around to see Fred standing by the door.

"Gee, Zoe, in a hurry much?" Fred asked with a grin in his face and a piece of parchment in his hands.

Zoey breathed out a sigh, "Fred. You scared me."

"Sorry, about that love," Fred said as he approached Zoey, "How do you like me and George's decorating skills? I, for one, think this is all beautiful"

Zoey didn't respond. She looked at the piece of parchment in his hands and realized it was a map. She watched as Fred's name on the map was slowly walking towards her name. She raised an eyebrow. Why were their names on the map? Why were they moving?

Fred saw Zoey's interest at the map and held it up to her face. Zoey's eyes widened when she saw more moving names. She realized it was the map of Hogwarts.

"I'll tell you what this interesting thing is if you come with me to the Quidditch Pitch," Fred said with a grin.

"Now?" Zoey asked in surprise.

"Yeah, now"

"But we have classes," Zoey said.

"According to my sources it's your free period right now," Fred said as he grabbed hold of Zoey's hand and began to drag her towards the door.

"_I _may not have classes right now but _you _do," Zoey said as she tried to create friction with the floor and her shoes, "You have Herbology next!"

"Now, actually and this wouldn't be the first time I've skipped a class," Fred said as he dragged Zoey down the hall.

"Are you saying you skipped classes _before?_" Zoey asked already knowing the answer.

Fred stopped walking and looked at her pleadingly. "Come one Zoe! Just this once, come with me, break a rule."

"It's _you _who is breaking a rule," Zoey said with a smile, "But alright."

Fred grinned at her, "Brilliant!"

* * *

**First of all I would like to apologize for my typos in the previous chapter. I don't know if any of you noticed them but I did and I died a little inside when I saw them. Hopefully, this chapter doesn't have any. **

**Just a little spoiler for you guys the next chapter (27) will be dedicated to Fred and Zoey while the one after that (28) will hopefully have Echo in it. Echo hasn't appeared a lot, only mentioned. Sorry about that.**

**Anyway, thank you "ZoomSkater14" for once again helping me with this chapter. You are totally awesome! XD I couldn't have done it without you.**

**Thank you all also for all your reviews, questions, favorites and alerts. They are all much appreciated. :)**

**Now for some Q and A (mind you I might be vague as so I won't give to much out :D):**

**"wHaT's In A pEn-NaMe" asks: "Are you gonna kill Fred? Again? If you are, could u...u know... think it over again? I'll cry if you kill him"**

**- Well, let's just say I died inside when he died so let's leave it at that but let's also just say that if I had my way I would have let him live**

**"ZoomSkater14" asks: "When is Fred and George's next big prank and what will it be?"**

**- In truth, I was wondering the same thing that's why I placed the Lockhart prank her. Not exactly "big" but it's still a prank. Hopefully we'll see bigger and prankier ones in the near future!**

**"YukiKyoMomiji" asks: "Is Zoey gonna be the one that Riddle possess?"**

**- Let's just wait and see. Let's just wait and see :)**

**and lastly**

**"yvonna" asks: "So is Ginny gonna tell Zoey about the chat thing when it happens?"**

**- And once again: Let's just wait and see :)**

**Well, now we're done with that stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**Don't forget to review and ask questions!**

**I only own what I own!**

**PS: Good Luck to Chiharu-chan I hope you will do well in Compre! :D  
**


	28. Chapter 27: What I want to know

**Chapter 27: What I want to know**

Zoey followed Fred as he brought her to the Quidditch Pitch. She observed that no one was playing and the place was practically deserted. She sat on the stands and Fred joined her. Zoey watched as Fred fidgeted slightly as he kept his eyes glued to the map. She watched as he trailed after a particular name. It was George.

"Does he know that you skipped?" Zoey asked making Fred jump. It seemed that he forgot she was there.

"Not exactly," Fred said as he tapped the map with his wand and muttered a spell. Zoey watched as the names and places disappeared and it took the appearance of a regular piece of parchment. "I told him I needed to get something –"

"But that was a lie," Zoey interrupted.

"He owes me!" Fred blushed.

"He does? Why?"

"Back in third year when he said he nee –" but Fred stopped in the middle of his sentence. He brought his hand to his mouth and shook his head. Zoey watched as Fred turned to the side a bit and looked down. His hand moved to the seat and his cheeks were flaring making his freckles a bit more noticeable.

Zoey raised an amused eyebrow as a smile appeared on her face. She never seen Fred act so embarrassed before. Zoey took the piece of parchment from Fred's hand and opened it. It was blank like the pages in the diary. She flipped it over and it was still blank. She looked up and saw that she had caught Fred's attention.

She tilted her head to the side, "So why'd you want to come here?" she asked as she folded the paper again but didn't return it. She liked the feeling of it in her hand. She felt a connection.

"I just realized something is all," Fred said as he looked over at the Quidditch Pitch, not at her.

"And that is?"

"I don't really know you," Fred replied as he looked her in the eye, "I've known you since we were both eleven but I don't really know _you"_

"Fred… you know I can't tell you. I'm n –"

"I know," Fred interrupted, "I didn't mean that part of you. Sure, I want to know that part of you but not now. You're not ready."

"Then what do you want to know?" Zoey asked. She didn't understand what he meant.

Fred brought his hand to her face and pushed away a strand of hair. "Anything," he said, "Your birthday, your favorite color, your –"

"Basically whatever Professor Lockhart asked in his quiz?" Zoey asked, "Sorry, ruined the moment"

Fred laughed, "Exactly. I've known you for four years now and I don't even know your birthday"

"April," she said, "twenty ninth of April"

Fred gave her a look of shock, "Are you serious?"

"Very much so, yeah"

"Twenty eight days," Fred whispered, "George and I are twenty eight days older than you and we never celebrated your birthday!"

"It's just a day, Fred. Echo and Bridgit don't even know it. It's not that important," Zoey reasoned.

"Not tha – Zoe! It's the day of your birth! Blimey, when you think about it you're truly a stranger to me," Fred said as he ran a hand through his hair.

Zoey laughed, "The feelings mutual. I didn't even know you and George were born on April Fools until you said you guys were twenty eight days older than me"

"April what?"

"April Fools. It's a muggle holiday… well not really. It's just a day where they pull pranks on each other," she paused, "Very fitting for you guys when you think about it"

"An entire day of pulling pranks," Fred whispered his eyes twinkling mischievously, "I know what George and I are doing for our birthday"

"Don't bother"

"Why not?"

"You both play pranks everyday anyway. Why do the same thing on your birthday?"

"Cause then we can't be blamed for it. We're excused, we're supposed to," Fred said in a matter of fact voice.

"Not really," Zoey said

"But you said –"

"Yes, it's a day to pull pranks for _muggles _and it's not an actual holiday so you and George can't get off the hook for anything you pull," Zoey explained, "Last time I checked you aren't a muggle."

Fred stuck out his tongue, "You ruin my fun"

"You're starting to sound like Echo"

Fred grinned.

"I thought you wanted to get to know more about me. All that's happening is that you found out that you were born on April Fools," Zoey said as she re-tied her hair in to a ponytail.

"How about we play a game of Twenty Questions then," Fred suggested.

Zoey looked at him with confusion, "Twenty what?" it was her turn to ask

"And here I though you knew everything about muggles," Fred said with a shake of his head, "Twenty Questions, it's a muggle game. You each ask a question and you have to answer until you both equally asked twenty questions. Get it?"

"Sort of," Zoey said, Fred wasn't that good in explaining, "So any questions about anything?"

"Yup"

"Can I put another rule?"

"What rule?"

"If the question is too personal we can skip it," Zoey said

"You can't do that!"

"Who says?" Zoey asked, "If you skip a question then that questioner gets another question added to his twenty questions. Just say 'Skip'. Get it?"

"Sort of," it was Fred's turn to say, "Let's start then"

Zoey nodded her head and racked her brains for any question she could ask. She opened her mouth, "When's your birthday?"

Fred's palm collided with his forehead, "You already know that. That was a waste of a question"

"I panicked!"

"How can you panic in twenty questions?"

"Just answer it!" Zoey said with a blush on her cheeks

"April one!" Fred said, "My turn," pause, "When's your birthday?"

Zoey's rubbed her eyes and with a laugh she said, "This is going to be a long game"

Minutes passed and Zoey was glad that her free-period was still far from over. So far they had accomplished ten questions each. Zoey had learned his favorite color and favorite Quidditch team. She learned his ambitions and dreams and vice versa. She was really enjoying the game. She never knew how poorly she knew Fred till now. She then asked:

"Why did you want to get to know me?"

"Because you are really a mystery to me, Zoe," Fred said with a shrug, "And to be honest whenever I try to, you end up in tears. I was just hoping that I would be able to get you alone, talk to you and have your face tear-free"

Zoey blushed, "I see. That's nice of you"

Fred grinned, "If you could have any pet, what would it be?"

"A rock"

Fred laughed.

"I'm serious!" Zoey blushed, "I hate animals"

"No you don't," Fred said

"Fine, I don't exactly _hate _them but I don't like them either," Zoey paused, "Living beings are hard to take care of. Rocks are easier. Easier to dispose when they die and easy to replace."

"Rocks can die?"

"Hey it's my turn to ask the questions here, Who are your parents?"

"Zoe, you know that. You're wasting your questions"

"I can do whatever I want with my questions," Zoey said childishly, "Now answer it"

"Molly and Arthur Weasley"

"Thank you. Your turn"

"What's the name of your mum?" Fred asked

"Lucy Alena," Zoey answered

"Dad?"

"You already asked a question. It's my turn," Zoey said

"That's not fair! I told you both my parents' names!"Fred exclaimed

"That's cause I asked _parents _as in plural – both. You asked my mom so singular – one," Zoey said in a smart tone and grinned at Fred's cheated look, "What exactly is this?" she asked as she held up the piece of parchment.

"I was wondering when you'll ask," Fred said with a grin as he took the map from Zoey, "Remember the night I visited you in the Hospital Wing?"

"Yes"

"This is the map I was talking about. The Marauder's Map. It shows –"

"Everyone. What they're doing of every minute of every day," Zoey said as she remembered his explanation.

"You listen well," Fred said

"So how does it work?"

Fred brought out his wand, "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good," he recited as he tapped the map. Zoey gasped as words and images started to appear.

"_Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs  
Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers  
are proud to present  
THE MARAUDER'S MAP_"

"Whoa," Zoey whispered. She opened the map and scanned all of Hogwarts with it. She looked over at the Astronomy tower and saw Echo's name. "It's Echo!"

"Hmm, yeah. She's been staying up there for most of her free time lately," Fred said as he looked where Zoey was pointing

"Why's that?"

"According to George she's already studying for the O."

"But that's not till next year"

"She's Echo. You don't really have to understand what she does. You just go alone with it," Fred said with a shrug.

Zoey nodded her head, "So how do you close the map?"

"Simple. Just tap it again and say _Mischief Managed,_" Fred tapped the map and everything disappeared. Zoey was faintly reminded of the diary in her bag.

"Now, if I may say so myself, you only have four more questions to ask," Fred said as he pocketed the map.

"Who says?"

"Me"

"But I had seven left, right?"

"No, and from your extra three questions you only have two more questions to go," Fred said, grinning.

Zoey opened her mouth to speak but quickly closed it. She couldn't risk losing anymore questions. Fred laughed at expression as Zoey bit her lip keeping herself from asking anything else.

"If it makes you feel better, I have seven more questions left," Fred said through laughter. Zoey raised an eyebrow

"Do you honestly think that would make me feel bett – Wait! NO! Don't answer that!" Zoey exclaimed as her eyes widened. Fred laughed even harder. "Oh, just ask your questions," Zoey said defeated.

"What do you fear the most?" Fred asked after he controlled his laughter.

Zoey bit her lip as she gazed towards the Quidditch Pitch. She racked her brains for her fear. Was it heights? Could be. Was it her aunt? Most likely. How about perfection? She didn't know. Zoey's eyebrows knitted in concentration. What _was _her fear?

"Ah..I – I don't know," she stuttered out as she looked back to Fred.

"That's alright," Fred said as he readjusted his position

"But… I didn't ans –"

"You did actually," Fred said with a grin, "You said 'I don't know' that was an answer"

Zoey looked at him with wide eyes, "I could answer like that?"

"Yep"

"So when you asked what was my most embarrassing moment I could have replied 'I don't know' and you wouldn't pester me to answer?" Zoey asked again

"Yep," Fred said now having a devilish twinkle in his eye, "I didn't know your most embarrassing moment was when we pulled a prank on you"

"I couldn't think of anything else," Zoey said with a shrug, "Now it's my turn to –"

"Oh contraire my little sugar plum," Fred said making Zoey give him a very odd look, "I believe you just ran out of questions"

Zoey opened her mouth to retaliate but then her last two questions ran by her mind. She really did run out of questions. Curse her curiosity. Zoey looked down and shook her head in defeat. "Just finish of your questions before I head of the History of Magic," she said. Fred had six more questions left.

"Alright, alright. I'll make this fast," Fred said in a rush as well, he just realized his next subject was Potions and he didn't fancy a detention that night. He already has one with Filch, "What is you happiest memory?"

"The time I got my Hogwarts letter?"

"That sounded more like a guess than an answer"

"That's because it was," Zoey laughed, "You have five more questions"

"Do you have any other friends besides those in Gryffindor and Ravenclaw?" Fred asked

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't really know," pause, "three more to go"

Fred paused and liked his lips, "How do you feel about Ron?"

"He's my friend… like a little brother," Zoey answered looking at him with a curious gaze.

"What about with George?"

"Friend…brother even, but when you think about it, he's closer with Echo than with me so… yeah," Zoey replied with a scratch of her head.

Fred paused for a moment. He looked directly into Zoey's gray eyes and searched for any proof that she was lying. When he confirmed that she was being completely honest he took a deep breath, "What about with me?"

Zoey's eyes widened with shock she didn't really expect him to ask such a question. She felt her cheeks warm up and her heart hammer in her chest. She bit her lip and looked back at the Quidditch Pitch. Should she tell him? She wondered. She took a small breath and said "Skip"

* * *

**Okay, I just finished this chapter this morning and I have to get going to school now so sorry if I can't answer any of your questions at the moment. I promise I'll answer them in the next chapter. **

**Thank you all for your reviews, questions, alerts and favorites!**

**I'm so excited I'm so near to 100 reviews!**

**It's a first for me!**

**Don't forget to review and ask questions**

**I only own what I own!  
**


	29. Chapter 28: Questions

**Chapter 28: Questions**

Zoey sat in the library with Ginny doing her Charms essay. It was Halloween night and the Halloween Feast was to begin in a few minutes. Zoey sighed as she rolled up her parchment and kept it in her bag together with her quill and ink bottle. She looked over at Ginny, who was sitting diagonal to her, and saw that she was deeply immersed in whatever she was writing in the diary.

Zoey stood up and brought her bag closer to herself as she walked around the table and sat beside Ginny. She looked at the diary and was just in time to see Ginny's message disappear into the page. No longer than a second Tom's reply emerged. Zoey looked curiously at what he wrote:

_Can I ask you and Zoey to do me a favor?_

Tom asked.

Ginny looked up at Zoey and gave her a questioning look. Zoey shrugged, "Okay," she said. She didn't see any harm at Tom's request. After all he's done nothing but help Ginny and her through their troubled times. Ginny nodded her head and wrote her reply on the diary.

As Zoey watched the words dissolve into the paper she felt a bad feeling at the pit of her stomach. She had a feeling that she had done something wrong, she just didn't know what. Suddenly, her head began to throb as her eyes began to fog up. She squinted at the diary through misty eyes and saw a bright yellow light emitting from its pages.

"Wha –" but Ginny stopped in the middle of her shock. Her hand dropped the quill and it fell to the floor. Her head began to throb and her eyes fogged up as well.

Zoey numbly felt herself stand up from the chair causing it to fall back from her force. Ginny followed soon after with the diary in her hand. They walked out of the library both looking forward with not much of expression. Their eyes were slightly glazed and no pupil could be seen. Their mouths formed a frown and their pace was slower than a run but brisker than a walk.

They left the library without a sound and walked down the corridor without really seeing. It looked like they knew where they were going but in reality in their minds that didn't know what was going on.

They heard a meow.

Zoey looked down and through misty eyes she saw a cat with dust-colored fur and yellow, lamp like eyes.

It hissed.

Zoey, her face free from emotion, looked towards Ginny and to the diary and back to Ginny. Ginny gave a slow nod. Zoey looked back to the cat and picked it up.

* * *

Echo, along with every other Hogwarts student, stared at the wall before her. The Halloween Feast had ended not too long ago and they were all heading back to their respective dorms. Everyone had left the feast laughing and chattering about until they saw something that froze them to the spot. On the wall was a very shocking message.

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE

The message read.

Beside the message was an all too familiar cat.

Echo stumbled to the side as a short, blonde, second year pushed passed her to get to the front of the crowd. She could not see his face but could recognize the blonde hair and the aura of confidence as none other than Draco Malfoy.

"Enemies of the Heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods," Draco said allowed with his face flushed and a grin spreading across his lips as he looked at Mrs. Norris's petrified body.

Echo scoffed when she got a good look at Draco's look of glee. He looked as if Christmas came early. Twisted little boy. She had an urge to chuck her hard bound book she had brought with her at him just to see him face plant with the floor. Fortunately, Echo thought better than to stoop to Draco's level of immaturity.

"It's written in blood," she heard someone whisper from behind her, who it was, she didn't care. Echo stood on her tip toes and caught sight of the twins who stood not too far from her. The twins were staring at the message with furrowed eyebrows. Echo pushed her way towards them.

"This can't be serious," Fred said as he read the message all over again. It was now the fifteenth time he's read it and he still couldn't comprehend what it meant.

"I don't know mate," George said as he looked at the petrified Mrs. Norris. He didn't know if he should be glad that she was still and unmoving or worried because it could be a student who was petrified next, "This looks plenty serious"

"Do you really think so, Carrot top?" Echo said as she finally got to the twins.

"That's blood isn't it?" George said, "Of course we think so"

Echo looked back at the message. It was written in some red substance it could have been anything; Muggle paint, catsup or blood. George's comment made her re-think the latter.

"If that was catsup, it would have ended up on the floor by now," Echo said as she gazed from the message to the floor. Her eyes widened slightly. "Why's the floor wet?"

The twins looked down and saw what Echo saw. The floor was indeed wet, not in a flood like manner but it still had a puddle that could harm someone if they were to slip on it. The trio looked intently at the floor as they saw the reflection of the message on it. What could all this mean?

"What's going on here? What's going on?"

It was none other than Filch who had, without a doubt, heard Malfoy's shout. Echo watched silently as Filch caught sight of the immobile Mrs. Norris.

"My cat! What's happened to Mrs. Norris!" Filch shrieked as his eyes popped out.

His gaze then fell to Harry.

Echo observed that Filch's face turned a deep red with anger and his eyes formed a glare.

"You!" Filch screeched, "You murdered my cat! I'll kill you! I'll –"

"Argus!"

Echo directed her attention to the second voice. It came from none other than Hogwarts' headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. He had appeared followed by a number of other teachers. He quickly read the message on the wall before looking over at Mrs. Norris who was hanging on a torch bracket. He detached her from it.

"Come with me, Argus," Dumbledore said to Filch. He then turned to the second year trio, "You three as well."

Echo rolled her eyes as Lockhart arrived at the scene as well. He offered his office to the headmaster. Dumbledore thanked him and headed towards the direction of the room. The crowed slowly dispersed each muttering to one another about what had just happened. Echo felt herself being swept away and was just able to catch sight of the twins' red hair before they, too, were swept away by the crowd.

* * *

When the twins retreated to their dorm they quickly changed to their night robes and climbed into their beds, their roommates following in their lead. It was late at night when George woke up to see a light coming from Fred's bed. He climbed off his bed and pulled the curtain from Fred's he looked down to see Fred sitting on his bed his pillow untouched and his blankets still folded. In Fred's hands were the Marauder's map and his wand.

"What are you doing?" George asked as he climbed into Fred's bed while rubbing his eyes. He pulled the curtain back as to not disturb their roommates.

Fred didn't reply immediately. His eyes were scanning the map very carefully taking note on who was wandering the school late at night. So far it was just Filch, who he had guessed was patrolling quite more glum than normal for his lack of cat, and the ghosts who didn't pose much threat. Peeves' name popped out once in a while as well but Fred knew that Peeves wouldn't do such a prank (thought it wasn't a prank to begin with)

"If you're looking for Zoey I'm betting she's in the Hufflepuff Basement," George joked. He then laughed when he saw his twin blush

"I'm not looking for her"

"That's a first"

"Shut it," Fred said, "I'm looking for the Chamber"

"The what?" George asked groggily as he yawned. It was either far too late to be up or was far too early to wake up. He didn't know. It really depended.

"The Chamber," Fred repeated

"I heard you the first time," George said, his head lolling to the side.

Fred whacked George at the side of his head making him hiss out a word that would have made Zoey blush and scold him.

"The Chamber of Secrets!" Fred whispered, "It isn't here," he then threw the map to George who caught it. He, George, then scanned the map as well, eyebrows furrowing as he looked at each and every room in Hogwarts that was on the map.

"You're right," George said after a few minutes of looking over the map several times. He then looked at Fred and noticed that he was struggling to keep awake.

George tapped the map with his wand and it took the appearance of a regular piece of parchment. He folded it and held it in his hand. "We should go back to bed"

"No," Fred argued, "What ab –"

"The professor's will handle it," George said being reasonable for once, "We can't do anything about it."

George then jumped off Fred's bed and placed the map in his suitcase. He then walked over to his own bed and pulled the curtains closed to go back to sleep. Fred looked at the map in the suitcase as he laid his head down on his own pillow. He pulled his curtains shut and felt his heavy lids begin to shut. As his brain began to go to sleep mode a thought passed his mind

_Where was Zoey?

* * *

_

Zoey woke up with her head pounding against her skull. She groaned as she sat up and brought her hand to cover her eyes as the sun blazed through the window. She really didn't want to be up. She swung her legs of the bed and hung her head low as she tried to re-focus her gaze. She felt the throb in her head lower a bit as she grabbed for her glasses and placed them on. She looked around the room and noted that her roommates were nowhere to be seen. They had left without her.

Nothing new.

Zoey thought to herself as she got of her bed. She walked towards her suitcase and slipped a bit along the way. She felt her heart skip a beat when she felt no friction with the floor. She looked down and saw a small puddle around her shoes. She looked at them curiously. She did not recall going near the Black Lack yesterday. Come to think of it, she couldn't recall what happened yesterday. Zoey closed her eyes as she tried to remember the Halloween Feast. It was no use. It was like there was a big gap in her brain. Zoey looked worriedly at her shoes. Did she do something that involved water? She didn't know.

Zoey walked towards the bathroom, new robes in hand, and undressed. When she pulled her robes over her head and got a whiff of it she made a face. It smelled like wet cat and… blood. Her eyes widened as she turned her robes outside in and took a look at its front. She noted that it was slightly wet and had dark red blotches over it. She saw something dust colored on the sleeves of her robes and plucked it out. She brought it to her face and looked at it in confusingly, it was fur.

Zoey climbed into the shower and turned the water on. She sighed as she felt the warm liquid flow down her but then she quickly hissed in pain as a slight stinging feeling erupted from her arms. She looked down at her forearms and her eyes widened. Long, red, thin scratch marks were visible all over her arms; one particular scratch even traced her scar on her left arm.

Zoey's breathing quickened as she finished her shower and dressed up for the day. She briskly walked out of the steamed room and hastily picked up her things. She left the room and the basement in a hurry, first brisk walking, then taking long strides until finally went into full blown running. Zoey's eyebrows knitted in worry as she tried to think of a reason as to why her arms were scratched up, her shoes were wet and her clothes blood-stained. She slowed down her run when she came across a wall that Filch was walking back and forth in front of.

She squeaked when Filch stopped and glared at her. "What are you looking at?" he snarled

Zoey shook her head in a frightened way and continued to run towards the Great Hall. The message on the wall frightened her. It was written in bright red and she didn't understand her. It scared her.

When Zoey reached the Great Hall she took a seat beside Ginny who was in front of Ron and Harry. Zoey didn't bother to look for the twins or Echo or Bridgit all she wanted to do is talk to Ginny and console in the diary.

Zoey took note that Ginny didn't look all too happy. In fact she looked greatly disturbed. _Maybe she saw the wall_, Zoey thought to herself.

"But you haven't really got to know Mrs. Norris," Ron told her bracingly.

"Honestly we are so much better without her," Ron added

Zoey felt herself shake a bit and saw Ginny's lip trembled. It was true Mrs. Norris wasn't a pleasant cat but Ginny _was _a cat-lover.

"What happened?" Zoey asked as she brushed her bangs away from her face trying to get a grip on her shaking hands. She didn't know why they had such an effect when Ron spoke about Mrs. Norris.

"Mrs. Norris," Harry answered, "She was –"

But he didn't get to finish for Ron interrupted him as he, Ron, tried to reassure his sister that everything was fine.

"Stuff like this doesn't often happen in Hogwarts," he said, "They'll catch the maniac who did it and have him out of here in no time. I just hope that he's got time to Petrify Filch before he's expelled. I'm only jo–"

Ron added hastily as Ginny blanched.

Zoey swallowed hard when she heard what Ron had said. She fast Ginny and held out her hand. "Can I borrow the diary today?" she asked since it was scheduled to be with Ginny that day. Ginny brought a shaky hand to her bag and pulled it out. "I already wrote in it today," she whispered before giving it to the fourth year Hufflepuff.

* * *

Zoey ran to the Quidditch Pitch and took a seat on the stands. She figured she could skip Defense Against the Dark Arts today. After all, it wouldn't make much difference. She wasn't learning much from Lockhart even if she did attend class. She placed the diary on her lap and brought out her quill and ink bottle. She quickly dabbed her quill in the ink and opened the diary she quickly wrote everything she felt:

**_Dear Tom, I'm getting worried. I woke up today as usual not seeing any of my roommates waiting up for me. The curious thing is that my head throbbed painfully and it felt like I was missing something. I looked down at my shoes by the foot of my bed and there was a puddle around them. A puddle! I don't recall being any body of water yesterday. Actually, I don't remember a lot of yesterday at all. All I remember is being in the library with Ginny before the Halloween Feast. Come to think of it, I don't think I've attended the feast at all? What could I have possibly done at that time? Did I write in you Tom? Did I mention anything about skipping the feast to do something else? Tom, I'm scared. Something happened to the caretaker's cat and there was fur on my robes. There was a message written on the wall with something red and there was blood on my robes. Tom, what happened?_**

Zoey watched as her entry took a long time to dissolve into the page. It was longer than her usual entries in the diary. She watched as the paper once again took a clean front and waited patiently for Tom's reply. After a second or two his reply emerged from the pages.

_You seem to have the same concerns as Ginny. She said she woke up with the same symptoms you described earlier. Neither of you have mentioned anything about skipping the Halloween Feast. Maybe, you both attended the feast and ate too much candy and passed out. Like how adults act with fire whiskey. Can't remember a damn thing the next day._

Zoey knew that Tom was making a joke. She knew he was trying to lighten her up. Zoey gripped the quill harder in her hand as she scribbled away on the page.

**_But Tom, something happened last night. It looked like a threatening message, what was written on the wall that is. I'm confused. Why don't I remember seeing that before? I would have certainly remembered even with a candy over dose._**

_What was the message?_

**_THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE. I'm not sure if I got it exactly. I was only able to catch a glimpse before Filch snarled at me. He's really in a bad mood._**

_I thought you said he's always in a bad mood._

**_I didn't say that. Ginny did. But, though true, he's mood seems worse than before. Something bad must have happened to Mrs. Norris. I think she was petrified._**

Zoey waited for Tom to reply but he didn't. She then saw his reply emerge from the page long after hers dissolved.

_What makes you say that?_

**_Ron mentioned he wished that the "maniac" would petrify Filch before he gets expelled. I only guessed…_**

_So he thinks that the maniac, as you quote, is a student?_

**_Most likely… yes. I can't imagine any of the teachers doing such an act and no one could enter Hogwarts grounds anyway. It's the safest place in the wizarding world._**

_But the wizarding world is such a big place. How could you be so sure?_

Zoey's eyebrows knitted curiously.

**_Tom, correct me if I'm wrong but… It seems like you're trying to avoid the subject. Do you know something?_**

_I'm just a diary, how could I know anything? But you're right. I'm trying to avoid the subject._

**_But why?_**

_Because I can see that you're really stressing over this. You did not do anything. If you did you, would have consulted in me before doing anything._

Zoey didn't reply. She just watched the words dissolve back into the page. She then looked at it wide eyed when Tom's words reappeared.

_Now, forgive me for being curious but what did happen after you told that Weasley boy that you rather skip his question than answer it._

**_Oh, gossip much, Tom?_**

_Just, merely being curious. You don't have to answer._

Zoey dabbed the quill again before bringing it back to the page, she then began to explain what had happened that day as she recalled the events.

_Zoey's eyes widened with shock she didn't really expect him to ask such a question. She felt her cheeks warm up and her heart hammer in her chest. She bit her lip and looked back at the Quidditch Pitch. Should she tell him? She wondered. She took a small breath and said "Skip"_

_Fred opened his mouth in shock. For the entire game they hadn't used 'skip' yet. Why would Zoey want to skip that question? "But why?"_

_"Skip"_

_"Why don't you want to answer?"_

_"Skip"_

_"Zoey!"_

_"Fred!" Zoey said being impossible. She simply hung out with Echo too much._

_Fred sighed as he ran a hand down his face in frustration. "How do you feel about me?" he asked. From all the skipping Zoey had been doing he had been getting bonus questions._

_"Skip," Zoey said again_

_"Why don't you want to answer that?"_

_"Skip"_

_"Zoey! Is it so hard?" _

_"Skip"_

_"Do you hate me?"_

_"Of course not!" Zoey said in surprise. Why would he think such a thing? She felt the exact opposite to be honest._

_"Then how do you feel about me?"_

_"I'm not inclined to answer that question now," Zoey said._

_"But you still haven't answered my question," Fred said_

_"Oh but I have," Zoey said with an air of pride, "Your last question was 'Do you hate me?' and I have replied with 'Of course not!' Thus ending your twenty questions"_

_Fred looked at her with disbelief._

_"And now, Freddie, this ends out little game," the bell rang, "And my free period"_

_Zoey stood up and made her way off the stands but Fred was fast in his reflexes and caught hand. Zoey whirled around and looked at him questioningly._

_"You're trying to avoid something," Fred said, "Why?"_

_Zoey gave a small forced laugh, "You know me so well," she avoided his question, "Why?"_

_Fred let go of her hand and walked off the stands first. Zoey watched his retreating figure with a look of regret and guilt. She was not ready to tell him, not yet.

* * *

_

**Okay! Before anything... I really want to apologize for my little error in the previous chapter:**

**"According to George she's already studying for the O."**

**should be**

**"According to George she's already studying for the OWLs"**

**I honestly don't know what happened. I was sure I types it correctly. Sorry.**

**Anyway, here's the new chapter! I hope you enjoyed reading it :D**

**Now for some Q and A's:**

**"yvonna" asks: Are Zoey and Harry gonna be good friends?**

**-That's the plan! :)**

**"xoxosmileyfacexoxo" asks/says: You said that the Emeraude family always had some amazing power or something. Can Zoey's power be able to stop Fred from dying? Please?**

**- As I said before in my previous Q and A I can't give out to much because then it would spoil the story so sorry that I can't really answer this question or any other question that follows with the same concept.**

**I aplogize.**

**Just be rest assured that I would type what I think would be best. :)**

**Thanks for all the reviews (YAHOO! REACHED OVER 100!), alerts, favorties and questions  
**

**Anywho, I think that's all I have to say besides that I'm super loaded with things to do and my tests are coming up. Wish me luck guys!**

**Don't forget to review and ask questions!**

**I only own what I own**

**(PS: sorry if there are any typos. The keyboard and fast typing aren't really good friends with me DX )  
**


	30. Chapter 29: A Bump in the Rode

**Chapter 29: A Bump in the Rode  
**

Zoey held her mini-sized box in her hand as she sat in Lockhart's class. After his incident with the second years he hasn't brought any live creatures into class, that and he banned Bridgit from his class for an indefinite amount of time ("Not that I'm complaining," Bridgit had said when she heard the news).

As Lockhart read his works in his books, often making side comments like "Oh, if Harry were here then we can reenact the whole fight!" and "The awards I got were magnificent. Oh, but I still remain a simple man" and the like, Zoey turned the box over in her hands. It still had her mother's name on it though very small and hard to read. She sighed. Maybe it was time to open the box.

"It's a good thing Professor Lockhart was able to fix the room," Zoey heard someone whisper from behind her.

There was a dreamy sort of sigh that came after.

"A genius that man is," the one who sighed said, "and so good looking too!"

Zoey made a face as she stuffed the box into her pocket. She truly didn't understand what girls saw in the man. Zoey then pulled out her wand and tapped it against her book muttering a spell. Her book, which once held a picture of Lockhart grinning and winking, glowed a faint white before becoming a mirror. Zoey grinned as she was able to transfigure the book correctly. She held the mirror in her hands as she positioned it in a way that she was able to see what was behind her, above her, beside her and in other directions besides in front of her.

The room was still decorated with Lockhart's photos. Each photo grinned widely showing their pearly whites and winking occasionally. Often times when Lockhart read a _spectacular _achievement he'd done in his books one of the pictures, often the ones taken during the achievement, would puff out their chest and smile "charmingly" at who ever looked. Zoey shivered when one smiled at her. She tilted the mirror a bit and sighed in defeat when she clarified that every single photo has been returned to normal. She was disappointed. She particularly liked the black eyes, missing teeth and mustaches.

"And I just grabbed his jaw and forced his mouth open and – WUUPOW!" Lockhart said ending his story that Zoey paid no mind to. The girls in the class clapped and complemented him while the portraits clapped and cheered on, often making side comments that apparently had made the story more believable, believable to those who actually took Lockhart seriously.

Zoey tapped the mirror with her wand and it returned to looking like a normal book… as normal as it can get with and egotistical bloke smiling and winking up at you. She groaned lightly when Lockhart began to tell another one of his many adventures. Zoey silently wished she could write in the diary but it was with Ginny right now and thinking more on the subject it wouldn't have been wise to write in it in such a public area, the library was okay, a classroom filled with people who didn't have you on their favorite list for you were friends with someone who shot Lockhart of his rockers was not.

Zoey closed her eyes for a second to get her thoughts straight. She still didn't know what she did Halloween night and she knew for a fact no one knew where she was at that time. Not even Ginny who was just as clueless as she was. Zoey opened her eyes only to be greeted by a surprise.

Zoey yelped and fell of her chair with a thud.

Lockhart, who was too immersed in listening to himself talk did not notice. Neither did the girls. Zoey looked up from the floor and saw some of the boys looking at her oddly; others were biting back their laughter. Zoey sat back on her chair and grabbed the object that startled her. It was a piece of parchment. She unfolded it and saw familiar, cursive calligraphy.

_Zwei, how are you holding up without Bridgit? Oh, and do you have any pastille there? I need some, and maybe I can send you back a tomato. Apparently, someone chucked it at me and I caught it at the last second._

_-Echo_

Zoey raised her eyebrow curiously and searched her pockets. She found a pastille that Echo had asked her to keep safe the other day. She held the pastille in one hand and her quill in the other. She quickly dabbed it in ink before hunching over the paper.

**_I'm doing fine._**

She wrote.

**_Professor Lockhart is plenty entertaining… Someone chucked a tomato at you?_**

Her replies were simple. She didn't favor writing to much in fear that some way, somehow the note would get intersected. How? She didn't know. It was just a little paranoia that kept her from writing too much. She wrapped the pastille in the parchment and sent it away with the wave of her wand.

In not later than a minute Echo's reply appeared in front of her.

_It was a Slytherin wrench. She chucked a tomato at me when I won over her in a glaring contest. Quite immature really._

Zoey refrained from asking why they held the glaring match in the first place.

**_And you're giving me the tomato?_**

She asked instead and sent the note away.

_Oh right._

Zoey raised an eyebrow as a shiny red tomato popped in front of her. She folded the piece of parchment, The conversation was over now; the bell was going to ring at any moment, and held the tomato at eyes level. What on earth was a Slytherin doing with a tomato in the middle of class? Odd questions began to form in her mind as the bell rang and she gathered her thing, placing the tomato on top of her pile of books and left the class.

Zoey had no idea what Lockhart had discussed in class.

* * *

Zoey watched worriedly as a heavy black Bludger flew past Harry's head. It was just the beginning of the game and already the Bludgers were trying to behead the players. She did not mind the cheers from her house and Ravenclaws as they were all anxious to see Slytherins defeat, no. She was paying full blown attention at the twelve-year old Seeker.

She watched as George yelled something at Harry, she could not hear over the cheers, and zoomed towards the Bludger giving it a mighty whack towards one of the Slytherin players. Zoey's eyes widened as the Bludger changed direction in midair and zoomed towards Harry again.

Harry ducked. George hit it towards Malfoy. It swerved back towards Harry.

"What's wrong with that Bludger?" Zoey asked worriedly as she saw Harry trying to fly away from it.

"I think it's jinxed!" Bridgit answered, her voice catching some people's attention.

"But who jinxed it?" Zoey asked out loud.

"Someone who wants to behead Harry, I guess," Echo looked up from her book.

Zoey looked at Echo in horror and turned her attention back to the game. She was just in time to see Fred happily hit the Bludger away from Harry. This, however, was ineffective for the Bludger seemed to be magnetically attracted to the boy.

"We gotta do something!" Bridgit said, looking worriedly at Zoey.

The score was sixty points to zero with Slytherin in the lead. It was obvious that their superior brooms were doing their job. _This can't get any worse, _Zoey thought to herself. Almost as if the weather gods heard her, it started to rain. Zoey tapped her glasses with her wand and the rain drops didn't bother her lenses. She watched as Fred and George started to fly closer to Harry, each taking turns with hitting the Bludger away.

"Oh look, they've called a time out," Echo said as she tapped her book with the same spell Zoey had used for her glasses.

Zoey watched as the Gryffindor team huddled together discussing whatever the heck they were discussing. Zoey gulped. She hoped they got everything planned out alright

* * *

Zoey let out a scream as the Bludger smashed right into Harry's elbow. She watched as Harry slightly slipped of his broom but still kept his head in the game. He was determined to catch the snitch. She brought her hands to her mouth as Harry reached over with one hand, his legs grabbed hold of the broom, and grabbed onto the golden ball. She watched as he fell off his broom and made contact with the mud. She winced slightly. _That must have hurt._

She watched as the crowd erupted in cheers, some gasping at the sight of Harry. In truth, she didn't really care who won. She made her way through the crowd, Bridgit and Echo trailing behind her, and ran towards the Gryffindor's who surrounded themselves around Harry. She made it just in time to see Harry tell Colin that he didn't want a picture in his current state (not like he wanted one in any state).

"What is he trying to do?" Zoey whispered to Fred as she saw Lockhart, who was with Harry on the ground, hold tightly onto his wand.

"He's saying that he can fix Harry's arm," Fred replied. Zoey took a good look at him and noted that it seemed that he had just wrestled something. That something looked like it put up a fight.

"Bludger," came Fred's simple reply to Zoey's curious gaze. Zoey nodded her head before looking back at Harry and Lockhart.

"Well that's stupid," Echo grimaced when she heard what Fred has said about Lockhart's plan, "Harry doesn't trust him, does he?"

"Hope not," Zoey said.

Lockhart then moved his wand in a twirling manner and casted a spell on Harry's broken arm. Zoey watched in horror as Harry's arm took the appearance of a thick, flesh-colored rubber glove. She shivered at the sight. It truly didn't look like and arm anymore. Zoey had the look of disgust written all over her face as Lockhart held Harry's floppy arm in his hand and bent it backwards. "Arms aren't suppose to bed that way," Zoey muttered as she looked down at her feet. She could not bear to look at Harry's boneless limb anymore.

"Disgusting and almost vomit-worthy," Echo casually said as she watched Harry's arm flop back in place and hang limply in Lockhart's hand. There was nothing inside it to keep it stiff.

"It's too late," Bridgit groaned from beside Zoey.

"What do you mean?" Zoey asked

"I know that spell, goodness. Lockhart's an idiot," Bridgit said.

"What did he do?" Harry asked Bridgit, a look of horror in his eyes.

"Obviously, Lockhart made your arm all flexible and boneless," Echo said

Zoey shook her head. "That gidiot," she muttered, "How can he possibly be a Ravenclaw?"

"Echo's right Harry. But don't worry, it's happened to me before," Bridgit said, smiling at the twelve year old.

Harry nodded his head, not really processing what everyone was saying, only bits and pieces. His arm felt numb and he felt tired. If it weren't for the shocking state he was in he would have collapsed and fallen straight to sleep by now. He tried to move his arm but it was no use. It was truly useless. He looked up at the three girls.

"Uhm… excuse me… what's going to happen to my arm?" he asked

"It's going to remain boneless unless you don't rush over to Madam Pomfrey," Echo deadpanned before going back to her book.

"Echo's right, again, we got to take you to the Hospital Wing," Bridgit said, helping the boy up, "A little help here, Zee? He's not exactly that light"

Zoey apologetically shook her head as she stepped away from them. She could not handle looking at Harry's arm. It was shallow of her but she just couldn't take it.

"I'll do it," Echo said as she turned to help Harry up, "But I want pastilles"

"I'll give you some later," Bridgit said as they started to walk to the Hospital Wing.

Zoey looked down as she heard retreating footsteps. Obviously they wanted to see what will happen next to Harry. She felt a weight on her shoulders. She looked up and saw Fred standing beside her with his arm casually sitting on her shoulders. "Should we follow them?" he asked

Zoey smiled and nodded.

* * *

When they reached the Hospital Wing Madam Pomfrey was not pleased when she saw Harry. "You should have brought him straight to me!" she raged, "I can mend bones in a heartbeat but growing them back –" she then paused as she busied herself in finding what she needed to use to fix Harry up. This left the students a few minutes to themselves.

"You know she's over- reacting," Bridgit said after a moment of silence, "growing bones now wasn't as painful as growing them before"

"How would you know?" Echo mused.

"Five words," Brigit said as she held up five fingers.

"And they are?" Zoey asked

"Wand. Mirror. Five –year-old," Bridgit said dropping one finger per word.

Everyone was curious as to what Bridgit meant but their thoughts were interrupted by Echo. "SHUT IT MALFOY!" she yelled, "No one cares about your pain!"

Zoey groaned and tried to control her upcoming laugh.

"What did you do?" Harry asked as he tried to control his laughter.

"Well, I saw a wand on a chair and I picked it up. I decided that since I saw other people waving it around, I should too, so I did and it hit the mirror and bounced back," Bridgit explained.

"Who leaves a wand in the presence of a five year old?" George asked

"Someone obviously more stupid than you," Bridgit answered.

George glared and opened his mouth to retort but Echo but him off. "Any who, the moral lesson of the story is: Never look in a mirror with a wand in your hand," she laughed

"Or," Zoey said, "Never trust Lockhart"

And with that everyone gave a laugh

* * *

It was dinner time when it all happened. Zoey was peacefully eating on the Gryffindor table with Echo and Bridgit when an owl flew over them and dropped a rather small package in front of Bridgit. Zoey looked curiously at the package as it began to move and muffled sounds were heard from it. She looked at Bridgit questioningly.

"What's this? I wasn't expecting any mail," Bridgit said, talking hold of the small package

"Maybe you should open it?" Zoey suggested.

"What if it's dangerous?" Echo spoke, "If it is, that would be awesome"

"And how does that work?" George asked, raising and eyebrow

Echo arched an eyebrow in return, "What?"

George shook his head, "Never mind"

"Tell me," Echo said as she poked at a piece of corn on her plate.

"Know what? Forget it. Bridgit, what's in the box?" George said, turning his attention to the second Ravenclaw.

"Okay"

As Bridgit touched the box it started to shake. She looked nervously at her four friends, and they all nodded in encouragement. She opened the box and a big smile grew on her face. Zoey was about to ask what was wrong but then before she could get the words out a cute little teacup poodle jumped out of the box and tackled Zoey.

Zoey gasped in shock as she fell back from the force of the small pup. She landed on the ground with a thud and her legs still hung on the bench. She could tell most eyes were on her but all she could focus on were the brown eyes that stared back at her. The teacup poodle gave her a long lick of greeting and Zoey squirmed in response.

"Shinji!" Bridgit called making the pup jump of Zoey and go back to its owner.

Zoey coughed a bit and wiped her face. Fred laughed as he helped her back up. She sat back onto the bench and turned to look at the dog. It was still happily panting with its tongue lolling out.

"Does it have rabies…?" Echo asked more to herself than to anyone.

Zoey looked worriedly at Bridgit.

"Of course not!" Bridgit glared at Echo.

"I'm only asking," Echo said holding her hands up in defense, "After all, I'm not the owner of the dog."

"Dog?" George asked as he looked at the little ball of fur, "That's what it is?"

Echo rolled her eyes and muttered, "Gidiot"

Fred, who laughing at his brother, looked towards at the discarded box that Shinji came out from. He pulled it towards himself and reached into it. He moved his hand across the floor of the box and felt something. He held on to it.

"Hey, what's th – uh oh," Fred stopped dead as he looked at the object he pulled out. In his hands was a red envelope.

Echo reached for the envelope, not knowing what it was, and held onto the flap ready to open it.

"No don –" but Bridgit was too late. Echo looked at her friend in alarm as she ripped the envelope open. Zoey watched the note inside float towards Bridgit.

"BRIDGIT CARI PARKER!" The howler started, making Bridgit wince at the sound of her uncle's voice.

"HOW MANY TIMES MUST I TELL YOU NOT TO LEAVE THAT BLASTED MUTT WITH ME! I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF IT THESE PAST THREE YEARS AND I WILL NOT STAND FOR A FOURTH!"

Shinji started to growl

"DO YOU THINK THAT JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE MY NIECE I WILL TOLERATE THIS BEHAVIOR? YOU ACT JUST LIKE YOUR FATHER! YOU TWO ARE EXACTLY THE SAME!"

Zoey felt like she could finally breathe when the Howler had ceased and tore itself apart. She looked at Bridgit with worried eyes.

"I'm sorry, Bridgit….," Echo's voice was small and was unheard for the laughter the twins were producing. Zoey looked at the twins in disbelief. How could they think something was funny at a time like this?

"What's so funny?" Bridgit asked the twins, annoyed.

"The whole scene was bloody funny!" George answered

"Echo! Why are you saying sorry to Bridgit? You should be sorry for everyone but Bridgit! Just think, we just found out that she's exactly like her dad and can you imagine how unlucky we are if we met him?" Fred asked, his voice still holding humor in it, "Two more Bridgits in the world, what a nightmare"

"Don't judge my dad!" Bridgit yelled, standing up.

"Isn't that a little bit insulting, Fred?" Echo said.

"What do you mean insulting? It really isn't – I'm mean can you imagine –" But before Fred could finish what he was saying Bridgit had reached over and slapped him hard across the face making the impact echo throughout the Great Hall.

From the force of the slap Fred's head wiped to the side. His cheeks stung and it burned hot. It took him a second to process what just happened before her turned to glare at Bridgit. He opened his mouth to speak but was silenced with shock. Bridgit had tears running down her face.

"Bri –" but Fred never got to finish. Bridgit swiftly turned and ran out the Great Hall.

Echo's eyes widened, "Am I that bad of a friend?" she asked herself as her eyes cast down. She, too, stood up and left.

A growl was heard and it was coming from the white teacup poodle that stood on top of the table. It gave Fred a death glare and it did not appear as cute as it was before. Zoey looked at the dog before looking at the twins. She glared at the both of them; more to Fred than George, and for once her glare could battle Echo's. She stood up and looked down at them. She did not care that everyone was looking at her.

"Y-you insensitive pigs!" she yelled, truly angry, "Y-you – I can't even begin to describe how disgusted I am with you two!"

The twins gulped down and felt like they shrank a little under Zoey glare.

"Don't ever speak to me, Bridgit or Echo unless it is to apologize for your immature behavior!"

She held out her arms and Shinji jumped into them. She gave one more glare before turning around to leave the Great Hall, Shinji continued to growl at the Weasley Twins. Zoey stopped at the door and looked back at them, "Wait – that's an insult to those who are immature as well. Your behavior was lower than that. I can't believe you two. Deeply ashamed to be acquainted with you both"

And with that, she, too, left the Great Hall.

* * *

Echo ran down a deserted corridor and caught sight of Bridgit's retreating figure. "Bridgit! Bridgit –Wait!" Echo exclaimed as she caught up with her.

"What do you want?" Bridgit asked, coming to a halt and turning around to face Echo.

Echo caught her breath, "Tell me, am I a bad friend?" she asked, her voice becoming small.

Bridgit's eyes widened, "What? Why would you ask such a thing?" she asked, her voice becoming softer.

"None of that would've happened if I wasn't so stupid and reckless," Echo spoke, her bangs covering the whole of her face.

"No! Echo, don't say that! I don't blame you for anything!" Bridgit said, "Besides it was the twins' fault, not yours"

"But, they wouldn't have laughed if I hadn't opened the Howler," Echo said

"Don't say that! A true friend would never laugh at someone else's misery…that what makes you a good one. You might have opened it, but you didn't laugh, unlike those two pricks," Bridgit said, giving Echo a warm smile.

"I still got it without your permission"

"Don't worry about it. I'm not mad about that," Bridgit started as she placed and arm around Echo's shoulders, "Besides, it's not your fault my uncle is a git"

Echo's eyes widened as she fixed her bangs, revealing a golden eye, "I suppose…"

Bridgit gave her a surprised look. "What was that?" she asked, reaching for Echo's bangs.

"That," Bridgit pointed at Echo's eyes as she withdrew her hand a bit knowing Echo didn't want to be touched.

"What about my eye?"

"I thought I saw gold… and something…," Bridgit answered

"My eyes have always been gold," Echo arched an eyebrow

"No, I mean – I don't know… It's usually something you see in a…," Bridgit trailed off

"Go on," Echo urged.

"Well… a – a… Veela," Bridgit whispered

* * *

It was the dead of night and Zoey walked beside Ginny, both eyes slightly gazed and focused to the front of them. Their faces held no emotion as they walked through the deserted corridors of Hogwarts. The students were asleep and so far they haven't encountered Filch or any faculty member. In Ginny's hands was the diary and Zoey's hands remained stiff at her sides as they continued to walk to a direction their throbbing minds knew.

Through misty eyes Zoey saw a corner coming and turned right as to not run into it. What she did run into, however; was a boy with mousy brown hair and a camera in his hands. Zoey felt her misty eyes glaze. This was a problem. An obstacle. Something that delayed their mission.

The boy looked at her and then at Ginny. He seemed to recognize the red-head for he had smiled. Ginny, however; did not respond. She still remained as emotionless as Zoey. The boy opened his mouth and started to converse with Ginny with fast words that Zoey, even if she were in the right mind, did not understand. She felt her eyes glare as she turned around and smiled maliciously. Behind her was a room that she needed. She opened the door and walked into the lavatory.

She headed to the sink and spoke in hissing sounds. The sink then started to move and in a matter of seconds revealed a passageway. Zoey made more hissing sounds. A soft rumble erupted from the passageway and then was softened to slithering. Her eyes remained glaze as she turned back around and left the lavatory. She waited at the door for a few seconds before she heard a shocked gasp and a flash. She opened the door and saw the boy frozen on the floor and Ginny looking at her. Zoey nodded at the red-head and left the boy on the floor and headed back to where they came from.

* * *

**Phew! Chapter finished! That was a lot! Okay, as you can see a new problem has risen. Oh~! How are they going to solve this one?**

**Now for Question and Answer!:**

**"yvonna" asks: So Zoey is going to go to the Chamber with Ginny? Is that how Zoey and Harry are going to be friends?**

**-Yep, she's gonna be in the chamber. Zoey and Harry are already friends but after this I guess they'll be closer :)**

**"wHaT's In A pEn-NamE" **

**- same answer as above :)**

**"ZoomSkater14" asks: So who's powers are getting drained Ginny's or Zoey's?**

**-I can't really answer that yet :D**

**I would like to thank all of you for your reviews, questions, alerts and favorites!**

**They are all appreciated!**

**I would love to thank "HayleyParadox" and "ZoomSkater14" for helping me with this chapter! You guys are the best!**

**Well, this is all for today! Stay tuned for the next update!**

**Don't forget to review and ask questions!**

**I only own what i own!  
**

**(PS: Sorry if there are any errors or typos. I already re-read it on my Word doc and I don't know it it's still as clean as I left it. (you know... when i put it here... or something... what am i saying?) Sometimes fanfic is doing something funky.. oh well! :D Good Night everyone!)  
**


	31. Chapter 30: Another Attack

**Chapter 30: Another Attack**

Zoey woke up with a groan. Her head throbbed and her vision blurred. She felt sick. Suddenly, something in her stomach churned and her eyes widened. She jumped off her bed and dashed to the bathroom. She ran to the toilet, hunched over it and heaved. She started to cough as she tried to empty her stomachs contents. After a minute of trying she stopped. Nothing was going to happen. She stared into the empty bowl as she gave a shiver. Her eyes watered as her stomach constricted. She winced at the uncomfortable feeling. She hated the feeling of vomiting (or trying to).

Zoey stood up and flushed the toilet, though there was nothing in it, and walked over to the sink. She turned the tap on and began to wash her hands before splashing her face with water. The cold feeling woke her up. She looked at her reflection and grimaced at the sight. Her hair was a rat's nest and her eyes were red and watery, her skin was as pale as a ghost and had a sick green tinge to it. She looked wasted.

Zoey walked back to her bed and fell back down on her pillow. She closed her eyes and tried to remember what she did last night. She remembered yelling at the twins, seeing their shocked and slightly frightened faces, Shinji growling, and her leaving the Great Hall in anger. She remembered when she left the Great Hall tears started to fall down her face. She was so angry that she cried. She didn't understand why but she let them fall. She guessed it was her way of letting all the anger she kept inside, anger that she didn't know she had, out.

Zoey wondered what happened next. She could remember panicking over Shinji when she reached the Hufflepuff Basement. She remembered placing the dog on the ground and walking into the Common Room with him in tow. She remembered making him a small bed on top of hers. She remembered her head throbbing and her eyes fogging. She remembered leaving the room. That's all she remembered. How she got back in her dorm was a mystery to her. How she woke up feeling like she was hit by a Hippogriff, she did not know.

_Did I go drinking? _Zoey thought to herself but quickly shot it down. It was very unlikely. She could not stand the scent of fire whiskey let alone drink it.

Zoey sat up slowly and swung her feet off the bed. She looked down and saw Shinji sleeping. It appeared that he jumped to the grown when she came to bed. She didn't really know. Zoey sighed as she pushed herself of the bed and gathered her things. She didn't know what time it was, she guessed that breakfast was already over. She walked back to the bathroom and undressed. She stepped into the shower and felt her muscles relax as the warm water slowed down her back. She looked down at her arms and sighed with relief. There was nothing wrong with them.

Zoey quickly finished her shower and changed into her robes. She looked in the mirror and noted that she still looked worse for wear. She closed her eyes and turned towards the door. She couldn't do anything about it now. She left the bathroom and looked down to see Shinji awake and wagging his tail, awaiting her. Zoey bit her lip.

"Let's get you back to Bridgit," she said.

Shinji barked.

* * *

Zoey strolled over towards the library. Breakfast was long gone and everyone was already attending their first classes. Zoey found it useless to enter her class when it was already twenty-minutes into discussion (though she wondered what Lockhart would be discussing today) and she knew that Bridgit would not be there for she was still banned.

Zoey then froze in front of the library door with her hand hovering over the handle. She looked down and saw Shinji look up at her curiously. Zoey bit her lip. Dogs weren't allowed in Hogwarts and that mean they weren't allowed in the library too. She knelt down to the ground and opened her bag. Shinji tilted his head at it. "C-can you – err – stay in here while I'm at the library?" she asked the dog.

Shinji stayed quiet as he looked into her bag. It was empty except for four notebooks, a quill and an ink bottle. He looked back at Zoey before jumping into the bag. Zoey smiled slightly. He was really an obedient dog. She hoisted her bag back to her shoulders and felt Shinji move a bit inside it. She then opened the library's doors and walked slowly and quietly through them.

Zoey scanned the different bookshelves from the different sections before finding a table near the end of the library. She was surprised to see Ginny there. Zoey carefully placed her bag on the table before fully facing the first year.

"Ginny, don't you have classes right now?" Zoey asked her.

Ginny blushed a bit before rummaging in her bag and pulling out the diary, "I already wrote in it and… it's your turn today"

Zoey took the diary and placed it near her bag. She saw Ginny fidget nervously, "D-do you by any chance remember what happened last night?"

Zoey shook her head, "No… all I remember was… dinner," she said quite awkwardly.

"Yeah, that's all I remember too. You cause quite a scene back there," Ginny said.

"It was your brother's fault," Zoey said with a slight malice in her voice. Ginny nodded her head understandingly, "I know," she said, "They were gits"

Zoey sighed, "Anyways, thanks for the diary Ginny but you should be heading off to class now"

"Do I have to?" Ginny playfully whined.

Zoey laughed.

"Yes, you do. Now run along now"

"Okay, good bye mother," Ginny said before leaving. Zoey watched as Ginny mockingly straightened her back and kept her nose in the air.

Zoey laughed under her breath before taking a seat. She opened the diary and opened her bag. Shinji's head popped out. Zoey carefully pushed him back in. "You can't be seen," she whispered to the pup and he whined a bit sending her puppy dog eyes, "Okay, first thing you should know. That won't work on me"

Shinji whined.

"Alright, alright," Zoey gave in; she didn't want to displease the puppy. She took him out of her bag and placed him on her lap. She froze when she felt him re-adjust himself to a more comfortable position. She sighed. Zoey reached back into her bag and pulled out her quill and ink bottle. She set them near the diary and dabbed her quill.

She began to write.

**_Tom, I'm getting worried. It happened again. I woke up and I didn't remember anything from the previous night. When I woke up I felt like puking. My current state is something to be worried about as well. I look half dead! I'm really scared. I don't know what's happening. I even thought about the idea of me drinking. Honestly, it's unlikely. I hate the smell of fire whiskey. If it smells ghastly then it tastes the same. I'm getting off topic a bit. Tom, I really don't know what's wrong with me. I can't remember the things I do before I go to bed; all I can recall are the things that happened hours before curfew. Ginny even said she couldn't remember a thing. _**

**_Tom, what am I to do?_**

Zoey swallowed hard as the words dissolved into the page.

Tom's reply came.

_Ginny had confided me about the same thing. I shall tell you the same thing I told her. I'm deeply sorry to say but both of you did not tell me what you were to do yesterday night. The last thing you wrote in me was about how you couldn't see the point of the Bludger in Quidditch and Ginny complained how boring History of Magic was. The memory gaps with you two is extremely curious and worrying. Maybe you should visit the Hospital Wing?_

Zoey bit her lip and scribbled onto the page.

**_I can't do that. What would Madam Pomfrey say when I describe these things to her? I fear she might send me to St. Mungo's. I don't want that to happen._**

_I see your concerns. I would not press the matter any further but do bear in mind if things go worse you should confide to those who can help._

**_You're the one who can help me._**

_Haha, that's flattering but sadly I am merely a book and I can't help you with your memory gaps._

**_But you help in other ways. You keep my mind of things or you help me when I have problems._**

_Speaking of problems, Ginny mentioned you had a row with her brothers?_

Zoey bit her lip. She really wanted to vent right now. Keep her thoughts away from the missing fragments in her memory.

**_It wasn't really a row. It was more like… er… how do I put this? Let me start from the beginning. You see what happened was…._**

And Zoey began to retell the events of yesterday.

* * *

It was eight o' clock in the evening and Zoey stood in the Great Hall along with a number of other students. In fact, it looked like everyone in Hogwarts was there. A while back on the notice board was a signup sheet for a "Dueling Club" and Zoey found it interesting and decided to sign her name on it (that and Bridgit convinced her to join). The Great Hall's ceiling was a velvety black and the four long dining tables have vanished and were replaced by a golden stage. A dozen candles lit the stage.

"I wonder who the teacher would be," Zoey heard Hermione say, "I heard Professor Flitwick was a dueling champion in his youth maybe it's him"

"As long as it's not –" But Harry didn't get to finish for her groaned instead.

Zoey knew the source of his groan for she had made a sound of dislike as well. On top of the stage was none other than Professor Lockhart.

"Gather round! Gather round!" Lockhart's voice boomed, "Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent!"

At this, Zoey tuned out not being able to hear the reason for the Dueling Club. She had lost interest already. The only sign that Zoey was still on earth was when she laughed at someone's question that went along the lines of: "How the bloody hell are we gonna learn dueling from someone who practically fled at the sight of pixies?"

Zoey turned around to find the source of the voice and found Bridgit. She smiled widely and beckoned her over.

"Glad to see me, Zee?" Bridgit asked, smiling at Zoey

"I know you'd be here," Zoey said, "After all, you were the one who told me to sign up"

"Turns out instead of defending, we will be learning the art of smiling at the opponent till they flee," Bridgit said causing some girls to glare at her.

Zoey laughed and focused her attention back to the stage. It seemed as though Lockhart was telling something important. Sadly it was not all that important – to Zoey at least.

"Now, let me welcome my assistant, Professor Snape!" Lockhart said flashing a grin, "Professor Snape here says he knows a little about dueling and agreed to be my assistant." Lockhart then pulled out his wand, "Now don't worry children. You'll still have your Potions teacher when I'm through with him"

Zoey stared blankly at the man. Her mouth was slightly open and her eyes glazed

Lockhart was slightly comical.

"Uhm… I'm more afraid that we'll have to search for a replacement DADA teacher… then again, that's not a bad idea when you think about it," Bridgit whispered, loud enough for Zoey to hear

Zoey laughed and watched as Lockhart began to explain their dueling positions and reasons for them. She watched patiently as Lockhart began to count down before he and Snap were to strike. The moment he finished three Snape waved his wand and exclaimed _"Expelliarmus!"_

Lockhart was blasted of his feet, smashed into the wall and was now sprawled onto the floor.

Lockhart had failed epically.

Or not.

Epic was the wrong word.

Nevertheless, the fail made Zoey laugh.

"Please be dead," she heard Bridgit say as the Ravenclaw walked closer to the stage to get a good look at the struggling professor.

Lockhart wobbly got to his feet and began to say: "A Disarming Charm – as you can see I've lost my wand – Very clever to show them that Professor Snap. It was only too obvious. If I wanted to stop you it would have been too easy"

Zoey rolled her eyes and gave a tired, half-hearted smile.

Lockhart was truly something.

Something weird

Just then, Bridgit raised her hand.

Lockhart saw who the hand belonged to and inched backwards. Fear was in his eyes but he was careful not to show it on his face. He acted like he did not see her and was about to speak again but unfortunately for him Snap had seen Bridgit.

"Yes, Miss Parker?" Snape asked

"I'm sorry to interrupt Professors, but why," she looked at Lockhart and smirked, "did you let Professor Snap hit you with that charm? Isn't this supposed to be a _Defense _tutorial?"

"Well, Miss Parker, you must first see the result before I can show you how to defend yourselves," Lockhart answered, smirking back at the fourteen year old girl.

"So let's say that for some reason Professor Snap threw a blasting charm at you… would you have still not defended yourself?" Bridgit asked, making, once again, the female population glare at her.

Lockhart stammered.

"Thank you for your opinions, Miss Parker, but wouldn't it be more progressive to teach the students and not show them?" Snape said, looking at Bridgit then at Lockhart.

"Yes, you are very much right Severus!" Lockhart said, relieved that he avoided the question. Lockhart clapped his hands, "Enough demonstrating!" he said, "Let's all split up into pairs and duel amongst each other. Remember, disarm your opponents. Only disarm!"

Neville was teamed up with Justin and Hermione was with Millicent Bulstrode. Fred was with Lee and George was with Oliver. Bridgit was with Echo and Harry, who was to be with Ron until Snap interjected, was with Draco. Zoey was teamed up with Ron.

Zoey smiled at Ron.

"Wands at the Ready!" Lockhart shouted, "Go!"

Zoey and Ron didn't do much. Frankly, they didn't want to harm one another even though disarming won't do much in physical pain (unless you were Lockhart) Instead, they observed everyone else in the room only taking up dueling stances when the professors looked their way. Zoey took her time to watch Bridgit and Echo.

* * *

Bridgit and Echo were excited; they were yet to experience each other's strength after all.

"Ready?" Bridgit asked, smiling at Echo

"As I'll ever be," Echo answered

Bridgit and Echo bowed down to show proper dueling formation, and when they were both straightened up they began to send disarming charms at each other.

_"Protego!" _They both shouted, causing the disarming charms to backfire.

As the two of them continued trying to disarm each other, they didn't realize how intense it was getting and that they were building up quite an audience. Even Snape and Lockhart were watching them

When Bridgit blocked Echo's disarming curse, she didn't expect Echo to shoot another one at her, thus disarming her.

"Good job," Bridgit said smiling at the girl, "I rarely lose to anyone"

"Yeah, well –" But Echo was cut off by none other than the pompous professor himself, Lockhart.

"Miss Beaumont, you are not holding your wand properly," Lockhart said as he took Echo's wand away from her.

Anyone who had eyes obviously saw that Echo was not pleased by Lockhart's correction. In fact, she was completely in rage (though she kept it in check most saw her as displeased). If there was one thing that everyone knew about the Ravenclaw was that you never correct her, especially if your correction was not even correct, if you value your life.

As Lockhart continued to explain what he thought was the proper way of holding a wand Bridgit saw Echo's face. She was really trying to hold back her irritation just because the gidiot was a professor.

"Professor?" Bridgit called making Lockhart face her.

"yes, Miss Parker?" he asked

"Instead of talking, why don't you demonstrate?" Brigit suggested making the others agree.

The students began to cheer in hopes that Lockhart would give it a go. In the end, he couldn't resist. He was about to call Professor Snape to duel with him but Bridgit interrupted.

"Professor, may I battle against you? It would be such an honor….," Bridgit said, her sentence fading. Zoey could see the pain in Bridgit's expression as she said that.

Echo stared at Bridgit trying to figure out what was her agenda for the battle.

"Very well Miss Parker, I shall honor your request," Lockhart said

Lockhart then gave back Echo's wand and pulled out his own. He flipped his hair and looked determinedly at his student. Bridgit smirked as they both bowed, when they stood up right Bridgit immediately casted a spell towards Lockhart

Lockhart was able to dodge the spell but almost got caught in the next one Bridgit sent.

Bridgit fired spell after spell towards her Professor as he used every shielding charm he knew at the same time sending disarming charms at his student.

Bridgit was able to dodge his attacks and send another spell at her Professor, hitting him.

This; however, was unfortunate for her professor for it was not a disarming charm she sent, it was a blasting charm.

Lockhart flew back and smashed into the wall for the second time that day.

Everyone stared at Bridgit in shock and frankly, so was she but when she realized what she had done she merely smirked.

"Are you okay, Professor?" she asked, not even the slightest trace of concern in her voice.

Lockhart groaned.

Zoey could not believe what Bridgit had done even though she had already witnessed her attacking the Professor before.

"Miss Parker, what happened to disarming charms only?" Snape asked with a small trace of amusement in his voice.

"I'm sorry sir, I guess I got caught up in the duel," Bridgit answered, "At least I succeeded in defending myself"

Lockhart groaned again catching the attentions of the students. The girls rushed over to him and started to fuss while the boys just smirked and gave Bridgit a thumbs-up.

* * *

It had been an entire day since the Dueling Club began and Zoey could not believe her ears at what happened near the end. Harry was a _parselmouth!_ It had happened after Bridgit's and Lockhart's duel. After Lockhart had recovered from his second impact with the wall it was Harry's and Draco's turn to duel intensely. Jinx after jinx they've shot at each other and in time it was not all about disarming. It turned to a full blown fight.

"Serpensortia" was the spell Malfoy had used and out of his wand came a snake. A small number of events happened after the snake appeared, one of them being Lockhart trying to get rid of it only to have it blasted into the air and landing near a Hufflepuff boy, Justin Finch-Fletchley. Zoey remembered feeling panic rise within her as the snake approached Justin. That's when it happened. Harry walked towards the snake and began to hiss. The snake seemed to go closer to Justin before leaving the boy and heading towards Harry.

Harry was a parselmouth.

Zoey sighed as she headed outside the castle to the open field. She took a seat on one of the big rocks and looked at the scenery. If she could, she would choose to live in Hogwarts for the rest of her life, that is, of course, if she didn't have to study for the rest of her life. Zoey saw Ginny heading towards her way.

"Hey, Ginny!" Zoey greeted as the red-head drew closer to her. Ginny didn't greet back. Her face was expressionless and in her hands was the diary. "Hey.. what's –" but Zoey did not get to finish for her head began to throb and her vision began to fog up. She felt her thoughts escape her mind as it clouded over. She fell to the floor and tried to fight the numbing pain but it was too late. She lost it.

Slowly, Zoey rose to her feet as her face contorted to an expressionless one. She looked over at Ginny and then towards the chicken coop that stayed not too far away from the chicken coop.

She and Ginny headed towards that direction.

* * *

Justin walked through the halls of Hogwarts as he tried to find something to do. He did not have any classes next and he hoped to find something that would take his mind of what happened yesterday. He was almost bitten by a poisonous snake that seemed to be under the control of Harry. Justin felt his heart pace quicken. He started to remember the day he told Harry that he was muggle-born. He began to regret it.

As he walked down the hall he saw the Gryffindor house-ghost, Nearly Headless Nick.

"Hello, Sir Nicholas!" Justin greeted as he approached the translucent man.

"Hello, Justin!" the ghost greeted as he floated over to the Hufflepuff.

Justin opened his mouth to speak but he froze in place. He saw something from behind Sir Nicholas and the sight truly shocked him. He saw big yellow eyes looking into his own and suddenly he felt like he was truly frozen. He couldn't move his body or his eyes. He couldn't even breathe.

Sir Nicholas looked at the frozen boy curiously, not fully grasping what had just happened to him. He saw the shocked look on Justin's face and was curious as to what he saw. Sir Nicholas then turned around and found the answer. Yellow eyes looked into his ghostly one and he felt like he had died all over again.

* * *

**And here's chapter 30!**

**Yay!**

**Before anything, if you see any typos that's my fault though unintentional. I did not re-read this one D:**

**I'm estimating that the rest of their 4th year would be a total of 3 to 4 more chapters so please be patient :D**

**I would like to thank ZoomSkater14 for helping me with this chapter!**

**I would like to thank all of you for your reviews, favorites, alerts and questions!**

**Now for Q and A's!**

**"ZoomSkater14" asks: Will Tom use Zoey being from both the most powerful and 2nd most powerful bloodlines to his advantage?**

**-We'll see. We'll see :)**

**"wHaT's In A pEn-NaMe" asks: Are they still going to be giving each other the cold shoulder when she and Ginny are taken to the Chamber?**

**-Hopefully they'll be all good friends once more!**

**"yvonna" asks: I thought Zoey was scared of dogs?**

**- Not really scared more like she doesn't know what to do with them. The part where she takes Shinji with her was sort of a spur of the moment thing. The part where she gets along with him in this chapter just shows she's adjusting**

**"Taka" and "YukiKyoMomiji" asks: So Echo's a Veela?**

**-Let's wait for the full story in the future, shall we? :)**

**And that's it! Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**Don't forget to review and asks questions!**

**PS: Good Luck to "HayleyParadox" with her exams! Make momma proud! XD**

**I only own what I own  
**


	32. Chapter 31: Question of Sanity

**Chapter 31: Question of Sanity**

Zoey watched as Fred and George marched ahead of Harry shouting things like:

"Make way for the Heir of Slytherin! Seriously, evil wizard coming through…"

Or

"He's off to the Chamber of Secrets to have tea with his fanged servants!"

Percy did not find this funny and Zoey had to agree. She was getting worried. There was another attack, this time on someone from her own house, and she could not recall where she had been during that time. She had once again had some sort of memory gap. She stood beside Ginny, who had the diary, and watched as Fred and George continued to make fun of the idea that Harry was the Heir of Slytherin.

The thought sickened Zoey further. She didn't feel all too well when she woke up and all the talk about the attack and Harry being the Heir of Slytherin did not set her stomach right at all. She once again felt like she wanted to throw up.

"Oh, _don't_," she heard Ginny wail when Fred asked Harry who he was to attack next.

Zoey watched as Ginny ran away from her brothers.

Zoey sent a glare their way and walked off to the outside of the castle.

She was still angry at the twins for what they've done and so far she hasn't spoken to either of them since the incident. Often times they would pass by each other in the corridor and Zoey had to remind herself that she was mad at them for if she didn't she would have sent them a smile or a wave.

Zoey took a breath of fresh air as she walked towards the Quidditch pitch. No one was practicing and she took the opportunity to inhabit the deserted place. She sat on the stands and closed her eyes in relaxation. She had been stressing over a lot of things lately: School, the fight, the attacks, he memory loss and her… personal problems at home. It was really too much for a fourteen year old to handle.

She took the deserted area as an opportunity to be at peace, to sort out her thoughts and to figure out how she would tell Fred and her friends everything about her. Zoey knew for a fact that they were all in a fight but she had faith that it would work out in the end. It had to right?

Zoey's peace was interrupted when she heard footsteps heading her way. She opened her eyes and saw Fred marching up to her. She felt panic. She did not think that Fred, and or George though it was only one Weasley twin, would come right out and speak to her. She imagined if the twins were to apologize, that is if that was Fred's intentions right now, they would have approached her when she was with Echo and Bridgit. Zoey felt like she wanted to get up and run away.

She began to push herself of her seat.

"Don't do what I think you're doing," she heard Fred say as he pulled out his wand.

Her eyes widened. He wasn't going to curse her was he?

Fred noted her shocked look. "I'm not going to jinx you," he said as he slipped the wand back into his pocket though leaving the handle slightly sticking out just in case he needed it.

Zoey furrowed her eyebrows and didn't say anything. She refused to say anything until he started to conversation. She held her mouth in a firm line as she looked the other direction. To most she would have looked incredibly childish but to her she felt like she was doing something right. Fred thought the former.

"Would you please look at me?" he asked as he sat beside her.

Zoey inched away and huffed as she continued to look the other direction.

"Zoey," he tried again, "Zoe… come one. Zoe – don't be stubborn!"

Fred sighed in frustration as Zoey continued to "ignore" him. Every time he moved closer to her she inched away. When he tried to speak she would make a huffing noise and shake her head. When he tried to reach to her she would stand up and walk away from him.

"Why won't you at least let me talk?" Fred asked exasperatedly.

Zoey thought it over. He was trying to say something to her. She sighed in defeat. She was truly a pushover. She turned to look at him and saw that he had a pleading expression. She fought to hold down her blush as she tried to tell him "Go on then," with her eyes. Fred rubbed the back of his neck.

"Listen, I hate not talking to you," Fred began. Zoey blushed and tried to hide it by moving her head to a different angle.

"so… so I came here to a- apo- apol"

"Apologize?" Zoey offered but then instantly shut her mouth back up.

"There we go. You finally spoke," Fred grinned, "But yeah… I came here to apologize"

Zoey bit her lip, "Apologize for what?"

"For the things I've said all those days ago. I understand that they were insensitive and - "

"Idiotic, Immature, stupid?" Zoey offered again.

"Yeah, that one," Fred winced, he was not used to Zoey using such words, "And a bunch of other things George said that I don't feel comfortable repeating in front of you"

"Alright"

"So you forgive me then?"

"No"

"What!" Fred exclaimed as he stood up. He did not expect Zoey to reply in such a way. He thought she would have outright forgiven him the moment he mentioned he came to apologize.

"You didn't really apologize," Zoey said in a soft tone as she looked at Fred in the eye.

"Oh then _I'm Sorry,_" Fred said. Zoey didn't say anything. "What? Fine!" he groaned, "I'm sorry for being immature and making insensitive comments. I'm sorry for being a git"

"Okay… but why are you saying this to me?"

"You –" But Zoey cut him off.

"You should be apologizing to Bridgit. Not me. She was the one you insulted," Zoey explained.

"Then why are you mad at me?"

"Fred, I love you but you're a git," Zoey said in a mutter.

"What?" Fred asked in shock

Zoey blushed and stammered, "B-Bridgit. You should apologize to her. I'm mad at you right now because you have insulted my friend and hurt her feelings. Even though nothing was directed at me I will stand up for what I believe in and I believe that what you said was hurtful and you should really reflect on what you did."

Zoey then walked away from the stands. She heard Fred running after her.

"Look for Bridgit, Fred. Apologize to her," Zoey said over her shoulder.

"I would if I knew where she is!" Fred said

"Where's your Marauder's Map?" Zoey asked.

"Echo has it!" Fred said, "When George and I asked for it back she just ignored us and continued on her way."

Zoey looked back at Fred and saw that he was huffing. She licked her lips.

"The Astronomy Tower," she whispered.

"What?" Fred asked as he approached her. He decided to take a gentler tone. He reached over to move a strand of hair away from her eyes but Zoey inched away.

"The Astronomy Tower," she repeated, "she and Echo like to hang out up there"

And with that she turned away and walked back to the castle

* * *

Zoey still felt troubled after her encounter with Fred. Her cheeks still felt hot and her heart still hammered in her chest. She truly didn't know what to do. She's never been in a fight before and she never really thought that her first fight would be with a friend. She tried to keep up a strong front for Bridgit to see that Zoey was a faithful friend but inside she was breaking. She could not handle it. Zoey was a faithful person and never wanted to choose sides but this fight didn't give her much of a choice because she knew that the twins were wrong to laugh and she was to be with Bridgit through and through. She had promised herself that she was not to talk to the twins until they asked for forgiveness.

Zoey was breaking.

She could not handle it. Usually, when she was feeling like this she would vent out her problems in the diary but now she just stared at it. She did not want to open the diary and write in it. She was now afraid of it. Bridgit's message echoed in her mind.

_"Tell her…some reading materials are not to be read, written on or followed,"_

Zoey licked her lips. She had not relayed the message at all. Days, weeks, months passed and she has not spoken a word about Bridgit's message to Ginny. She didn't know why. Honestly, it did not skip her mind. Every time she wrote in the diary Bridgit's words repeated endlessly in her mind. Whenever Ginny gave the diary to her or she returned it the message clouded her mind. It was like, she did not want to tell the message to Ginny at all.

Zoey was feeling her mistake.

She wondered if she had told Ginny in the first place would she still be looking at the diary. Would the diary know all her feelings and troubles? Would she still be having her memory loss?

This was the source of why she had ceased to write in the diary.

Her memory loss.

It had all started after she began to vent into the diary.

It sounded foolish but she had the guess of suspecting that the diary was behind all the gaps in her mind. After all, it was a suspicious little book.

Zoey gulped.

She reached over to the diary and left her room. She ran down the halls and swerved passed the corners. Often she had to avoid bumping into students as she dashed towards the library. When she finally reached her destination she held onto the doorknob and caught her breath. She pushed open the door and entered. She quietly walked through the different aisles until she reached the table she and Ginny would sit on to write in the diary.

To her luck, Ginny was there.

Zoey placed the diary in front of Ginny and noticed that Ginny stopped what she was doing when she saw it. She noted that Ginny turned a pale white color as she stared at the diary.

She looked nervous.

"Y-you can write in it today, Zoey," Ginny stuttered out, "I ha-haven't got anything to write in it today"

"You're afraid of it," Zoey said

Ginny froze as she looked at the diary, to Zoey and back at the diary. She gulped. "I'm scared. Ever since we got Tom bed things have been happening; the attacks, the memory loss, the blood and the feathers on our robes. It's all suspicious," Ginny whispered.

"I know," Zoey said, "I'm pretty suspicious of it too… I – I think we should get rid of it"

Ginny looked at her wide-eyed. It was obvious that she didn't think it had to go so far.

"Face it Ginny. This is bad news. It's a notebook that can reply to our entries. Have you ever seen anything like it? It's like you said, ever since we got this bad things have been happening…. I'm scared that maybe –"

Ginny cut her off, "Maybe… we've been the ones attacking the students all along"

Zoey felt herself shake from fright as Ginny paled even further, "I – it could be a possibility. I mean… where were we during the attacks? And… the blood, feathers, fur… it all seems to fit…"

"But how do we get rid of it," Ginny asked, "We can't just drop it on the floor! Someone could find it and the same thing would happen to them!"

Zoey felt herself panic. Her heart beat rapidly against her chest and she felt like she wanted to cry, these mixed emotions doubled with the stress was going to be the end of her.

"Brigit told me to tell you that there are some reading materials that are not to be read, written on or followed," Zoey said hoarsely.

"When did she tell you that?"

Zoey sucked in a breath, "A little while before you showed me the diary…"

"And you're telling me this now?"

"I'm sorry! I didn't think it meant anything… it confused me… then… then… the diary… Tom… he gave me advice… comforted me… helped me….I – I should have told it to you sooner! We could have avoided all this!" Zoey cried.

Ginny stayed silent. She focused her gaze onto the diary as she listened to Zoey's ragged breaths. Something had to be done.

"I would have not listened to you back then," Ginny said.

Zoey looked at her with a confused expression. Ginny continued:

"If you had told me when you were suppose to I might have not listened to you…," Ginny said, "But we can't dwell on that matter now… we need to get rid of it… Today"

Zoey looked at the diary and wiped her eyes dry. She needed to be strong. She grabbed hold of the diary and stood up.

"Let's go."

* * *

Zoey and Ginny ran down the halls of Hogwarts thinking of places to put the diary in hopes that no one else would find them. Unknowingly to them they ended up getting rid of the diary in the worst place possible. Zoey and Ginny had come across a bathroom that nobody used. It was Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Zoey pried the door opened and beckoned Ginny to follow.

The bathroom looked like any other girls bathroom in Hogwarts, only this one was deserted while the others had girls chatting with each other often coming in groups for a reason that Zoey didn't know. Zoey held the diary firmly in her hands as she pushed open one of the cubicles. Ginny ran into it and held the toilet seat up. Zoey dumped the diary in it and Ginny flushed the toilet.

Round and round the diary went. Almost it went down the toilet but it just bubbled back up to the surface to continue swirling around. Ginny flushed the toilet again. The diary repeated what it had done. It did not want to go down. Out of stress and panic Ginny continued to flush and flush the toilet until it broke. Zoey watched as the diary floated back to the surface and went higher and higher. The toilet water seemed to rise. Zoey and Ginny gulped as the toilet bowl over flowed.

"W-what happened? " Ginny asked in fright.

Zoey did not answer. She grabbed hold of Ginny's hand and dashed away from the gurgling toilet.

* * *

Zoey sat in the bathroom in her dorm as she hugged herself. She and Ginny had finally got rid of the diary. Forever? She didn't know but she was glad that for now she wouldn't be doing anything for it. She was glad that she would no longer encounter the memory loss or the mysterious stains and animal fragments on her robes. She reached a shaky hand in her pocket and pulled out the box. She played with it in her hand. She was using it to distract herself.

It was working.

She felt like all her problems were not as troubling as before. Almost as if the box was calming her.

Zoey felt at peace until something went wrong. She dropped the box on the ground when it happened.

Zoey gasped as she felt a sharp pain in her back. Suddenly she remembered something. The Emeraude's were not normal wizards and witches. They had something extra, a power that no one in the wizarding world could imagine, could have, something that was for the family only and could not be stolen. This power however could be manipulated if it's in the hands of the wrong person.

Zoey screamed as the pain started to spread. She ripped of her robes and scratched at her back trying to get the pain away. She started to cry. She slumped down to the grown and withered at the pain. She took deep breaths as she waited for the pain to disappear.

Seconds. Minutes. Hours passed before the pain subsided.

Zoey shakily stood back to her feat and walked towards the mirror. She looked at her reflection and saw that she was as pale as a ghost and her eyes were rimmed with red and were watery. She turned her back to the mirror and looked over her shoulder the sight shocked her.

On her back were feathers.

She brought a shaky hand to her back and brushed against the feathers. They were soft and seemed to form the shape of wings. She plucked a feather out with a hiss.

She felt something crawl in her back and when she looked back at her reflection the feather, or rather the wings turned into mist and disappeared. Her eyes widened. Maybe she was going mad.

Zoey looked back at her hand and saw the feather.

She wasn't going mad. Something was happening.

* * *

**It's Early Morning right now and I'm waiting for my breakfast! Gah! Hungry!**

**Sorry about the Professor Snape/Snap thing in the last chapter. I seriously don't know with my typing anymore DX**

**Anyway, here's the new chapter and things are starting to happen to Zoey?**

**What's going to happen to her? :O**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**Only two more chapters, I think, to go before their 4th years ends!**

**I thank you all for your reviews, alerts, favorites and questions!**

**Oh look! Food~! Yey! Breakfast! :D**

**Now, I hope there's no typos in this one! Guuurglleee**

**Don't forget to review and ask questions!**

**I only own what I own!  
**


	33. Chapter 32: Fireworks

**Chapter 32: Fireworks**

Zoey walked down the halls of Hogwarts heavily layered. Weeks had passed since her feathery surprise and every day when she wakes up in the morning she would run to the bathroom to check if the wings would grow back. It all seemed like the events were just a dream but Zoey knew it wasn't for on her bedside table was the feather she plucked out from the first time it happened. Zoey licked her lips as she loosened her collar. She was starting to sweat. She wore her undergarments with gauze wrapped around her upper half to cover the place where she saw her wings, and then she wore her uniform, a sweater on top and then her robes. For a change she wore her hair down so that it would cover her back.

Zoey took a breath of air as she tried to steady her beating heart, ever since the accident her heart had been hammering against her chest so much so that it hurt. It pained her inside to know that something unexplainable was happening to her. Something that she could not tell anyone for she knew they would not be able to help her.

Zoey knew that the wings that appeared by mist and disappeared all the same was that power, the power that each Emeraude held, the power that only she can control and no one else. Zoey wished that she could confide in one of the Emeraudes, ask them what was happening, and ask them to teach her how to control her power or at least tell her what it does. Zoey did not know what the wings signified. She did not know what they could do. The wings that she saw that frightening night were rather small and could not possibly hold her up if she tried to fly, sure, maybe they would grow bigger but Zoey did not know for no one could tell her.

She was alone.

She wished her mother were alive.

Zoey felt a slight jolt of pain in her back and jumped from it. She hissed under hear breath and pressed her back against the wall trying to apply pressure to it. She didn't know how it would work; she just hoped it would ease up. A soft mist began to surround her. Zoey panicked. A mist appeared before her wings disappeared and she was sure that they would reappear when the mist came back.

"N-no… please go away," she begged quietly as she felt something grow at her back. She lifted herself and smashed her back to the wall. She yelped in pain and fell to the floor. The mist was still surrounding her. She started to feel the same pain she felt all those nights ago. It was coming back. Zoey could swear she felt each feather growing out of her. "Not now… please," she begged.

Suddenly, voices came. She sucked in her breath as the voices grew louder and more recognizable. Her eyes widened. It was the twins. She heard their laughter as their footsteps drew closer. She tried to go further into the wall in hopes that they wouldn't see her.

They didn't.

Zoey licked her lips as she listened in on their conversation.

"So it will happen tonight then, in the Astronomy Tower?" she heard George ask.

"That's the plan," Fred replied, "Do we have everything that we need?"

"Of course we do… only one problem, how are we going to get Echo and Bridgit in there? They hate us," George then said.

"Easy, they stay in the Astronomy Tower practically every day. All we have to do is corner them and badabing badaboom!" Fred said with a clap of his hands.

George laughed, "Badabing badaboom?" he asked, "Where did you come up with that?"

"I don't really know to be honest," Fred laughed, "Come on we don't want to be late for potions, we can't afford to get a detention tonight"

"Right"

Zoey waited till their footsteps died away before struggling to stand back up. The mist disappeared when the twins came and Zoey thanked Merlin that it didn't come back when they left. Zoey let out a sigh as she got back steadily to her feet. She gulped and ran to the Great Hall. She needed to find Bridgit and Echo.

* * *

Zoey sighed exasperatedly. Dinner had ended and she still didn't find either Bridgit or Echo. It was like something was stopping her from finding them. Several times she had been late for class because she was looking for her two best friends but unfortunately for her she could not find them. She checked the library and the girl's bathroom, their classes and the Quidditch pitch. She could have sworn that she searched the entire school three times in search for the Ravenclaws. Zoey even considered looking in the Astronomy Tower but she was sure they weren't here for she had heard that it was on lock down because there was an accident of a first year almost falling off.

It was the second almost death in the Astronomy Tower.

Zoey shivered at the thought of someone actually falling off. It was scary.

Zoey left the Great Hall and headed towards a vaguely familiar direction. Zoey was heading to the Astronomy Tower. She swallowed hard when she reached the stairs. She took a few steps up before hearing her name being called. She whirled around to see Bridgit and Echo heading her way.

Zoey sighed in relief as Bridgit and Echo reached her, she was finally able to find them

"Where have you two been?" Zoey asked really curious on the matter. Why wasn't she able to find them?

"Ravenclaw Common Room," Echo replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Zoey was about to ask why but then Bridgit cut her off by asking: "Why do you look like a band of centaurs just chased you around the Forbidden Forest?"

"I was looking for you two," Zoey said curious as to what she currently looked like. Did she look that bad?

"And what do you know? You found us! Congratulations!" Bridgit said with a clap. Zoey laughed and shook her head. Echo gave a small chuckle as well.

"Why were you looking for us anyway?" Echo asked.

"I needed to tell you guys something," Zoey said, "I heard Fred and George saying… saying… Merlin… I can't remember it all but I'm sure they were planning something for you two up there." Zoey jerked her head towards the Astronomy Tower.

Anger flashed in Bridgit's eyes, "Are they really?"

"Those gidiots," Echo said palming her forehead as she did.

Zoey watched as the Ravenclaws pushed passed her and began to head up the stairs. Her eyes widened, "Where are you going?"

"Astronomy Tower of course," Echo said as she looked back at Zoey, "We're going to give those two a lesson on respect and sensitivity"

"Are you coming?" Bridgit asked, turning back as well.

Zoey bit her lip, "No… I'm not… but wouldn't you rather wait to teach them a lesson down here, on the safe ground?"

"Uhm, no because if we wait here they can easily deny anything," Bridgit answered before walking back up the stairs.

"See you later, Zwei," Echo started as she followed Bridgit's lead, "We'll give them a lesson they'll never forget"

"Br –" Zoey tried but it was too late, they already ran up the stairs and were out of hearing range. Zoey sighed as she turned around; there was nothing she could do. She walked away from the staircase.

* * *

When Bridgit and Echo reached the top of the Astronomy Tower they were rather surprised to see that it was empty. Zoey had said that the twins were planning something for them up there but at the moment the red-headed twins were nowhere to be seen.

They looked around searching under the limited objects within the tower. They were sure that if the twins were to hide they would have a pretty hard time since there wasn't much to hide behind. Bridgit and Echo stood still for a moment to think about where the twins could be. As they thought, they took the time to look up at the night sky and admired how beautiful it was.

Sadly, the beauty was interrupted.

"Hello there you two!" two voices that sounded incredibly alike said causing Bridgit and Echo to turn around.

"You!" the girls exclaimed upon seeing the identical mischievous grins of the twins.

"Hey, hey, hey, we come in peace," George said as he held up his hands to show that he was unarmed.

Echo furrowed her eyebrows, "We don't have time for this," she said making her way to the door.

George saw this coming and grabbed her by the waist before she was out of reach. "Now wait just a minute," he said as he pulled Echo closer to him ensuring both his and her safety. If he released her now he was sure she would hex him to the next century and back.

"Seriously, can you two give us a break?" Bridgit asked as she pulled out her wand. She was not in the mood for another one of the twins' pranks.

"Look, there's no need for wands," Fred started as he raised his hands up in defense, he too showed that he was unarmed, "Like George said, we come in peace"

"Well, that's rich! What are you two gonna do? Pull a prank and get us to forgive you so Zoey will too?" Bridgit yelled, knowing that, that was probably Fred's agenda

"Do you really look down on us so much?" George asked as he kept his hold on the violet haired girl. Echo, on the other hand, stayed still as she watched the scene unfold. This was about Bridgit. Bridgit was the one the twins wronged.

"Well –" Bridgit began to say but stopped when she saw the twins' expression change to hurt.

"We didn't mean to offend you the other night, y'know," Fred said, bowing his head in shame

"We just wanted to loosen up the situation because it seemed so tense, and I guess we didn't watch what we were saying," George added as he let his hold go on Echo. Echo walked over to Bridgit and stared at her two friends. They really did seem sorry.

"But… don't you know how much that hurt? When you said those things? You don't know anything about my family and even if you did, why would you even say that?" Bridgit asked the tears well up in her eyes. Echo reached to Bridgit, pulled back her hand a bit and then fully reached to Bridgit's back and rubbed it in comfort.

"Look, Bridgit, we're sorry. I guess – know we both seriously owe you two an apology," George started as he looked at the two girls

"Yeah, we really didn't mean what we said. Bridgit, think about it, do you seriously think we would _intentionally _insult another prankster in the world?" Fred asked, earning a smile from the Ravenclaws.

"Oh, they smiled, Gred!" George said with glee. He almost appeared as if he were eight years old again and got his first pumpkin pastry treat.

"I saw it, Forge!" Fred answered with the same amount of glee in his voice, "So, do you forgive us?" he asked looking hopefully at the girls.

The girls shared a look and thought about it. Do they really? Were the twins truly sincere in their apology? Before they could think further they heard something burst in the sky. The volume of the burst shocked the girls and caused them to look up.

Their eyes widened

Up in the night sky were fireworks of many colors. Green, blue, red and yellow decorated the velvet sky and lit the entire Astronomy Tower. The girls were in awe.

Fred and George shared a grin, satisfied with the Ravenclaws reaction.

Bridgit and Echo were amazed by the fireworks. They exploded in the sky and did not take the appearance of regular muggle fireworks. No, these fireworks took the shape of different animals and objects. One white firework took the form of a rabbit and it even hopped around a bit in the sky before disappearing.

Suddenly, a unique firework exploded in the sky and it brought a smile on the girls' faces.

**WE'RE SORRY**

The firework spelled in the sky and beneath it was the letter "W" indicating who it was from, W for Weasley, Weasley Twins to be exact.

Bridgit and Echo turned back to the twins and their smiles were still etched on their faces.

"We forgive you but –" Bridgit began

"You two have to treat us to a butter beer on the next Hogsmeade weekend," Echo finished, "Oh and some pastilles as well."

Fred and George shared a look before looking back at the girls. "Deal" they said and Bridgit brought them both into a hug, shocking them, while Echo watched in the sidelines, hugs weren't really her thing.

After a minute she released them and whispered in their ears, "By the way, my father was not a prankster, he was a muggle"

The twins shared a shook look as Bridgit went back to Echo and took her hand, running out of the Astronomy Tower.

"Where are you going?" the twins asked, following them to the door.

"Gonna look for Zoey!" Bridgit answered before running down the stairs. Fred smiled; Zoey was finally going to forgive him.

* * *

When Bridgit and Echo left her to go to the Astronomy Tower Zoey took this chance to explore the Hogwarts grassy grounds. Sure, she's been there plenty of times before but she never truly went beyond the Quidditch pitch, Hagrid's hut or the Greenhouse. She wasn't planning to go as far as the Forbidden Forest, heavens no, she was afraid of it, no, Zoey just felt like exploring within the bounds she was allowed to go.

Zoey did not care for time at the moment, it was late, and she knew she was late for her curfew, she did not particularly care. She kicked a pebble as she continued to stroll down the grassy path. She stopped near the Astronomy Tower and looked up. She knew she would not be able to hear Bridgit and the others conversing, or fighting if worse comes to worst, but she felt like it was better to stay near the area just in case someone fell. After all, it almost happened before.

The night sky was beautiful with its velvety touch and star lit sky. She remembered the days she was trapped in her dumpsite of a home and looked out the window in hopes that she would see something, something that would save her. Zoey gave a sigh, no one could save her. She was alone. It hurt her to know that even though she had all the friends she needed, she was still alone in fighting her battle. A battle she did not dare bring anyone into.

Zoey felt the mist come back. She closed her eyes as she felt the mist surround her; she felt the pain of her wings come back. She did not try to stop them

_Maybe,_ she unintentionally thought to herself as she felt her clothes stretch as her wings grew bigger beneath the layers, _maybe I can just fly away from all this._

Zoey let out a pained breath as she heard the fabric of her clothes rip. She had let her wings free. She felt light headed as the wings stretched out and reached to the tips of her hands as she stretched them out as well.

Zoey let her tears fall as her wings gave a few flaps. It was painful yet freeing. She placed her hands back to her sides and looked over her shoulders. Her wings were as white and feathery as before but this time they were bigger, much bigger. When she looked closer there was a tinge of silver to her wings. She looked down at her body and noted that the mist still surrounded her, though it was barely noticeable.

She jumped when she heard something burst. She looked up at the sky and felt her wings fold behind her and felt the numbing pain of them reentering her body. She felt a cold breeze on her back but she did not care. She was in awe. The starlit sky was now filled with the most magnificent fireworks she's ever seen.

Rabbits and lions and much more animals played in the sky in different colors. She felt herself smile at the badger that appeared in cool yellow. She licked her lips as happy tears came to her eyes. After all the animals disappeared into the sky they were replaced by a message.

**WE'RE SORRY**

The message read as the letter "W" appeared below it. She did not need to think much on who made the fireworks. It was obvious who did it and it was clear to her how Brigit and Echo reacted to it. Inside, she felt herself forgive the twins.

Zoey closed her eyes as she turned around. It was high time she head to bed, she was going to find the twins tomorrow. As she walked back into the castle she unconsciously brought her hand to her back and felt the skin. Not more feathers but she knew that it wasn't the last she'd see of them.

She stopped when her head throbbed and her eyes fogged. _No, _she cried, _No, I – we got rid of you!

* * *

_

A few days has passed since the display Fred and George made for Bridgit and Echo and since then everyone returned to being friends. Zoey, though extremely stressed out, approached the twins the next day and surprisingly gave them a hug of her own. The twins looked at her in shock before grinning bashfully. They asked how she knew that they were forgiven.

"I saw that message last night," she said as she smiled tiredly and sat between them and listened to them talk about the upcoming Quidditch match.

It was a few hours before the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff Quidditch game.

In those few hours we bring ourselves to Bridgit's point of view before the game:

Bridgit was a big fan of Quidditch, she didn't deny that. She loved the feel of the wind on her face and she loved that there was a way to release stress while irritating a couple of Slytherins at the same time. But today, she decided to skip the Quidditch game and stay in the library.

Out of all the places in Hogwarts, the library was probably her favorite. She liked the smell of all the old books and the peace as well.

While she was walking through the stacks of book, looking for a potions book that she could use for her report, she saw a bushy haired little girl sitting in the corner with a big tomb in front of her. Bridgit walked over to the little girl and smiled when she realized who it was.

"Well, Hermione, what are you doing in here instead of being out there?" Bridgit asked, taking a seat on the chair in front of the twelve year old.

Hermione looked up and smiled at the familiar face. She really did like hanging out with Bridgit, she was smart but at the same time funny. She was never a bore to talk to.

"I was looking for something that could help in figuring out the monster in the chamber," Hermione answered, going back to her tomb.

"Let me help," Bridgit said happily. Hermione looked up at her and nodded with a smile on her face. She was happy that she wasn't alone anymore.

Bridgit got up from her seat, looked around the library and stopped when she came upon a book about serpents. She took the book out of the shelf and walked back to Hermione.

"What's that?" Hermione asked, looking at the book Bridgit was holding.

"It's a book about snakes from the olden times," Bridgit answered, looking for the page that she once saw.

"Why snakes?" Hermione asked, curiously looking at the older student.

"Let's just say that I have a hunch," Bridgit answered, finally reaching the page and laying the book out on the table for Hermione to see as well.

"A Basalisk?" Hermione asked, giving Bridgit a questioning look, "Why that specific snake?"

"Hermione, think about it!" Bridgit started, while Hermione continued to read, "When it looks you in the eyes, you're suppose to die but remember all the incidents? The water on the floor and even the Hufflepuff boy! It makes sense," Bridgit continued and Hermione stared at her in shock.

"You're right! The water on the floor could have prevented Mrs. Norris from seeing it full on, while Justin saw it through Sir Nicholas, but Sir Nicholas saw the whole thing but he couldn't die again! And Colin… his camera! You're a genius Bridgit!" Hermione said as the pieces started to fall together. She hugged the older girl.

"Oh, so I've been told," Bridgit laughed as she hugged Hermione back.

"Wait, hold on. It says here that it's at least fifty feel long. How is it moving around?" Hermione asked, looking at Bridgit questioningly once again.

Bridgit shrugged her shoulders and placed her book bag on the table.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked.

"I'm going to give you something," Bridgit replied, but as she was searing through her bag a little white fur ball fell out.

"What's this?" Hermione asked, looking at Shinji with a pout.

When Shinji looked back at her, Hermione took the dog in her hands and hugged it.

"He's teacup poodle, right?" Hermione asked as Shinji licked her cheek.

"Yup!" Bridgit answered, smiling at the scene, "His name is Shinji"

"It means 'believing' in Japanese, right?" Hermione asked

"Yes, I guess his name suits him very well," Bridgit answered a triumphant look on her face. She took out a mirror from her bag and smiled at Hermione.

"This is for you," Bridgit said as she handed Hermione the mirror.

"Why?" Hermione asked, placing Shinji on the table and taking the mirror.

"It'll protect you, you're a muggle-born and it's better to be safe than sorry," Bridgit answered, putting Shinji back in her bag. Shinji licked Bridgit's finger and obediently settled inside.

"Thanks…," Hermione said, smiling at Bridgit. It felt nice that someone, other than Harry and Ron, was looking out for her.

Bridgit then stood back up, "Well, I got to go now, Hermione. It was nice talking to you, but I really need to get back to the Common Room."

"Oh, okay," Hermione said as she went back to reading the page about the Basilisk.

"By the way," Bridgit started before leaving the table, "Do you ever wonder about the plumbing in this school?"

"No, why?"

"I don't know, Zoey just asked me that question the other day," Bridgit said smiling, "Well, I'm going to go now. Bye"

"Bye," Hermione answered, still pondering about Bridgit's question.

* * *

When Bridgit left Hermione there were many things that she didn't expect to happen next. She didn't expect that the Quidditch match would be canceled because of another attack, she did not know that soon after she left Hermione would be caught petrified with a Ravenclaw girl with a mirror in her hands, she did not know that there would be a risk of Hogwarts being closed and she did not know that Ginny would be dragged down into the Chamber where her skeleton shall stay forever.

Bridgit did not see that coming.

* * *

**Gah! Long chapter!**

**Well, only one more chapter to go for their 4th year!**

**Special and incredible thanks to "ZoomSkater14" for being an amazing help!**

**Love you lots!**

**lol**

**I would also like to thank all of your for your lovely reviews and much appreciated favorites, alerts and questions!**

**Now for some Q and A's:**

**"TheAnnoyingOne97" asks: Is she growing wings?**

**-Yep, I do believe she is :)**

**"YukiKyoMomiji" asks: Is Zoey half bird or something?Is Zoey and Ginny going to be taken to the chamber?  
**

**-Lol, no she isn't XD and let's just wait and see :)**

**"Taka" is thinking that Zoey is part angel or something: Nope she isn't :)**

**"BookKailei" asks: Are you writing another story to this?**

**-Let me tell you all now that I will be writing until book seven and then after that I am planning to type up a sequel :) but as you can see we are still rather far away from that so please be patient :)**

**and I would just like to say to "wHaT's In A pEn-NaMe" that I find the terms "Zed" very cute. :D Awesome! lol**

**Now, hmm.. special congrats to HayleyParadox for surviving her first day of exams! Good Luck to the rest and good luck with your story! :D**

**Love you too!**

**XD**

**Now, don't forget to review and ask questiosn**

**stat tuned for the next chapter**

**I only own what I own!  
**

**(PS sorry for any typos. I've re-read this but you never know right?)  
**


	34. Chapter 33: How do you know?

**Chapter 33: How do you know?**

Zoey swallowed hard as she sneaked out of the Hufflepuff Basement with her wand in her hand. Her eyes stung slightly and she blinked several times before she continued to walk away from her Common Room. She had been crying. She cried because once again she had been taken over by diary and caused harm to one of her friends and she did not remember how it happened. She cried because she was too weak and couldn't help but fall into Tom's clutches. She cried because Ginny was taken to the chamber. She cried because she wished it had been her. Zoey cried because she was crying. It was foolish but she couldn't help it she just kept on finding more and more reasons to cry.

Zoey bit her lip as she stood behind a statue that she had hid behind back in fourth year. She gripped tightly to her wand and pulled out a piece of parchment from her pocket. It was the dead of night and everyone was in their House firms sleeping, everyone except for herself, a Ravenclaw and a certain pair of twins.

"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good,"

Zoey whispered out as she tapped the piece of parchment. She had taken the map from Echo before going back into her dorm to get ready for her nights adventure. She, Echo and the rest of the Weasleys heard about Ginny's capture not too long ago and she had witnessed the heartbreaking scene of the Weasleys going into frightened shock. .Echo had told Zoey to look for Fred while she went to search for George. For Echo it was easy to know where George went to hide since she had known him all her life but Fred was not the same with Zoey. She had never witnessed his sad moments and didn't know where he would go when he wanted to be alone to think.

Zoey truly felt at lost.

The map of Hogwarts appeared before her eyes. Zoey smiled before scanning the map. She caught sight of Echo and noted that the violet haired girl was heading towards and empty classroom where George was staying. Zoey nodded her head when she saw Echo enter the room; she began to search the names on the map again.

Zoey gave a gulp when she finally found what she was looking for. Fred's name was hovering over the Astronomy Tower. She bit her lip as she brought her wand back to the map and tapped it once more.

"Mischief Managed,"

The map slowly disappeared and in a second it returned to looking like a regular piece of parchment. Zoey pocketed the map and held her wand firmly in her hand.

"Lumos," she muttered and a bright light emitted from her wand. She hastily pulled out her handkerchief and placed it on the end of her wand in order to make the light dimmer. She did not want to wake the paintings or attract unwanted attention.

Zoey took a brave step forward and felt her heart beat faster against her chest. She had to be strong. She knew sooner or later she had to face her fears, she just didn't know it would be this soon. Zoey walked down the deserted hallway towards the dreaded direction of the Astronomy Tower. She passed by the different painting's that gave of soft snores and murmuring in their sleep. They really did amaze her that they could speak with children and help them when they got lost on their way to classes.

Zoey faintly wished she had a talking painting of her mother.

If she did then her mother might be able to help her.

Sadly, Zoey only had a photograph.

All it did was smile and wave up to her.

Zoey gulped as she reached a familiar staircase. She looked up and noted that with the darkness and the faintness of the light it seemed like it lead to nowhere. Unfortunately, she knew where it headed and even if she didn't she knew it was bad news. She took a step and gave a shaky breath.

One finished….a million more to go.

As Zoey climbed further up the stairs she noted that her heart had not gotten any calmer. In fact, it was beating so fast that she could have sworn that she would have a heart attack and fall down the stairs. The thought of that scared her, making her head up the stairs a little faster.

Zoey bit her lip when she finally reached the door. There was no turning back now. She was here and she would not leave. He promised he'll never leave her and it felt right to return the favor. "Nox," she whispered and the light died out. She pocketed her wand and handkerchief and pushed the door open. It made an eerie creak.

It was late and there was no light besides the dim stars. It did not help in finding her way through the Astronomy Tower. Zoey's heart quickened. What if she accidentally walked off the tower and fell to her doom. Zoey decided to take slower and smaller steps.

Zoey's eyes adjusted to the dark and saw Fred's silhouette near the edge of the tower. From what she could see, which was not much, he looked as if he were looking down instead of up at the beautiful night sky. Zoey took a breath as she stepped towards him. "F – Fred?" her voice came off as a shaky whisper.

She saw him move slightly.

"Fred?" she tried again, "Are you there?"

She heard a mumble.

She took it as a yes.

"Are you alright?" she asked. She knew it was a stupid question. Who would be if there sister was taken to a chamber to die and rot in forever?

"What do you think?" came Fred's reply. Zoey felt a pang in her heart.

"Sorry," she apologized, "Dumb question"

Zoey felt her knees wobble. She was getting closer and closer to him meaning she was getting closer and closer to the edge. She tried to take her mind of that fact.

They remained in silence for a few moments.

"She's gone," she heard Fred say, his voice was hoarse. "Gone forever"

"You don't know that," Zoey reasoned. She was not the best at comforting.

"It's obvious," Fred said darkly, "No one knows where the chamber is, not even the slightest inkling to its whereabouts. Lockhart claims he knows but then we all know he's a fraud'

"You don't know that," Zoey repeated.

"How can I not know that? The day he knows where the chamber is, is the day you fall in love with him," Fred said with slight anger in his voice. The thought that there was no chance in saving his sister was frustrating. If only he was older, knew more spells, stronger then he would have been able to do something.

"I don't know, he does seem quite charming at time," Zoey said with a shrug. She tried to keep the conversation casual.

"What –"

"What I'm trying to say, Fred, is that anything is possible. It's possible that Professor Lockhart knows where the chamber is just as it is possible that I will fancy him, though that is unlikely," Zoey explained.

"In other words, finding Ginny is unlikely," Fred said.

Zoey winced, "Sorry," she apologized again, "Wrong choice of words. Just forget that I said that"

Fred sighed and looked down. He watched as the trees below him blew in the wind. It was a cold night but he didn't wear anything over his robes. He did not feel the cold. He did not feel. He was numb.

"I don't know what do anymore," Fred confessed, "She's gone… I was supposed to protect her… help her through her first year in Hogwarts and what do I do? I prank Slytherins and get myself landed in detention!"

Zoey jumped as Fred angrily banged his fist into the rock hard surface.

"I was supposed to be the good older brother! I should have listened to mum! I should have been there for her! I remember she would approach George and I to have a simple game of Exploding snap and what not and we just blow her off so we could either come up with another prank or head of to detention!" Fred yelled. He felt bad for neglecting his roles. True, he was never the best example of an older sibling and it was a fact that he could careless who he was being a bad influence to but the thought of his sister being gone and him not even being there for her in her time of need hurt him, angered him.

"You couldn't have predicted this," Zoey whispered as she felt tears well up in her eyes. Fred was hurting and she could not help but feel it was partly her fault. If she had told Ginny the warning sooner then maybe she wouldn't be in danger right now, maybe she would have thrown away the diary, maybe this painful night would have never happened. Sadly, this was reality. Zoey could do nothing to change her past mistakes.

"It's not your fault," Zoey said when Fred did not reply.

"Then why does it feel like it is?" Fred cried angrily. Zoey never saw him shed tears before. "I should have been there for her. Maybe if I was then I would have seen signs of something wrong. Maybe I could have prevented all this. But no, I was just being a Weasley twin git."

"Fred.. It isn't your –"

"Stop telling me that, Zoey!" Fred yelled angrily at her. Zoey took a step back. "I blame myself for all this! You can't tell me otherwise! Just… just get out"

Zoey looked down. Fred was wrong to blame himself, he should have blamed her. It was after all partly her fault that Ginny was in the chamber. She did not remember the events that took place when she was possessed by the diary's power but she knew for a fact that she was there when Ginny entered the chamber; Zoey knew she was there but what she didn't know was why she didn't stay.

Zoey turned to leave. She was just about to take a step towards the exit when Fred spoke again. "No, don't leave," he said, "I'm sorry… I didn't mean it like that"

Zoey turned around, "Then what did you mean?"

"I – it – what I meant was – Just, it feels painful y'know? It hurts to know that you can't do anything to save the ones you love," Fred said sadly, "I was just angered by that fact… sorry I took it out on you."

Zoey walked towards Fred and sat beside him. She felt her heart beat against her chest as she felt her back hit the thin air. She was so close to the edge. She could fall of she just lent backwards. She ignored that fact. It would be useless to be afraid.

She surprised Fred by pulling him into a hug. Fred's head rested on her shoulder as his nose grazed her neck. Zoey looked firmly at the wall in front of her. She did not know what brought her to do such a thing but right now she didn't care. She tried to ignore the fact that she was hundreds of feet from the ground and that Fred was so close to her.

"It's alright. It's not your fault. Don't beat yourself up for it," she said in whispers, "Just… stay optimistic. Everything would work out in the end. It always does. Next thing you know… you'll see Ginny right as rain"

Fred stayed silent. He was tired. The news had stressed him out and all the anger bottled up within him exploded out of him and now he was exhausted. He wanted to argue with Zoey, tell her that what she said was impossible but a small pang in his heart just told him to believe what she said.

They stayed quiet for a few moments.

It was Fred who broke the silence.

"I thought you were afraid of the Astronomy Tower," Fred said softly.

"Heights to be exact," Zoey spoke.

"Then why are you here? Aren't you afraid?"

"Terrified actually. I'm here because I wanted to be there for you. I had to face my fears and get a grasp on what is really important. You"

Zoey blushed as she said this and quickly released Fred from the hug. Fred was in shock. He didn't expect her to say such things. He felt his own blush appear on his cheeks and his hear hammer in his chest. He opened his mouth to speak but Zoey cut him off.

"We should head back to bed now," she said without looking at him. She walked to the door and placed her hand on the doorknob. She waited for Fred. Fred stood up and walked towards her. When she heard his moving footsteps she opened the door and stepped out.

The two of them walked down the stairs in silence and stopped when they reached the bottom. Hufflepuff Basement and Gryffindor Tower were on different sides of the school.

"Good Night," Zoey said with a soft smile to Fred before turning around to leave.

Fred caught her arm and made her face him. He leaned down and gave a soft kiss on her forehead. He lingered there a little longer as to inhale her scent. He smiled when he got a whiff of her coconut milk shampoo. "Good Night," he whispered before stepping away from her and heading his way towards the Gryffindor Tower.

Zoey watched his retreating figure quietly as her cheeks warmed up.

She felt like nothing could go wrong.

Sadly, she was mistaken.

Zoey was a few steps away from her destination when it happened.

Her head throbbed in pain as her eyes began to fog up. It was happening again. He was taking control of her.

"No…no…stop!" Zoey cried as her head throbbed even more. The pain was too much for her to handle and she dropped to the floor and withered in pain. She brought her hands to her head and squeezed her eyes shut as she felt him slowly invading her mind. "Stop… please… st –" Zoey continued no further. It was useless anyway. Her eyes open wide and it showed her pupils slightly foggy. She was taken over.

Zoey stood back up and turned around. She walked towards a direction her normal being did not know but her taken over self did. She walked in a faster pace than before but her footsteps remained unheard. She made quick turns and such to avoid running into objects and catching people's unwanted attention.

Zoey stopped in front of the second floor's girl's lavatory. She pushed open the door.

She walked towards the sink and was slightly surprised to see that the entrance had been opened. She looked down and suddenly heard an impatient voice in her head saying: _Get down here, now!_

A mist started to surround Zoey and her wings started to sprout out of her body. This time she did not cry in pain for she was in the state of mind where she could feel no pain. She could not feel anything.

Her wings stretched out and then stared to flap. Zoey's feet then left a few inches about the floor. She then dived down onto the passage way, her wings folding behind here, and before she would roughly land on the ground her wings caught air and lifted her. She then turned and started to fly towards her "master"

She heard voices when she reached her destination. Her wings folded back behind her and her feet were reunited with the ground. She walked the remaining steps to her master and caught his eye. She saw him smile maliciously. Near her master, stood a small black haired boy and a fallen ginger haired girl. Zoey knew deep down she knew these children but sadly she was in no control over her body. She took a few steps closer.

"Ah, but before anything Harry," he master, Tom Riddle spoke, "I would like to say that Ginny was not the only one venting in to the diary"

Harry looked confusedly at the man, "What do –"

But Tom cut him off.

"I do believe you are well acquainted with Miss Zoey?" Tom said as he raised his hand towards the direction of the possessed fourth year

Harry whirled around and his eyes widened, behind him stood Zoey who looked as if she were in a daze. Her eyes were glazed and foggy in appearance and her face held no emotion. These qualities did not shock him as much as what he saw that was attached to her back. Big arc angel wings were folded behind the girl yet because of their size he could still see the white feathers of the wings.

"What did you do to her?" Harry asked angrily as he looked back at Tom.

"The wings? Nothing, that's all her," Tom said, "You see Harry, the Emeraudes have a very special…gift if you could say"

Harry stayed silent as he waited for Tom to continue.

"There is a reason why I drained Ginny's powers and not Zoey. Clearly Zoey is the more advance and powerful witch but there is something about her that I cannot lose thus, preventing me from… how should I say this? Killing her," Tom said casually, "Each Emeraude is born with a power, a gift that no other wizard can have. Sure, there would be times were two or more Emeraudes share the same gift but never would there be a time where a none Emeraude will have it

"If I am correct by Zoey's wings she had been born with the power called "Angel's Soul" a very powerful gift though looked down upon by most in the Emeraude family. Do you know why Harry?"

Harry shook his head. The news was very shocking to him. He never knew.

"Because her power can only be used once. Just once. While her family can exploit theirs and use it whenever and however they like Zoey has a limit. For you see Harry, Zoey's power is the ability to bring those near death back to full health and or be able to bring back the dead," Tom informed, "Yes, she is able to bring the dead back to life, resurrect them if you will. Her power is unfortunately limited to only being able to resurrect one person for she gives half her soul to the person."

"So if she were to bring back two people," Harry gulped as he pieced the pieces together, "She would die…"

"You are a smart boy, Harry. Unfortunately for you, your life ends here," Tom said as he turned towards a gigantic stone face that stood behind him. _"Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four"_

Through glazed eyes Zoey watched as the stone face moved. She stayed rooted to her spot and her wings stretched a bit before folding back behind her. A voice in her head told her to move, to run away because danger was approaching yet she did not listen to it. She had no choice. She was stuck. She felt her eyes close.

She heard something slither on the ground and shortly after the slithering she heard the sounds of fast footsteps. Running. Someone was running away from the source of the slithering. Zoey heard many sounds, sounds of running and angry hissing even the sound that seemed like music, like the phoenix song but all the while she did not move from her spot, she did not open her eyes. She heard the sounds of a struggling fight and soon also heard the sounds banging, it seemed like the slithering beast had been harmed and was now thrashing all over the place.

Zoey then heard the soft voices of talking. Her mind was getting foggier by the second. She didn't know if she was being lifted from the possession or if she was falling deeper into it. She then heard a scream, a yell. It sounded like someone was being defeated.

She opened her eyes.

There she saw Harry near to collapsing and Tom slowly disappearing. In Harry's hand was a Basalisk fang and it was piercing through the diary. Zoey felt her eyes widen as Tom lunged towards Harry. Zoey's wings stretched and she leapt into the air. She flew to the front of Harry and her wings spread out shielding him. Tom let out a scream before fully disappearing.

Zoey looked back at Harry and saw Ginny stirring awake. Zoey felt faint. She fell back to the groaned and hissed in pain as her wings retreated back into her body. She once again felt her back exposed, she did not care.

"Harry," she said in a hoarse voice before feeling her eyes close and her body fall.

* * *

Harry, Ron, Ginny, Zoey and Lockhart all flew out of the chamber safely with the help of Fawkes the phoenix. It had been a very stressful and frightening night and they thanked their lucky heavens that everyone got out alright in the end (not counting the near death experience and Lockhart's memory charm backfiring). They all made it out of the chamber, Zoey now slightly awake, and scampered out of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. They wanted to get away from the Chamber as soon as possible. The moment the bathroom door swung close a cubicle door swung open.

Out of the cubicle came Bridgit. She looked slightly troubled as she headed towards the entrance of the Chamber. She slid down the passage way and made her way towards the stone face statue. She winced a bit when she saw the fallen Basalisk. She approached the snake and pulled out her wand. With a wave the fangs of the Basalisk fell out and clambered on to the floor, its venom slightly seeping.

"Wingardium leviosa," Bridgit said with a swish and flick of her wand and the fangs levitated to the air. She walked out and stopped at the area near where she came from. She placed the fangs back on the ground and conjured a box. She levitated the fangs again and placed them in the box; she covered the lid and brought out a piece of parchment and quill from her pocket. She wrote a quick note and stuck it onto the box's lid.

She left the Chamber.

* * *

Zoey groaned as she began to wake up. She had felt that horrible headache and painful feeling in the pit of her stomach. It had happened again. Tom had possessed her once more. Zoey felt terrible, she wondered who she had attacked this time. She slowly opened her eyes to see herself in a very familiar room; she was in the Hospital Wing. Zoey's vision was rather blurred but she could make out the figure on the bed next to her. The figure was Ginny.

Zoey reached out for her glasses and placed them on before sitting up with a wince. Her back felt really sore. She sat up straight and saw Fred sleeping on the chair beside her bed. She reached out and touched his forearm. Her eyes widened when Fred jerked awake. He looked at her with a shocked look.

"You're awake," he said with a whisper before bringing her into a hug. Zoey held back her wince for her body was still sore. She smiled into his embrace and jumped slightly when Fred exclaimed. "SHE'S AWAKE!"

Zoey heard the scrambling of feet.

She saw her friends looking stressed and disheveled.

"Zwei?" Echo's still small voice was close to being inaudible.

Zoey looked up at her friend and felt a guilty feeling at the pit of her stomach. She knew she worried them all.

Zoey offered a small smile in response.

"Don't smile right now! You should be tired and resting!" Bridgit said, making Fred and George hit the back of her head

"But I think I've rested a lot thanks," Zoey laughed, "How long have I been out?"

"Two to three days," George answered ignoring the death glare Bridgit was giving him and his brother."

Zoey's eyes widened, "Seriously? Even Ginny?"

"Actually, Ginny's still out," Bridgit answered looking at the bed beside her.

"What happened exactly? All I remember is leaving a strange, horrid smelling palce with a very… off Lockhart," Zoey mumbled and caught sight of Echo rubbing her sleep deprived eyes. She was struggling to keep awake. "Echo… you okay?" Zoey asked. Echo slowly nodded

"Well…," Fred started, not knowing how to fully explain it.

"We don't know either," Bridgit simple said making Fred glare at her

"What? It's the truth!" Bridgit said seeing Fred's glare

Zoey closed her eyes as a flash of green eyes appeared in her mind, "Harry… WHERE'S HARRY?" she panicked.

"Relax…" Fred said pushing Zoey down so that she'd stay in bed.

"Over there," Echo pointed to a bed beside Ginny's

Zoey bit her lip as her head rested on the pillow. She looked over at where Echo was pointing, "What happened… after… after… whatever happened?"

"You fell unconscious on the floor. It was kind of fortunate that I was looking for my pocketbook when I came across you guys," Echo said, "George give me my thermos of coffee please?"

"In other words… you guys don't know the full event either?" Zoey asked as she saw George pass Echo the thermos

"Yep," Echo drank the thermos empty in one straight go.

"I see…," Zoey muttered as she felt her eyes closing again. She felt someone run their fingers through her hair a bit before soft footsteps echoed. They had left.

Zoey felt her mind shutting down until she heard a voice speak

"I know that you were controlled by the diary and that you were almost sacrificed because of Ginny and Harry. How Tom Marvolo Riddle would use you," Bridgit said in a soft tone.

Zoey felt her eyes snap open before sitting up.

"How do you know about Tom Riddle?"

* * *

**DUN DUN DUN!**

**And that concludes their fourth year!**

**Sorry if the time they were unconscious isn't really... you know... exact... in the book... short? Lol, it just fit better you know?**

**Oh, and if you're curious as to why Echo was out that late, remember she went out to comfort George and yeah... late... lol...**

**KEEP YOUR HEADS OUT OF THE GUTTER PEOPLE!**

**lol joke... or AM I?**

**yeah...**

**I would like to thanks ZoomSkater14 and HayleyParadox for helping me type up the last part of the chapter! Thank you :D**

**and thank you all for your reviews, favorites, alerts and questions! **

**Much Appreciated!  
**

**Oh! A lot of you asked where the Zoey and Ginny chamber scene was and there you have it! It's right here!**

**And you guys have been rather curious as to what Bridgit is exactly. I'll give you a little clue she's _not _a Seer. Keep on guessing :D**

**... Some of your questions kinda got answered through this chapter so I have nothing more to say...  
**

**Don't forget to review and ask questions!**

**I only own what I own**

**(Oh and advance apologies for any typos! D:)  
**


	35. Chapter 34: A letter from Mum

**Chapter 34: A Letter from Mum**

It was a about a week or so before a new year at Hogwarts begins and Zoey was in her house for the first time in two years. She was thinking it would become tradition to be at The Burrow before school starts but right now she was not hoping to have Mrs. Weasley pop out of the fire place and tell her to get her things packed for she would be staying with them till school starts. No, the Weasleys were visiting their Eldest child and brother, Bill Weasley, in Egypt. Zoey gave a sigh. She was feeling rather lonely. Sure, she got mail from all her friends, even Harry since they have become quite close ever since he saved her and Ginny from the Chamber, but it was not the same as having to actually talk to them. Zoey gave another sigh.

Zoey was sitting in front of her fire place in the living room of her house. When she arrived back home everything was still in shambles. Furniture turned, glasses and vases broken and flowers wilted on the floor. She particularly didn't care. Zoey looked down. The box that used to stay in the dust filled room was now back to its original size and ready to be opened.

Yes opened.

Zoey had heard the news of a mass murderer breaking out of Azkaban and she was no idiot to deny that that man was her father. Her father, Sirius Black, had escaped from Azkaban, the first one to ever do it. She would be lying if she said she was not afraid. Zoey had heard stories about her father and she didn't know if she would believe them, her mother didn't.

Zoey sighed.

She was stalling.

"Here goes nothing," she whispered to herself as she brought her hands to the lid and lifted it. Zoey gave a surprised yelp as a bright lit emitted from within the box. She quickly shielded her eyes as the light grew brighter. She felt warmth from the light as it filled the entire room magically fixing everything broken in its path.

Several moments later the light died.

Zoey reopened her eyes and looked around the room. Everything was fixed. The sofas and chairs were right side up and the broken shards of glass were mended and returned to their rightful looks. The wilted flowers were now back in the vase, looking as lovely as ever. Zoey's eyebrows knitted in worry. Everything had returned to its perfect appearance. Back to what it was before, the first day she came to the house. She felt a cold sweat form on her brow.

Everything was _perfect._

Zoey swallowed hard as she turned her attention back to the box. She felt light headed. She felt like she wanted to destroy the room. She wanted it back to how it was before. After perfection and before perfection. She felt her hand twitch a bit.

Zoey felt her mouth open in shock as she looked inside the box. It wasn't like a treasure chest or anything. No, there was no diamonds or bunches of priceless heirlooms and whatnot like the ones she read in those muggle books. Nothing of the sort.

Inside the box were simply her mother's things.

The box had a mirror on top of an old book which was beside a photo album. Zoey opened the photo album and on top of the first page was an envelope she turned it over and saw her mother's name on it. Zoey guessed it was her mother's Hogwarts letter. Zoey placed the photo album beside her along with the book and the mirror. She looked back into the box and saw a jewelry case inside it, she brought it out. Zoey opened the case and closed her eyes expecting another bright light to come out but nothing happened. She opened her eyes a bit but when nothing happened she opened them fully and looked at what was inside.

Necklaces, rings, bracelets, ear rings and the like filled the box. Zoey lifted one particular necklace and her eyes widened. It was the same necklace her mother showed her all those years ago. Zoey quickly placed it on before shifting the rest of the jewelry.

It was a lot.

She didn't know her mother owned so many.

It looked endless.

Zoey closed the case. She would look through it again when she needed too.

Jewelry was not her priority right now.

Her priority was to find out more about the box and what her mother kept in it.

Zoey looked back into the box and pulled out a frame. She flipped it over and felt her face go emotionless. It was a picture of her mother and her father hugging each other and smiling at the camera. It appeared that someone had told a joke. She didn't know who though.

Lucy, Zoey's mother, was beautiful in a very simple way. Her hair was brown like her daughters and went to her shoulders. It was slightly wavy and seemed to not listen to a comb. It stuck out in different directions but she made it work. In her hair was a braid that came out from the hair nearest to her back and fell over her shoulder. Her mother's eyes were brown as well and seemed to sparkle with laughter.

She was beautiful.

Zoey then looked over to her father. It seemed he had an air of confidence about him but it wasn't the bad kind… though maybe at times near it. His hair was black and slightly longer than most males but in no way did it make him look feminine. His eyes were the same gray as hers. Zoey felt an odd pride about that. Her father, Sirius, has a sort of casual elegance about him. He was truly a Black (in a appearance only).

Zoey sighed.

They looked so happy.

Why did it all have to end?

Why couldn't everything be back to the way it used to be?

Sure, her father was out of Azkaban but that didn't mean he'd come back for her. No, he was a mass murderer. Even if he did come back her mother was still dead. Nothing could change that fact.

Zoey put down the photograph next to the other objects she pulled out of the box. She looked back inside the box and frowned, it was empty. She reached her hand inside and gasped when she felt that it was deeper than its actual appearance. If she did not know better she would have thought that the insides of the box went as far down through the floor, fortunately she knew better and guessed that an undetectable extension charm was placed on the box.

Zoey reached deep into the box, so deep that more than half of her arm had disappeared into it. She then was able to grab hold of something and pulled it out. It was an envelope. Zoey looked at it curiously and saw that it had never been opened; she then turned it over and was surprised to see her name written on it. The penmanship was foreign to her but she guessed it was from her mother. Who else would it be from?

She opened the envelope and a letter came out.

_My dearest Zoey,_

It read.

_If you are reading this then I guess my time has come to leave this world. I know that it might sound odd to read this but I really do wish I've got to know you longer. After your father has been framed and arrested I knew they were coming for me next and not to throw me away in Azkaban. I know they've come to kill me. I know that I would leave you to fend this world on your own at such a young age._

_How could I possibly know all this you might wonder but my child you must know by now that the Emeraudes are not exactly the most normal wizarding family out there. I'm sure that you know we each hold a special power. My power is to see the accurate future and to speak to those who passed. This power is called "Angel's Voice" and "Seer's knowledge". It is not common for those to have two powers under the Emeraudes and please understand if it were up to me I would have neither. It is a scary power to see the accurate future and to speak to those who passed. _

_Seers as you must know are able to predict the future but there are some cases that it is not always true for our actions and decisions could change it in a blink of an eye. I fear that what I see is the truth and nothing can change it. That fact alone scares me for I have seen both your father's and my horrible faith. Sadly, I could not prevent this._

_My second power is called "Angel's Voice" for as I have said previously I could talk to those who have died. This is sometimes taken to advantage for it helped me a lot through History of Magic. _

Zoey smiled slightly. She was sure her mother gave a laugh when she wrote that part down.

_But the dead must remain at peace and it is not wise to converse with them for they say things that scar you for the rest of your life. I've heard things that haunt me till this very day. Talking to the dead is the same as bringing them back to life. It is unadvisable to do so unless they truly want to. The people I've spoken to did not want to be spoken with._

_I'm getting a little of topic here, I'm sorry. I deeply wish you did not inherit that quality from me. All I want to say is that there is just so much to tell you. The Family and everything else out there I was looking forward to share it with you because I know that there are a lot of things out in the world that are very confusing. Sadly, I do not get my chance in teaching you these so I've left you books on such topics in the box that you'll find this letter in. _

_Please my child, protect this box with all you've got because it will truly help you in the future._

_My time is running short, I'm sorry I've gone of topic a bit back there… or did I? I'm not all that sure anymore. I really truly wish you did not inherit all these qualities from me. It surely gave your father a hard time talking to me and I hope it won't give your future spouse a hard time as well._

Zoey gave a small laugh.

_All that I want to say is that things will happen to you, things that you cannot explain such as your Emeraude power. Please, don't try to fight it. The power has been given to you for they know that it will help you when you most need it. Who "they" are I cannot say for I don't know myself and the time you'll need your power the most I cannot say for I also do not know. Just please, trust it. I did. _

_My time is just about done. I must seal this letter soon along with the rest of the things I will place in the box._

_The last few things I would say to you my child is that I love you with all my heart and I'm sure your father does to._

_And, my lovely child, please believe me when I tell you that your father was the most loyal man I know and that he would never betray his friends._

_He's innocent._

_Your mother, _

_Lucy._

Zoey did not know why she was crying nor did she know when the tears started to fall all she knew was that she was confused by her mother's words. She never knew her mother but from the letter she had guessed her mother was quite the scatter brain. She did not know if she had inherited that from her mother. Zoey hardly spoke so she could not really prove it right.

Her mother had mentioned her powers.

It seemed as though they had proven their worth to her, just like she said.

Zoey did not know what power her wings could do. She could fly, that much she'd deduced over the summer, but what use was that if there were brooms and the ability to apparate (though she was terrible at the former and could not do the latter). The wings were quite a mystery to her.

Zoey looked down from the letter and onto the book on the small pile next to her. She knew that was one out of many more books hidden within the box. She made a mental note to read them all before her fifth year ended.

Zoey groaned. It was her fifth year meaning OWL year, she had just opened the box and answered some mysteries yet reveled more, add the fact that her father, though her mom said was innocent, was a mass murder and had broken out of Azkaban just equaled to a very stressful year.

She wished her mother was here to foresee the future and tell her whether she would survive the year or not.

Zoey closed her eyes. She was beginning to get a headache. School hasn't even begun yet and she was already stressing over the school work that she would encounter.

Her eyes snapped back open. At first she was worrying about the box and the information her mother's letter has revealed; now, she was worrying about school when it hasn't even begun. She was jumping from one stressful thing to another. Her thoughts were getting scattered. She was beginning to get scatter brained. Her mother's wish did not come true. Unfortunately for her and Zoey, Zoey had inherited that quality.

Zoey reopened her eyes and looked at the pile of objects beside her. She picked them back up and dumped them inside the box. She would look through them more thoroughly next time. Right now, she wanted to rest. She had not found out that much yet it was enough to make her head throb. Zoey closed the lid of the box and dragged it to the corner of the living room where her suitcase sat. She had decided to live in the living room instead of her bedroom. She did not want to carry the heavy luggage up and down the stairs.

She slumped down onto the couch on shielded her eyes with her arm. She could not bear look at the rest of the room. It was too perfect. She might go into a rampage and destroy all of it all over again. She could not bear doing that.

Zoey felt exhausted.

Zoey fell asleep.

* * *

"Gryffindor…Seven….Two… Ah,"

Zoey was once again in her living room and it was back to its broken look. When did she destroyed the perfection, she did not know. It all came by as a blur to her. This day she was seated on top of her suitcase with her mother's bag beside her. She could not shrink it; it was under-aged magic is she did. Zoey's suitcase was packed and ready to go, so was she, she was just stalling.

In her hand was the fortune teller she made a few years back. It was slightly crumpled and ripped but it still worked, much to her relief. Zoey read her fortune silently as her eyes darted from it to the fireplace and back.

_You will travel to a different place to stay before your departure._

It read.

Zoey only knew her departure meant going to Hogwarts. The different place; however, was a mystery to her. There were millions of places where she could have gone before heading to Hogwarts. There were Echo's and Bridgit's homes and there was the Burrow. She could have gone to Diagon Ally or Hogsmeade as well. Zoey could have stayed at the Leaky Cauldron before leaving too.

Zoey paused.

The Leaky Cauldron.

That's where she could have stayed before going to Hogwarts.

Zoey felt stupid.

"Ravenclaw…Five….. Eight…..oh,"

She began to use the fortune teller again, she was stalling once more.

_You will be reunited with a lost love one._

Zoey kept the fortune teller. She stood up abruptly and held a firm grip on her suitcase and box. She walked the remaining steps to the fireplace and looked herself all over. She had decided to give up her rather bum-ish look and decided to look her age a bit. Inside her mother's box was some of her old clothes and Zoey had to admit there were nice.

Zoey wore a black shirt that reached until her thighs and blue skinny jeans. On her feet were black boots that reached until her knees and she wore a black jacket around her waist. Her hair was down for once and she had the same braid as her mother. If any of her mother's old friends were to see her they would think that she _was _her mother. But, if they were to look closer they would see her gray eyes instead of her mother's brown. Zoey no longer wore glasses.

Zoey was not sure if this transformation was good or bad. She liked her old style of baggy clothes, messy hair and her glasses but, she thought, she would look more decent in public and more comfortable at home. She still packed her own clothes. Zoey vaguely thought her mother's clothes looked much like muggle's clothes as she grabbed a handful of Floo powder. Zoey guessed her mother rebelled against the family's pure-blood ways and decided to dress like a muggle.

Zoey felt a pride for her mother.

"The Leaky Cauldron!" Zoey said as she disappeared into the flames.

* * *

**And here's chapter 34~**

**Zoey finally opens the box!**

**yey!**

**Sorry if the contents weren't really what you were expecting. **

**It's just that, it was truly her mother's belongings like the kind of stuff you'd get out of a will but for Zoey she got it out of a box... so yeah**

**please don't hate me!**

**Well, as you can see near the end Zoey's growing up just a little bit... or maybe not... she did change her style a bit... maybe it'll catch someone's eye?**

**maybe not**

**Please don't kill me**

**Anyway, this chapter wasn't _that _hard to type up but I still had a little difficulty because I didn't really know how to start of her 5th year.**

**I decided to got with the somewhat tradition of her being in her house.**

**But where's Damiana?**

**Who knows.**

**Actually, I do.**

**She'll appear sooner or later.**

**Damn.**

**She'll appear.**

**Okay! I'm stalling right now!**

**Sorry.**

**Thank you all for your reviews, questions, favorites and alerts~! They are all very much appreciated!**

**I've also noticed, sorry i'm a bit scatter brained right now, that a lot of you are very curious as to what Bridgit is. Please be patient, like Zoey, her past will be revealed gradually throughout the story.**

**Now for some Q and A's!**

**Oh... everything's about Bridgit... lol... look above for answers. XD**

**"Odi" asks: When is Zoey going to tell her friends about her past?**

**-Very soon my friend, very soon.**

**Well, that's pretty much what we have for today!**

**Stay turned for the next chapter!**

**Don't forget to review and ask questions!**

**Bye!**

**I only own what I own  
**


	36. Chapter 35: Bighead Boy

**Chapter 35: Bighead Boy**

"Zoey?"

Zoey gasped as she came out of the fireplace and saw Harry looking down at her genuinely confused. Her eyes widened when she saw the boy. She hastily got up and wrapped him in a hug catching him by surprise. Harry stepped back a bit at the added force and hugged her back. A few moments later he patted her back to signal that the hugging should stop.

Zoey got the message and released him.

"Hello Harry," she greeted sheepishly. Harry laughed and greeted her back.

"So what brings you here?" Harry asked as he guided Zoey to a table. It was still a few more days before school began.

"My fortune teller told me to," Zoey simply said with a shrug

"Fortune teller?" Harry asked, "The origami one? You mean you have to make one for Divination? Can you teach me how? I've taken Divination this year"

Zoey laughed, "Believe me Harry you _do not _want to make a fortune teller for Divination. Professor Trelawney won't like it"

"Why's that?"

"Err – just don't do it if you don't want to get detention," Zoey said with a laugh before looking at the table beside her. On top of it was the Daily Prophet. The headlines were about Sirius Black's escape. Zoey felt her heart skip a beat.

Harry saw what she was looking at and caught her attention by asking her: "Do you know him?"

"What?" Zoey asked with a jump.

"Do you know him?" Harry repeated, "Cause I don't. I just thought since you were brought up in the wizarding world you might have heard of him"

Zoey licked her lips and brought her attention back to the Daily Prophet. It was in an angle where she couldn't really see her father's face yet she could read the headlines. She took in a deep breath and said: "I've never heard any stories about him,"

Harry nodded his head and got up from his chair giving a hand to Zoey.

"Let's get your stuff into your room shall we?"

* * *

Ever since Zoey came to the Leaky Cauldron she had been hanging out with Harry, getting to know him better and vice versa. They would eat breakfast together and observe the odd witches and wizards that came and discussed many things. After breakfast she would join Harry in exploring Diagon Alley and look at the different shops that they didn't get to see last time. At times when it was particularly sunny she and him would go to a diner and sit under an umbrella listening to buyers talk about the things they've purchased. Other times they over heard concerned mothers saying that they won't let their children out till Sirius Black was captured.

At this, Zoey would get uncomfortable and ask Harry if they could continue walking around.

Zoey enjoyed going to Florean Fortescue's Ice-cream parlor where she would help Harry with his homework and listen to Florean Fortescue tell Harry about the medieval witch burnings. She would listen intently at the stories and enjoy snacking on the free sundaes she'd receive every half hour.

"Harry, you don't need that," Zoey told him the day he refilled his money bag and saw a perfect model of the galaxy in a large glass ball.

"But with this I don't have to study Astronomy anymore," Harry reasoned as he kept his gaze on the item.

"You won't know what to do with it if you don't know your Astronomy lesson to begin with," Zoey said as she successfully pried him out of the shop.

Harry sighed in defeat but there was something else that caught his attention in Quality Quidditch Supplies. Zoey groaned when she saw what caught his eye. On the podium was the most handsome broom in the shop. It was none other than the Firebolt.

"Fastest broom in the world huh?" Zoey murmured as she read the description near the broom. She looked it over and shrugged. She was never a big fan of Quidditch. The Bludgers still scared the feathers out of her. Zoey looked back at Harry and noted that he was still ogling at the broom.

She grabbed hold of his arm.

"Come on now," she said as she began to drag him out of the shop, "You have a perfectly good broom back at the Leaky Cauldron"

"I know that! I wasn't going to buy it!" Harry said.

Zoey rolled her eyes.

Every day after that Harry kept going back to look at the broom. Zoey, who was always dragged by him to accompany him to the shop, had no choice but to look at the broom as well. She had half a mind to tell him to buy it so they could get out of the shop already but her other mind was more reasonable. She patiently waited for the boy to carve the broom into his memory.

On one particular day Zoey sighed with relief when Harry began to shop for things that he needed for school. They visited the Apothecary and Madam Malkin's where a rather old lady asked Zoey if Harry was her younger brother. Zoey blushed and corrected the woman.

"Shame," the woman said, "You two really do look related"

Their last stop was at Flourish and Blotts where they both needed to get new school books and special books for Harry's newest classes.

"So Divination and Care of Magical Creatures, right?" Zoey mused as she looked at a bunch of books in a cage. The manager looked quite distressed whenever a student asked for "The Monster Book of Monsters". Zoey laughed. Only Hagrid would think it was a reasonable book.

"Yep," Harry confirmed as he looked at the other books, "What classes are you taking?"

"Same as my third year," Zoey replied

"And those classes are?"

"Class actually. Divination. Though, I don't think Professor Trelawney would enjoy seeing me there," Zoey laughed.

"Why's that?" Harry asked surprise. No offence but he always took Zoey for a goody-two-shoes.

"Remember what I told you about the fortune teller?"

After telling Harry what had happened those few years back, Zoey left him to get his other books while she looked around the shop she came across a book about Death Omens. Her eyes fell upon one called the "Grim".

She frowned.

"I wouldn't read that if I were you," the manager said, "You'd start seeing death omens everywhere"

Zoey gave small smile at the man and took his advice. She left the book alone and came out of the shop together with Harry.

Days passed and soon it was the last day before school began. Zoey sat at the bar as Harry said he'd go out to look for Ron and Hermione since he's caught sight of his other Gryffindor friends. Zoey gave him a wave as she decided to sit this day out. She had gotten everything that she needed and she wanted to have the full blown vacation rest before school starts.

_Where's Echo when you need her? _Zoey thought to herself as she began to get lonely.

Almost as if the gods of coincidences heard her, the Leaky Cauldron's door opened revealing the violet haired girl herself.

"Stupid, freaking, manky rotten pastille," Echo harshly spoke in a loud manner as she dumped her pack of pastilles in a nearby trash bin. She tucked her hands away in her gray cardigan before walking with her eyes cast downward.

"Hey Echo," Zoey greeted, "What's up with you?"

Echo looked up at Zoey and raised an eyebrow before resuming her emotionless face. "Well, I tried out some purple looking pastilles a witch was selling. Tasted quite awful," she grimaced

Zoey raised her own eyebrow, "Purple pastille? Are they supposed to be purple?"

"They're flavored to be something I guess"

Zoey laughed, "Kinda feels like a prank idea the twins would come up with. Pastilles that taste awful… or pastilles that would make you puke," Zoey looked up at the ceiling, "Which ever works I guess"

"Either way," Echo said, "I'll have to start making my own pastilles before another incident like this happens again"

"Good luck with that," Zoey said, "Did you come here with the Weasleys? How was their trip to Egypt?"

"It was hot there, obviously. Though Fred and George were too busy playing something I can't understand. I couldn't get them to settle down, or even get a sensible word out of them," Echo shook her head.

"I see," Zoey chuckled, "So what have you been doing this summer?"

"Well, I cleaned my house for the first time in a long time. Oh, and I went back to my 'friends'," Echo's voice seemed to be intensified by venom as she emphasized the last word.

"Friends?" Zoey asked

"Friends that ditched me. I got back at them by pulling silly muggle pranks on them. As a witch, I have some points I earned from Divination to really catch them in the net," Echo mused, "I'm just sorry that their parents won't be able to put them back into their proper mental state," She put a mock frown on her face.

Zoey looked at Echo in horror, "What did you do exactly?"

"Five daft imprudent girls. Lured them in an alleyway with some mannequins I charmed a little while back in Hogwarts. Although, I had to make some scarring alternations to the male mannequin…," Echo grinned wickedly, "I scarred them the whole night long with those mannequins. They didn't get out of it easily"

Zoey could have asked Echo a lot of sensible questions like: "Why did you go so far?" Or "Who were those girls exactly?" And the like but what she did ask was:

"Where did you get the mannequins?"

* * *

Zoey and Echo caught up with each other and told stories on what happened with them during the summer (of course Zoey skipped anything that had to do with the box.) Later that night, when Mr. Weasley came down with the Daily Prophet in hand and the trio returning, the topic had changed to that of Sirius Black.

"They still haven't caught him then?" Harry asked.

Zoey stiffened at the question and busied herself in asking Echo about where she had bought her cardigan in order to not hear Mr. Weasley's reply. Echo, of course, noticed Zoey's discomfort and failing attempt to change the subject.

"You know him don't you?" Echo arched an eyebrow at Zoey.

"Who? Harry? Of course I know him. You know him too," Zoey said as she looked at the trio talking with Mr. Weasley yet she did not listen to what they were saying. Her ears were filled with the sounds of her fast beating heart.

"No, I mean the news. I have ears too, Zoey," Echo has both her eyebrows raised.

Zoey avoided Echo's eyes, "Then yes, I know him. He's in the news. How could I not know him?"

"Then why are you being so uncomfortable about it?" Echo asked.

Zoey swallowed hard. Her secret was slipping. "H – He's a mass murderer," she said in a hoarse voice, "Wouldn't you be uncomfortable knowing he could be anywhere? Ready to attack at anytime?"

"You do know, with everyone knowing he's escaped, the security would be on high alert?" Echo pointed out.

Zoey opened her mouth to speak but at that moment the door once again opened revealing Mrs. Weasley holding bunches of shopping bags, Fred and George, Newly elected Head Boy Percy and Ginny. Zoey stood up right away glad that the conversation was interrupted.

As Percy went straight to Harry and started to speak to him like a business partner, Zoey bee-lined towards Mrs. Weasley and gave her a hug.

"Hello there, Zoey," Mrs. Weasley greeted as she hugged Zoey back, "I didn't know you'd be here"

Zoey said nothing but smiled. She then turned towards the twins. Her mouth hung open at the sight of them. They grew _again! _They were so tall that Zoey just reached their chins, maybe not even their chins since her boots had a slight heel to them. She could not help but stare. She felt rather foolish.

Her eyes then moved to Fred and she felt her face grow hot. She had almost forgotten what he had looked like.

Puberty had done well on both him and his brother.

Zoey's heart began to rabidly hammer against her chest.

The twins grinned.

"Admiring how _good looking _I am, Zoe?" Fred said with a mock flip of his hair.

"Of course she's not," George then argued, "I'm _obviously _the better looking one"

Echo's voice then interrupted, "Oh, please. I've seen barf more attractive than you"

At this, Zoey snapped out of her trance and grinned.

"You hurt us, Echo," George feigned hurt.

Echo laughed genuinely, as though Zoey hadn't heard it before. "After all this time, you still aren't used to my demeanor?"

George didn't reply. He just got a mischievous smirk on his face as he took two steps towards Echo. Echo, knowing what would happen next, started to shake her head in protest. "No," she said, "Don't you dare George Weasley!" But it was too late. Echo did not have time to run away. George had already enveloped her in a hug so strong that it lifted her off her feet when he tilted back.

Echo started to wiggle her arm free and went to George's wrist. She tried to hit the pressure point there, but gave up much to her weakness. "I'm so feeble." Echo laughed, "Put me down, George, unless you want me to scar you"

George did not believe her for a second but complied, "Okay, okay," he said as he placed her on the ground, "No need to get violent"

When Echo's feet touched the ground she mocked herself clutching her chest and jokingly gasped for air, "I'm so lucky I escaped! I barely had any air left!"

Zoey watched with a small smile as George and Echo joked around. It felt refreshing to see Echo loosen up. She then turned around to see Fred pouting a bit. She raised a brow.

"Don't I get a welcome hug too?" he asked giving her puppy dog eyes.

Zoey laughed and wrapped her arms around him. He was much too tall for her. She hid her burning face away from him as he seemed to tighten his hold on her. Suddenly George exclaimed: "Group hug!"

She heard Echo's surprised gasp as George dragged her along with him and made her wrap her arms around Fred and Zoey while George did the same. Zoey laughed at Echo's slightly exasperated look.

"It's a good thing we're all really close huh?" she said.

Almost all too soon the hug was broken and Fred rushed over to Harry and Percy jabbing Percy out of the way as he shook Harry's hand. "Harry!" Fred said, "Simply _splendid _to see you, old boy –"

"Marvelous," it was George's turn to speak to Harry; he pushed Fred out of the way, "Absolutely spiffing!"

Zoey turned to Echo and jabbed her thumb towards the twins. "What's up with them?" she asked.

Fred then exclaimed, "How really corking to see you –"

"I said that's enough," Mrs. Weasley said before approaching Harry herself.

"I don't know," Echo replied to Zoey's question, "but half of me thinks they're mocking Percy"

"Only half? They _are _mocking Percy…. I kinda feel sorry for now actually…."

Ignoring Zoey's last comment, Echo said: "The other half of me is already thinking of a prank to pull on the twins when we get back to Hogwarts"

Zoey laughed, "I see"

The rest of the night remained light hearted. There were jokes all around, mainly from the twins claiming that HB meant Humongous Bighead rather than Head Boy, and Zoey once again experienced the joys of eating with the Weasleys. No bad thoughts ever crossed her mind when she was surrounded with such wonderful people.

After dinner there was a case of Percy's missing head boy badge. When Zoey heard this she was just about to help in looking for it before the twins and Echo dragged her into the twins' room telling her that she did not have to look for it for it was with them the whole time. Zoey looked at the badge and held in her laughter as they change the words making it say "Bighead boy"

"You guys shouldn't have done that," Zoey said after calming her suppressed laughter, "Change it back"

"What? It's an improvement!" the twins said

"Or an understatement," Echo added.

* * *

**Okay! Here's chapter 35!**

**yey!**

**Another Zed moment for you all and an Echo/George moment!**

**Okay, little problem here... what do we call an Echo and George moment? Gecho? Echorge? What do you guys think? If you have any ideas that you want to share please don't be shy!**

**In this chapter we see Zoey hanging out with Harry so a Harrey moment?**

**So many moments!**

**Lol,**

**But seriously**

**xD**

**I would like to thank "HayleyParadox" for helping me type up this chapter**

**and I would like to thank all of you for your reviews, questions, alerts and favorites**

**SO AWESOME YOU ALL ARE!**

**Now for some Q and A's!:**

**"wHaT's In A pEn-NaMe" asks: Can Zoey only use her power if she is with the body of the dead person? So...she wouldn't be able to save Sirius, seeing as he was killed by drapery...And she could save Fred without having to give both halves of her soul away and dying.**

**-Zoey's power would be fully explained in the later chapters. Please be patient :)**

**"xoxosmileyfacexoxo" asks: In the fourth chapter you mentioned Echo had issues with trust. Will there be anything about that in the next few chapters?**

**-We'll see :)**

**Now that's it for today... maybe XD Might have more or you might have to wait for tomorrow.**

**Anywho~ Hope you enjoyed!**

**Don't forget to review and ask questions!**

**I only own what I own  
**


	37. Chapter 36: Dear Diary

**Chapter 36: Dear Diary**

Zoey sat rather uneasily in her compartment. Fred and George stalked off to find their friend Lee Jordan and Echo went to look for Bridgit to bring her to the compartment. Zoey was alone saving it for her and her friends. She had to apologetically say "no" to whoever asked to sit in it. It was far too small to hold everyone plus added people.

Zoey sighed.

She was going back to Hogwarts. She should be happy. But she wasn't. Her father was on the loose. What was she suppose to do? Zoey went for her bag and pulled out her diary. Her diary was of medium size and had a sort of floral design near its spine. There was no lock. It was simple a notebook that she labeled "Diary". Zoey took out her quill and ink bottle and securely placed it beside her. She dabbed her quill and opened her diary. On the first page was her name:

**_Property of: _**

**_Zoey Anastasia Emeraude-Black_**

**_Do not read_**

Zoey felt rather foolish about the last thing she'd written. Like anyone would listen to that warning. She licked her lips as she flipped past her different entries until she found a blank page.

**_September 1_**

She wrote.

**_Hello again, Zoey here. I'm in the Hogwarts Express right now. Yep, that's right in a matter of seconds (or minutes. I don't have a watch) this train right here would be leaving towards the one and only Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I'm sorry if you already knew that, I mean I've told you that once before my first year I just feel like I should tell you again since I haven't written in you since last week and before last week I haven't updated you for an entire year. Sorry for neglecting you._**

**_As you know, instead of staying with the Weasleys before school term begins I was in the Leaky Cauldron, although I was able to stay with them on the last day. So does that still count? I don't really know._**

**_I've opened my mum's box. _**

**_Pretty neat stuff in there you know. _**

**_Like a mirror, a book, jewelry case and the like. I also found my mum's own diary. I didn't open it though. It felt wrong. I mean if I don't want anyone to read my diary why should I read hers?_**

**_Anyway, my reason for bringing you out and vandalizing your once clean pages is that my father, Sirius Black, has escaped from Azkaban. _**

**_Yes, the mass murder is my father. Of course you knew that because my full name graces your front page. Pfft. Graces._**

**_I'll be lying if I say I'm confident he won't come for me. _**

**_I'm shaking right now at the thought that he might corner me and take me somewhere no one can save me; maybe he'll even use me to get to Harry. I overheard Mr. Weasley talking about it and I'm scared._**

**_I know he's my father and all and I should give him the benefit of the doubt I mean my mother said he was – is innocent but… I don't really know anymore._**

**_My lack of knowledge in these sorts of things is what scares me._**

**_I miss my Uncle Moony. I haven't seen him in years. I wonder how he is._**

**_Odd how I skipped to the topic of my godfather huh? I guess my mum's wish didn't come true. I did get her scatterbrained-ness. Not a word. I know._**

**_Well, you see. My uncle was a good friend – actually according to some notes in my mum's photo album, one of my father's bestest (not a word) friend. I guess one of them since there were four of them. The Marauder's to be exact._**

**_Yep, the ones who created the Marauder's Map that is currently in the possession of Fred and George._**

**_Scary right?_**

**_It came off as quite a shock for me too when I found out._**

**_Can diary's get shocked?_**

**_I don't know._**

**_Fred and George grew again._**

**_So did Ron._**

**_Harry too._**

**_I'm starting to feel short._**

**_But, but, BUT!_**

**_I'm still growing._**

**_I know it._**

**_Sigh… I just realized something. You're a diary. I special little object I use to vent in._**

**_Something to hold my secrets._**

**_Something that those muggle girls write in and talk about their crushes and the like_**

**_Should I do that too?_**

**_Nope._**

**_Yours Truly, _**

**_Zoey._**

Zoey sighed as she closed her diary and kept it in her bag along with her writing materials. Ever since she read her mother's letter she had become scatter brained. She did not know if it was a good thing or a bad thing. Zoey did not want to dwell on it.

Suddenly, the train lurched forward.

It was time to go.

Zoey looked out of her compartment and saw Echo heading her way looking slightly troubled. She waited patiently for the Ravenclaw to enter before asking her what was wrong.

"Bridgit," Echo said.

"What happened to her?" Zoey asked worriedly.

"Looks like she didn't have a pleasant summer…," Echo spoke slowly.

"What do you –" but Zoey could not complete her question for the twins came into the compartment laughing.

"What did you two do?" Echo asked suspiciously at the two.

The twins ignored her. It should have been obvious they went off to do something they weren't supposed to do. In other words: pranking. Zoey moved her feet and set them back on the ground, for they were folded beside her before anyone came in, so Fred would have room to sit down. George sat down beside Echo.

Zoey waited patiently for the twins to calm down before asking what they've done.

"Never you mind," Fred said just as an explosion was heard outside followed by screams.

"What was –" but Zoey was cut off.

"What was what?" George asked innocently as another explosion was heard.

"You two are prats," Echo murmured when another explosion was heard. Echo shrugged and pulled out her book and began to read.

Zoey; however, was curious to see what kind of explosion the twins set up. She walked to the compartment door and peaked out of it. From both sides of the train was a cloud of smoke. It was not too opaque since she was able to see the outline of the victims of the prank but she took note that she couldn't tell what gender were the outlines. The smoke had slight sparkles in them.

Zoey brought her head back into the compartment and raised an eyebrow at the twins.

"Seriously you guys?" she asked.

"What?" the twins asked innocently, "It's tradition!"

Zoey shook her head at them. "Tradition my banana monkey"

The twins laughed again and Echo gave Zoey a bemused expression.

"What?" Zoey blushed, "Euphemism people!"

Echo shook her head and went back to reading while the twins tried to calm their laughter. Zoey just glared at them, though unfortunately for her it didn't look all to threatening, as her blush grew deeper. She stomped her foot childishly before going back to her seat.

She stubbornly looked out the window.

"'Tradition my banana monkey'," Fred said with a chuckle, "Some euphemism skills you got there Zoe"

"It makes sense!" Zoey argued.

"To who?" George asked.

"To – To – I just makes sense! End of discussion!" Zoey said with a hand gesture of ending the discussion. She then pulled her bag over her shoulder and stood up to place it on the luggage compartment. As she stood on her tip toes and stretched her arms she did not notice that her diary had fallen out of her bag.

Fred curiously picked it up.

"Hey, hey," he said with a smirk, "Does ickle Zoeykins have a diawy?"

Zoey's eyes widened at Fred's baby voice.

She looked down and saw her beloved diary in the hands of someone whose name was mentioned more than twice in her diary and in a way that could change their friendship. Her cheeks flared red.

"G – give it back!" she stuttered out letting her bag fall to the ground and her things scattering out.

Fred moved the diary away from her reach.

"I don't think so," Fred said as George laughed. He opened at a random page, "Dear Diary – oooh! I was right! It is a diary! – I'm having a little dilemma it seems that my feelings for – Hey Echo! Give it back!"

Zoey looked at the Ravenclaw. She had bookmarked her page and left her book on the seat. She had Zoey's diary in her hand and hid it behind her back.

"Does wittle Fweddykins jealous cause he don't got his own diary to wead?" Echo spoke in a rather childishly creepy voice.

George laughed harder as Fred blushed red. "I believe the term for this moment is 'You just got pwned' mate!"

Echo, still in that awkward voice said, "Well, yes, I believe it is." She then stopped in her tracks before sitting down in between the twins and harshly saying, "FLIP TO A PAGE! QUICK!"

Zoey eyes widened as her mouth hung agape. _That fiend! _She thought to herself before quickly getting her hand onto her diary and prying out of unwanted hands. The three looked up at her and then the train stopped.

The sudden halt caused Zoey to fall back and the trio to fall forward.

They all groaned as the lights started to flicker.

"What's going on?" Zoey gasped out as the temperature in the compartment, and possible the whole train, dropped.

"I don't know," Fred said

"But I reckon something's moving out there," George added.

"Since when did Hogwarts have to pay for electricity?" Echo shuddered ignoring the curious looks she got from the twins; she hugged herself as she tried to warm herself up. She had only worn light clothes. "And just when I packed my cardigan in my luggage!"

Then, the lights went out. There were some surprised yells but Zoey seemed to go numb. She watched as ten foot tall hooded figure came to their compartment. It opened the door. She was frozen in place as where Echo and the twins. The hooded figure had a cold air around it and Zoey felt as if she were in a block of ice as it came towards her.

Suddenly, Zoey felt that every happy feeling was being sucked out of her as the hooded creature closer. It was so close that she could have sworn she could see what was under the hood.

She felt light headed.

_DON'T TAKE MY DAUGHTER!_

Zoey fainted.

* * *

"Come on, Zoe, wake up," she heard a voice say, "We've got chocolate, time to wake up"

"Blimey Fred, let her sleep," another voice said, "Merlin knows what that thing did to her"

"Exactly! We don't know what it did so we have to wake her up!" the first voice said.

"Ow! Echo!" a pained yelp was heard.

A sigh followed after it. "You two don't know better. Conjure a chocolate bar"

"That man awhile ago just gave you one," the second voice said to the third.

"I want my own," the third voice said, "you know, just in case"

"Just in case what?" the second voice asked.

"Just in case I get hungry, git," the third voice said.

Zoey stirred. She was getting confused with all the voices.

"Look! She's waking up!" the first one exclaimed.

Zoey opened her eyes and saw Fred, George and Echo looming over. She groaned. "W – what happened?" she asked

Without a word from anyone, Echo shoved a chocolate bar in her face, "Open up"

Zoey yelped in shock as the chocolate bar jammed into the corner of her mouth making a small stain, "Where'd you get that? What's that for?"

"It's from an intelligent but shabby-looking fellow," Echo answered, "Now open up."

Zoey grabbed the chocolate bar. "In other words you got it from a stranger?"

"Hey, hold that tongue. The best candy happens to come from strangers," Echo smiled.

Zoey laughed.

"Eat it," Fred urged after awhile.

"It helps," George added.

Zoey nodded her head and nibbled on the chocolate bar. Warmth filled her and she felt calmer.

"I'm freakishly not used to this version of cold without a jacket or the like. Why must the odds be against me?" Echo huddled up to the seat across Zoey, her legs pulled up and her arms hugging them closer to her chest.

"Let's get changed to our robes then," Zoey said as she took a bigger bite out of her chocolate, "I'm guessing we're near Hogwarts by now"

* * *

Zoey looked awed at the inside of Hogwarts as the students made their way towards the Great Hall. Everything was as magical as she remembered. She didn't even feel bothered as she felt other Hogwartians push her in order to get into the Great Hall first. Zoey tried her best to stick close to her friends; minus Bridgit she still hasn't caught sight of the other Ravenclaw.

As Zoey looked around Hogwarts she caught sight of a tall, shabby looking man. Her eyes widened.

"Uncle Moony?" she said in a soft voice. She didn't even notice that she was inching farther and farther away from Echo and the twins. When she was free from the crowd she quickly dashed to the man.

"Moony!" she said in a childish squeal as she enveloped the man in a hug. The man took a step back from the surprised force. He looked down at Zoey in disbelief.

He saw the braid.

"Lucy?" he asked.

"No," Zoey shook her head.

"Zoey," the man said with a smile as he returned her hug, "It's been so long"

* * *

Echo's eye were undoubtedly covered by her chopped bangs, but she knows that Zoey isn't anywhere near her.

"Zwei!" her voice was still somewhat hoarse as she is still trying to be familiarized from being in the cold rain.

Echo was shoved backwards by a Slytherin in front of her. Unknowingly, she bumps into Fred's side.

"Ow! Watch where you're going, wrench!" Echo shouted at the girl

"Who are you calling a wrench, Echo?" Fred asks, wanting to laugh at Echo's almost blind state.

"It's obvious isn't it?" Echo retorted as she got his wrist, "we have to find George in this in this pool of students. Quickly, Zoey's nowhere in my sight"

"What?" Fred asked shocked, "They were just beside us a minute ago"

"Yes, they were. Apparently, there was a sea of students. Help me push them out of the way," Echo laughed, enjoying the thought.

Fred smirked as he helped Echo maneuver through to students. He particularly found it fun pushing a Slytherin into another Slytherin making them fight.

"Where the heck is George? He couldn't have gone far, right?" Echo wondered out loud.

"Someone missing my not so good looking twin?" Fred teased.

"What if a dementor sucked out his soul? Or, what if he's with another girl? Shit," Echo bit her lip. She should not have said that. She shouldn't have.

Fred's eyes widened. "Y- you like George?" he asked in surprise.

Echo stopped dead in her tracks, "I should not have said anything"

Fred raised an eyebrow. "So you do like him?"

"Yeah, I do like him, but I'm not sure if he likes me," Echo shuddered and dragged Fred. They walked passed a few more students before catching sight of George standing still staring at something.

"George!" Echo shouted.

George turned around and waved them over signaling them to keep quiet. As they approached him he pointed at two figures standing a few feet away from them.

Echo stopped dragging Fred and looked up to see Zoey and the shabby-looking man from earlier hugging.

"Freaking-tap-dancing-Merlin," Echo breathed out

Fred looked up at the direction George and Echo were looking towards. He immediately felt angry, for her saw Zoey with another guys whose name wasn't Fred Weasley.

"It's him," Fred seethed as he glared at the man

"Looks like someone's going to steal your girl, Fred," someone said surprising the trio. It was Bridgit.

Fred's eyebrows furrowed with anger and irritation. He turned around to retort but at the sight of Bridgit. Her hair was still brown and her eyes were still blue. She gained some height and her robes were rather new. But those things did not shock him, Echo and George. What came off as a rather horrifying sight to them was the state Bridgit was in.

Her skin that was once a pale white was covered with bruises and scratches. So many that they wonder if Madam Pomfrey could even treat it all.

"Why do you look like you just saw a ghost?" Bridgit asked, snapping Fred, Echo and George out of their trance.

"How come you're not fixed yet?" Echo asked

"Well, Madam Pomfrey was out so I decided to wait till tomorrow," Bridgit answered, making Fred and George stare at her in shock

"What happened to you?" they asked

"I – uhm – fell off the stairs," Bridgit answered indifferently

"I didn't know the stairs could scratch a person," Echo crossed her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, well… now you know," Bridgit said her voice still indifferent.

Suddenly, they heard Zoey call out. She was now skipping towards them. She looked happier than she was when she left them. She smiled at all of them but when her eyes landed on Bridgit she let out a scream.

* * *

**And here's chapter 36!**

**Oh wow! 3 updates in one day!**

**I'm on a role!**

**Thank you all for your reviews, questions, alerts and favorites!**

**Special thanks to ZoomSkater14 and HayleyParadox for helping me with this chapter!**

**No questions yet! **

**Anywho!**

**Don't forget to review and ask questions!**

**Bye!**

**i only own what i own**

**(Sorry in advanced for any typos. I did not re-read this! BAD AUTHOR=ME D: )**


	38. Chapter37:The Mysterious Case of Bridgit

**Chapter 37: The Mysterious Case of Bridgit  
**

Perfection is key.

It is everything.

It is what we have.

It is what we must obtain.

It is us.

The night was young and the stars in the sky sparkled brightly against its velvet color. The night air was cold and everyone who lived in the Emeraude suburb wore thick dress robes. Yes, dress robes for this night was no ordinary night. It was the birthday of Damiana Alanis Emeraude.

Damiana the most loved and beautiful amongst all the Emeraudes.

She was special.

Her birthday was held in the Emeraude mansion and everyone stood in the ballroom where the party was held. In the middle of the ballroom was a large staircase. Damiana stood on the highest step and smiled at everyone in the room. Emeraudes of different shapes and sized mingled with each other often saying things like:

"Damiana sure is a beautiful woman"

Or

"She's the pride and joy of the Emeraude family"

And also

"She's absolutely perfect"

Perfect.

Damiana was perfect.

The Emeraudes were perfect.

Damiana was a pure-blooded Emeraude.

On the step below Damiana was a cake with five layers. It was white and had flowers decorating it. On the top of the cake was a candle. The candle read her age. It wasn't her real age but it was a believable age. Witches and wizards do not age the same as muggles so no one complained. She was beautiful and she looked young. Why would they complain if the candle was lying? Everything else was a lie.

"The cake looks absolutely scrumptious"

"It's perfect"

People said as they admired the cake the Emeraude house elf chef made special for the night. It wasn't an ordinary birthday cake. It was Damiana's birthday cake.

"Thank you all for coming today," Damiana spoke in a loud and sweet voice. She seemed to glow with her beauty.

"Thank _you _for inviting us," the Emeraudes chorused

Damiana laughed with glee. It seemed like something a five-year-old would do but she was able to pull it off perfectly

She was perfect

"Now, before we eat this wonderful cake let's have some fun shall we?" Damiana spoke.

It wasn't the most formal thing to do.

Emeraudes were formal.

They were classy.

They were pure-bloods.

But of course, this was Damiana who was speaking. Damiana could do no wrong. She was perfect.

She got everything that she wanted.

She got her way.

The Emeraudes agreed and went back to mingling. They would walk around the ballroom and have an occasional dance for music had already begun to play. Damiana clapped her hands as she swayed a bit to the music. Everything was going her way.

It was her night.

But then again, everything always went her way. Every night was her night and every day was her day.

It just went that way.

It was law.

As the night grew later it was time for dinner. All the Emeraudes sat in their assigned tables as Damiana sat on her own amongst the Emeraude elders.

She was just that important.

The first course was the soup and bowls appeared in front of everyone.

The clinking of utensils echoed through the room along with the chattering of small talk.

Perfection.

Zoey, who was quietly standing in the dark corner of the ball room, watched. She was not allowed to eat nor was she allowed to mingle. She was just allowed to come. Zoey did not know why she was even invited. No one knew of her existence besides the Emeraude elders and of course her _darling _Aunt Damiana. Zoey was clueless. She stood in the corner and watched as the soup bowls disappeared and where replaced with the next course.

Her stomach growled.

Zoey placed a hand on her empty stomach as she looked away from the scene. She was sure no one heard her and she was positive that they won't miss her if she left. She looked at her aunt. She was stunning to say the least. Her long blonde hair was wrapped up in an elegant bun and her makeup made her skin glow with all the glitter. Her robes were of a silky blue and she was decorated with expensive jewelry.

Her aunt laughed.

Zoey fully turned around and walked out of the ballroom. Surely, no one would mind. After all, she was an Emeraude to an extent. She left the ballroom and walked into another room. This room was just like any other it was huge. The ceiling had a dazzling chandelier and the walls were of a light cream color. It also gave of a very floral scent. It was also clean.

It was perfect,

Zoey felt sick. A sweat formed on her brow and her stomach churned. Her eyes began to dart from left to right. Everything was so orderly. So clean. Untainted. Perfect. Her breath quickened. She could not handle it. She dashed out of the room only to enter another one exactly like it. A perfect copy. A clone. Zoey brought her hands to her hair and grabbed it as she squeezed her eyes shut. She tried to steady her breathing.

It's not perfect. There has to be a flaw. Nothing's perfect. Nothing.

She tried telling herself but it was no use. When she reopened her eyes all she could see was its perfection. Whoever said nothing was perfect was lying for this was it. This was perfect.

Suddenly, she heard voices.

The voices she heard were not in her head. No it was heard from outside the room. It wasn't the same voice as the adults in the ballroom eating. This was younger. It belonged to children. Zoey looked behind her and saw three small kids below the age of ten dashing into the room. They, too, wore dress robes and belonged to the Emeraude family. The children slowed down their pace when they caught sight of Zoey. The smiled on their faces disappeared as they looked at her curiously. They did not see her in the ballroom. Heck, they never saw her. They didn't know her.

She was a stranger.

"Who are you?" one of the kids asked, she was plump and had pigtails.

Zoey did not answer, she took a step back.

"Why are you here?" another kid asked, he was skinny and had big brown eyes.

Zoey took another step back. The kids took a step forward.

"Are you and Emeraude," asked a black haired girl.

They took a step forward. Zoey took a step back.

When Zoey took a step back she did not know what was behind her. It startled her when she felt something make contact with her back. She knew she pushed it for she felt it move backwards. She turned around and with wide eyes saw that she bumped into a table that was not very steady. On top of the table was a vase with a bouquet of roses. Zoey watched with horror as the table toppled over and the vase smash to the ground with an ear piercing sound.

Zoey felt her heart stop.

The kids made and chorus of "Ooooh! You're in trouble!"

Zoey turned back with a pale face. They were Emeraudes. Emeraudes would to anything to get someone into trouble, especially if that someone was of no use to them.

"You broke a vase!" the black haired girl said.

"You'll be in trouble," the boy with the big brown eyes continued.

"AUNTY DAMIANA!" the plump girl squealed.

Zoey felt like she had just died. There was the horrid clacking of shoes again. All too soon the clacking stopped and then there was a loud _Crack. _Her aunt decided to apparate to the scene. Damiana looked to the children then to the vase and lastly at Zoey.

"What happened?" Damiana asked.

"The stranger broke the vase!" the black haired girl said.

"Your favorite one too!" the plump one continued.

Zoey knew her aunt was angry. To any normal adult a broken vase would not matter. It was just one vase. They were rich. They could replace it. There was also the fact that they could do magic and fix it with a wave of a wand. Damiana; however, was no normal adult. She always wanted an excuse to destroy Zoey. Her most hated, and at the same time only, niece.

Zoey watched in fright as Damiana turned to the kids and told them to leave. When the kids left she turned to Zoey with anger in her face. If you would look closely you could see the steam coming out of her ears.

Damian threw a five-year-old's tantrum.

"You ruined my night!" she squealed, "And you shall pay"

Damiana took hold of Zoey's wrist and apparated away.

Zoey screamed in agony as she was once again splinched. Her aunt made sure that she would feel all kind of pain that night. Zoey was scratched and bruised with both physical and magical abuse. She felt the white hot knives piercing her skull as her skin was being ripped.

The pain she was enduring was for "ruining" her aunt's birthday and for not giving her aunt what she wanted.

Yes, the box was still not given.

Zoey withered in pain as the curse was lifted and the bullying stopped. She felt herself become lightheaded with the blood lose. It seemed that her aunt remembered that people would become curious as to where she had gone. With another crack her aunt left and Zoey was once again alone.

* * *

Zoey woke up with a start. She was sweating. She had another nightmare. A memory. She hasn't had one in a long time. It was triggered by Bridgit. Zoey was in a shock when she saw Bridgit with bruises and wounds with dry blood. It reminded her of how she looked like all those years ago. It scared her. She was curious as to how Bridgit had been hurt but she heard no answers. Bridgit would not tell her. She was hiding something and Zoey wanted to know what. Zoey looked around her room. It was empty. Her roommates had once again left without her. Nothing new. Zoey got ready for the day.

Zoey held her books to her chest as she walked out of her dorm. She walked down the steps and into the common room with her head hung low. Her dream was troubling her. She knew somewhere in the world her aunty was thinking of her, and not in a loving way. Zoey quickened her pace in hopes to be able to catch breakfast but there was a slight problem. She had run into someone. Zoey stumbled back from the surprise force and her things went flying. She closed her eyes as she waited for a book to fall on her.

Nothing happened.

She re-opened her eyes and came face to face with gray eyes much like her own but not quite. Zoey felt herself blush. Zoey had bumped into a quite good looking boy. The boy in front of her had chiseled features with brown hair and gray eyes. Zoey could not believe that she had never seen him even though he was in the same house as her.

Zoey blushed grew darker as the boy held out his hand. She accepted it and he brought her up. He was quite tall.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Err – yeah… sorry about that," Zoey apologized as she bent down a bit to get her fallen books. The boy helped her.

"I didn't know anyone would be in the common room right now," the boy said as he handed Zoey her books, "With breakfast nearing its end I would think that everyone would be heading to classes"

"Err – I woke up late," Zoey said with her head down. She brought the books closer to her chest. The boy nodded and led her out of the common room

"So, Zoey," the boy began to make small talk, "What class do you have first?"

"Defe – wait – how do you know my name?" Zoey stopped dead in her tracks and looked at the boy curiously.

The boy looked back at her, "About two years ago. I gave you your missed assignments, remember?"

Zoey bit her lip. Two years ago she almost fell to her doom. She had been asleep for days and missed school. A boy who was a year or so older than her gave her the missed homework. The gears in her head began to move. Her eyes widened when she made her realization.

"You remember now?" the boy asked with a chuckle

"You're Edward then!"

The boy laughed, "Cedric actually," he corrected, "Cedric Diggory"

Zoey blushed in embarrassment and stammered out apologies. "I – I'm so so sorry! I'm not so good with names and –err – I'm so sorry, Cedric!"

"It's alright," Cedric said as he continued his walking, "Let's get you to class now, huh? What sort of prefect will I be if I let you be late for class?"

"The sort of prefect Fred and George would adore," Zoey laughed.

* * *

Fred sat on the Gryffindor table as the people around him began eating their lunch. He was seated in between his brother and Bridgit while Echo and Zoey were seated in front of him. It was a chilly day and he took note that Zoey had added on the layers. She wore her normal school robes but wore her Hufflepuff scarf and gloves as well. Her hair was down and had a braid with a yellow ribbon at the end.

He wondered when she had begun to wear her hair down.

Fred had liked Zoey's cute nerd look with the big round glasses and the messy ponytails but now she simply looked cute. She was still small in size and rather skinny but her cheeks were still rosy and her skin still pale. Her eyes were still a sparkly gray and even with her hair down it still had a messy look to it. She was simply Zoey.

He felt his stomach do flips when he looked his way and smiled. He made a smile back but then felt foolish when he found out that she wasn't even looking at him. Fred turned around and saw the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Remus Lupin, pass by. He felt himself glare. He had to admit that Lupin was the best teacher he's had so far but the mere thought that Zoey fancying him had turned his feelings to a small hatred.

_What the bloody hell is wrong with the world? _Fred thought to himself as he turned back to Zoey and watched as her eyes trailed after the shabby-looking teacher. He felt sick at the sight and turned his attention to the girl seated next to Zoey, Echo. Echo was having a conversation with his twin, a conversation he did not bother hearing.

_Echo 'likes' George… when in Merlin's pants did that happen? I never saw it coming. George of all people! This must be an apocalypse, _Fred scrunched up his face, _But when you think about it… gah! No! This simply cannot be right! _

Fred turned his attention back to Zoey. She now had a small smile plastered on her face as she watched Lupin eating. She giggled a bit when Lupin dropped the meat on his fork and ended up biting the metal instead. _And now there's Zoey. Since when did she begin fancying teachers? Is she the type to like older men? Is she turning into Hermione? Sure, Lockhart was sort of attractive but she found him hideous. Does she like men who are old enough to be her dad?_

Fred sighed, _Maybe she's just into mature guys? _Her then shook his head, _Can't be, then she would have fallen for Percy! _Fred looked at his older brother who sat on the seat nearest to the teachers. _Nope, Percy's not mature, he's just a prat._

_Maybe she's into scars. Guys who look like they've been to dozens of fights against dark wizards and creatures… No. Can't be. If that's the case she would have fallen for Bridgit! _Fred looked to his other side and saw Bridgit peacefully eating her lunch. Her bruises were fading and her wounds were clean and slowly becoming small scars. _Wait, that's can't be right. Zoey's a girl… but then again is Bridgit a girl too? I mean – she has been hanging out with Echo more… ugh!_

Fred groaned and banged his head on the table with confusion. His friends looked at him oddly as their plates shook from the vibrations.

"Sickle for your thoughts, Fred?" Bridgit asked.

Fred groaned in pain.

* * *

Month's passed and Fred was still feeling confused about everything. He had to admit that during the past weeks even he had to admit that Defense Against the Dark Arts was his favorite subject. Lupin had all the teachers beat with the interesting creatures he brought to every class. Dementors still patrolling Hogwarts but it didn't bother him as much as before since the Dementors weren't allowed inside the school anyway, meaning all his happy feelings stayed intact.

Well, most of them anyway. To Fred's displeasure Zoey had been hanging out with people other than him, his brother and the Ravenclaws. To add to the his dislike to this fact, the people Zoey hung out with were boys. Older boys. Particularly Professor Lupin and Cedric Diggory.

Fred was not happy, not happy at all.

Fred sighed; maybe Hogsmeade would distract him from his thoughts.

* * *

"So how was your day with Harry?" Zoey asked as she drank tea from her cup. She was seated in Lupin's office and on his chair as the shabby-looking man, also known as her uncle, draped his coat on the coat hanger.

"It was fine, thanks," Lupin said as he took a seat in front of Zoey and drank his own cup of tea. Zoey grinned; it must have felt refreshing for Lupin to be able to talk to Harry. After all, Harry was the son of one of his best friends… that and Harry was a boy… man to man talk…. The kind of talk Zoey could never understand.

Zoey looked around the office and noted that it screamed Professor Lupin. She noted the several creatures in cages that Lupin brought to his classes. She them spotted a cauldron on his table. She placed her cup back on its saucer and walked towards the cauldron. She looked in and noted that it was empty.

"Uncle Moony," she began

"Professor Lupin," Lupin corrected teasingly.

"Uncle Moony," Zoey repeated, "What's this?"

"A cauldron"

"I know that, thanks. I meant what was in it?"

"A potion," Lupin then continued when Zoey sent him a look, "Professor Snape made me a potion."

"And you drank it?"

"Of course"

"Why?"

"Why not?"

Zoey raised her eyebrows at her Uncle. He was being difficult. He was avoiding something. She opened her mouth to speak but then there was a bang on the door.

"Remus!" came a voice, "You've got to hurry! Something's happened at Gryffindor Tower!"

Lupin quickly got to his feat and pushed the table away with the force he made. Zoey watched as he scampered towards the door and stopped only to look back at her.

"Go to the Great Hall," he said

"But why?"

"Please, Zoey, just go"

Zoey nodded her head and watched as her uncle disappeared behind the door. She listened to his fast footsteps and only began moving herself when the footsteps died away. She walked over to the table and finished of her tea. She needed to get her priorities straight but she was also rather thirsty. She placed down the cup when she had finished and walked over to the door. She opened it and walked out. As she walked down the hall she heard the chattering of students. Most curious and other's panicky. It was obvious that something happened. She picked up her pace and headed towards the Great Hall. When she got closer she caught sight of brown hair.

She followed it.

The owner of the brown hair was no mystery to her. She had guessed it was Bridgit for the color of the hair and its length. She followed Bridgit to a deserted classroom. Bridgit had obviously tried to avoid her but she underestimated Zoey's curious determination.

Zoey still wanted to know what had happened to her friend.

Bridgit sighed. She sat on the teacher's desk and faced Zoey. She opened her mouth to speak but Zoey cut her off.

"What happened to you?"

* * *

**AND CHAPTER END!**

**Thank you all for your reviews and the like!**

**You will find the answers to all your questions very soon!**

**Sorry for any typos or whatever!**

**Sorry, me kinda in a hurry D:**

**Don't forget to review and ask questions!**

**I only own what I own!  
**


	39. Chapter 38: Zoey Black

**Chapter 38: Zoey Black  
**

**_Dear Diary,_**

**_Things in life are just hard. There are a lot of things I just don't know and I'm not sure if I want to know them anymore. Why am I being so glum? Well, my dear diary, there are a lot of things to be glum about. First and for most, as you know, my father has broken out of Azkaban. Not really the kind of family reunion I had in mind. I would have wanted him to be innocent when I run back into his arms. Yes diary, I would run into his arms even if he is still filthy from thirteen years in Azkaban. AZKABAN! _**

**_Second, well, it's my fifth year in Hogwarts and it's OWLs year. I'm not confident about that. Third, well… what was third again? Oh right! My secret it slipping. No, nothing slip out or anything…it's just… it's getting harder and I just don't know anymore… the necklace I got from my mum's jewelry case is rather odd aswell… It's like… I don't know but there were two of them and well… when I accidentally sneezed I heard my sneeze come out of the other necklace! I think it's like one of those muggle phones or something… odd._**

**_Now my last reason to be glum. That reason is Bridgit. No, she didn't do anything… well… err…. This is hard to explain … I'll just tell you what happened._**

_"What happened to you?"_

_"Like I said, I fell down the… uhm… stairs," Bridgit answered, the indifference in her voice starting to irritate Zoey. She had enough of the indifference. She wanted to get answers. Now._

_"Okay, now that you've said that. Give me the real reason," she asked as she crossed her arms over her chest looking much like Echo._

_Bridgit then spoke with annoyance in her tone, "What else do you want to hear?"_

_"The truth!" Zoey exclaimed, "That's the only thing I haven't heard from you!"_

_Bridgit's eyebrows furrowed, "How do you know that that wasn't the truth?"_

_"Because, if you were to fall you wouldn't have that many scratched and at most just a few bruises, you have one for every pale spot on your body!" Zoey said as she made a hand gesture towards Bridgit's wounds and bruises. Bridgit stayed quiet._

_"Why do you even care?" Bridgit looked out the window._

_"I'm your friend."_

_Bridgit noticeably bit her lip as she thought about what she should do. Should she tell her? Zoey was her friend and Zoey was never the one to talk about secrets. Heck, she had some secrets of her own. Zoey's facial expression calmed as the atmosphere in the empty classroom began to tense._

_"Just… tell me Bridgit," Zoey said_

_"I – I was… tortured," the hesitance in Bridgit's voice was obvious._

_Zoey's eyes widened. Tortured. Bruises and scarring caused by another person. The same things that had been happening to her for years. She was just like Bridgit. They were both being harmed physically and emotionally. "W-What?" Zoey whispered out though she had heard Bridgit perfectly._

_ "I was tortured okay?" Bridgit finally shouted, dropping on her knees and crying._

_Zoey swallowed hard. She was not good at comforting. She approached Bridgit hesitantly and began to rub her back awkwardly._

_"By who?" Zoey asked._

_"B – By –" But Bridgit never got to finish for the door had slammed open revealing a rather stressed out teacher. Zoey quickly straightened herself when she caught sight of who it was. It was her Uncle._

_"What are you doing here? Everyone's in the Great Hall," her uncle said, "Come on now! It's not good to be alone at the moment"_

_Zoey helped Bridgit to her feet before the Ravenclaw wiped away her tears. Bridgit said an apology before quickly leaving the room. Zoey bit her lip as she watched her walk away. She closed her eyes before walking towards her uncle and giving him a hug. She was shaking._

_"What happened?" her uncle asked as he rubbed her back comfortingly._

_Zoey just shook her head._

**_And that was what happened! I don't really know what to make out of it… I mean… I've been tortured before… and I've broken down and cried… but… but… No. I exactly know what to make out of it. It's hard. It's hard to tell those close to you that terrible things have happened… It's hard to explain but it just is. Ever since that night, Bridgit's been avoiding me. I can't blame her. I would have done the same thing._**

**_Glum feeling intensifying_**

**_Oh! I just remembered. You know why everyone had been in the Great Hall that night? There was an attack. No, no one was petrified but a paintings… err… painting (?) had been ruined. Someone had scratched. The Fat Lady, the painting, is fine but she's in shock. I feel sorry for her._**

**_You know who attacked her?_**

**_My father._**

Zoey bit her lip as she closed her diary and stuffed it in her bag along with the rest of her things. She stood up and walked out of the library. It had only been a day since her father's attack and everyone in school was talking about it. Each and every student asking questions on how he entered Hogwarts completely undetected. Some had guessed he had apparated and others said there was someone on the inside helping him in.

That's why Zoey did not want to reveal her secret. It was bad enough that the Minister was suspicious of her, giving her a lecture on how some people are just meant to be bad, she did not want the entire student body being frightened of her as well. Zoey did not let her father in. She didn't even know how he currently looked like. She avoided newspapers and wanted signs like the plague.

Zoey held tightly to her bag and walked down the hall. She did not want to go to class yet, Lupin would understand. She bit on her lip hard. She was scared. The rumors were right. If Sirius Black can break out of Azkaban then he sure as hell can break into Hogwarts. Zoey walked towards the Quidditch Pitch and sat on the stands. She placed her bag beside her and looked around. It was deserted. It was quiet. It was peaceful.

She closed her eyes and leaned back a bit. There was hardly and sun to warm her but it was the cold temperature that she enjoyed the most. The cold wind kissing her pale cheeks was what calmed her. She let out a sigh.

"Someone seems relaxed"

Zoey jumped and her eyes snapped wide open.

"Calm down," said the voice with a chuckle, "It's just me"

Zoey looked up at the source of the voice and saw Cedric looking down at her. She felt a blush come up her cheeks. "Hey," she greeted, "you scared me"

"So it seems," Cedric laughed as he took a seat beside Zoey.

Zoey made a soft hum. She looked at Cedric and saw why a lot of girls fancied him. He was obviously handsome, and polite. He also had all the qualities Helga Hufflepuff looked for in, well, a Hufflepuff. Zoey's blush deepened when Cedric looked at her. He caught her staring at him. Zoey was prepared to hear "Like what you see" or any other thing Fred would have most likely said but instead he said:

"Shouldn't you be in class?"

Typical prefect.

"Shouldn't you?" Zoey found herself replying. She blushed harder when she realized it came off as a bit rude.

"Watch your mouth," Cedric said with a laugh. Zoey joined in. "And, it's my free period"

The bell rang.

"Are you sure?" Zoey said with a raised eyebrow. She picked up her bag and let out a hand to Cedric. "You don't want to be late, do you?"

Cedric shook his head and took her hand. They walked away from the Quidditch pitch.

* * *

Fred glared at the back of Cedric's head as he watched him walk away with Zoey. He had come to keep Zoey company because he saw her name, in the Marauder's Map, heading towards the Quidditch Pitch alone. He found it suspicious for he knew that she should be in DADA at that moment but skipped. It was odd for Zoey to skip but it was odder for her to skip a class with a teacher that she really liked.

Fred's jealousy doubled (though he would never admit it)

He walked towards the stands where Zoey was previously seated and caught sight of a notebook. He picked it up and realized it was her diary. The diary he had snatched from her during the train ride to Hogwarts. He flipped it over and looked at the first page. His eyes widened.

"It can't be," he whispered as he flipped through the other pages scanning entry after entry, his heart hammering against his chest. "No… this has to be a mistake."

But Fred knew it was no mistake. Everything he had scene was the truth.

He held the diary firmly in his hands as he left the Quidditch Pitch in search for Echo and George and maybe even Bridgit.

* * *

In the library, seated on a table at the corner of the room hidden by aisles and aisled of books were Echo, George and Bridgit. They had a couple of books surrounding them, most of them George's, as they were discussing homework's and the like. After a few minutes the Ravenclaws decided that George was a hopeless case and decided to switch to a different topic. (Much to George's displeasure)

"So what do you think about those porcelain dolls with huge eyes?" Echo sang, "I've always wanted one… or two… or maybe even thirty"

George gave her a bemused expression, "What are you about?"

"Those little dolls that stare at you with soulless eyes," Echo explained with a weird and awkward singsong voice, "It makes me wanna keep them"

"Well, it scares the hell out of me!" Bridgit butted in, "Dolls and me just don't mix"

"Are you sure you're a girl? But I can see where you're coming from… Bloody creepy," George said.

Before Bridgit could retort there was a loud bang coming from the entrance of the library followed by an angry hiss from Madam Pince. The three curiously sat up straight when Fred appeared behind the bookshelves looking rather troubled.

"Shit," Echo muttered when she remembered what she had confessed to Fred.

"Guys!" Fred said as he approached their table and slammed Zoey's diary on top of it

"Whoa there, Fred," Bridgit said as the diary's echo made her jump, "What's got your knickers in a twist?"

"Hey, Bree. I think Fred needs to be potty trained again," Echo said with a shake of her head.

Fred glared at both Echo and Bridgit but dismissed the thought of having an argument with them. There were much more important matters to worry about. He opened the notebook to the first page. Echo and George leaned in to read what was written but before they got the chance it was snatched away by Bridgit.

"What give, Bree?" Echo asked, befuddled.

"I have a feeling that this is Zoey's diary by how Fred was running," Bridgit said, tucking the notebook behind her.

"…and?" Echo challenged

"Well, we should respect our _friend's _privacy," Bridgit answered, emphasizing on the word 'friend'.

"Privacy? Heck, I haven't even heard her say her parent's name out loud!" Echo breathed out, irritated.

"Are you really Zoey's friend, Bridgit?" George started, "Cause last time I checked, you were avoiding her"

Bridgit stood there in shock. Her hands dropped down to her side allowing George to get the diary.

"Hey!" Bridgit shouted realizing what George had done.

George immediately opened the diary and read the first page, he immediately went stiff. He had found the reason for Fred's distress. On the front page was Zoey's full name written in her cursive penmanship: **_Zoey Anastasia Emeraude-Black._**

"What is it?" Echo turned her head and tiptoed as she read over George's shoulder.

"Seriously guys, you shouldn't do this," Bridgit said after seeing their frozen faces.

"How could she keep this from us?" George said as he dropped the diary to the floor.

Bridgit bent over and picked up the diary from the floor. She stood up straight and took a look at the first page. Her eyes widened and her heart skipped a beat. She had found the reason to their shock.

"Why the bloody hell had she kept this from us?" George angrily said when Echo slumped back down on her seat silently wondering if she had horrible skills and choosing friends. She really did not know what to feel in this sort of situation.

"Come one guy, she has her reasons!" Bridgit defended.

"Oh yeah?" Fred finally spoke, "what kind of friends hides something this big from her best friends?" Fred finished, pain and anger evident in his voice.

"Seriously, Fred? I would have hid it too! How would you feel if your dad was a 'supposed' criminal and locked up in Azkaban, would you have shouted it to the world?" Bridgit asked.

"Sirius Black is still her father, criminal or not," Echo spoke with a venom-filled voice.

"Guys, Zoey's been a great friend… you should at least let her explain," Bridgit said gripping the diary tighter in her hold.

"If she would explain, then she should have done it before!" Echo stood up, fists balled at her sides.

"Why are you defending her anyway? You're the one who's least affected! You met Zoey a year after we did!" George shouted as she stood beside Echo.

"I might have not known her longer than you but it's obvious that I trust her more!"

At this, Fred had had enough. He walked up to Bridgit with his fists balled and punched her right in the face. Bridgit was in shock. She did not expect that to happen. She wanted to cry but she did not want to show that it hurt. She would stay strong for Zoey, after all, that's what Zoey had done for her.

"Go ahead, Fred, let you anger go. What good will it do? You just can't accept the truth!" Bridgit spoke after the sting on her cheek numbed a bit. "Because out of all the things that's probably written in this diary… We don't have the right to judge her without at least hearing her explanation"

"She should have explained years ago!" Echo shouted.

At that exact moment the library door had once again opened. It was Zoey. Zoey looked around worriedly as she searched the library. Her diary was missing. The last place she had written in it was in the library. She checked the table she had used and it wasn't there. Her hear skipped a beat. What if someone had taken it? She continued to search the library and nearing the end she caught sight of her friends. She ran towards them in hopes that maybe they'll help her look but then she was wrong. Zoey stopped dead in her tracks when she saw their angered and pained expressions. Bridgit was near tears as she clutched onto her, Zoey's, diary and Fred looked like he had just punched her for his hand was in a fist. Echo and George were side by side with glares.

Zoey's mouth hung agape and her eyes widened.

This could not be happening.

"Zoey…," Bridgit whispered when she caught sight of the Hufflepuff girl.

Fred, George and Echo turned towards Zoey as well when they heard Bridgit's whisper. Their glares hardened. Zoey took a step back. They had seen it. Her name. They knew. They were mad. Furious even.

"H – Hey guys," Zoey stuttered out, trying to be casual though her heart was frantic.

"Pleasure to see you here, Zoey _Black,_" Echo hissed

Zoey winced at her tone. She knew deep down, she deserved it. She heard Bridgit protest.

"Stop defending her, damn it!" George shouted, glaring at Bridgit. He had had enough of this.

"She deserves to be listened to!" Bridgit shouted back, hopeful in putting some sense into her friend's heads.

"Why?" Fred asked as he stood his ground beside Echo and George, "We asked her before and were were ready to listen. Well now we aren't!"

"She would have told her story to us if we were her trusted friends!" Echo said after Fred's rebuke.

Zoey took in a jagged breath. The un-ruined picture was being ripped to shreds. Her happy little world was disappearing. She was losing it. Everything she loved and cherished. Slipping through her fingers. Zoey reached over to Bridgit.

"Go join them," she whispered as she grabbed hold of her diary, "No use in defending me"

"No, Zee, you deserve to explain whatever it is you hid!" Bridgit said bringing the diary out of Zoey's reach. "Why won't you let her explain?"

Zoey shook her head as tears welled up in her eyes. "No…please," she begged. She did not want this. She wanted to return to her un-ruined picture. Her happy little world.

"Sure, let the little Black explain!" Echo spat out.

Zoey looked at all of them with tears streaming down her face. She had a chance to tell them everything. Where would she start? Was it still of use? She would still be Black's daughter even if she did explain. "What am I suppose to explain?" Zoey struggled with her words.

"See? There's isn't much explaining!" Echo let out an exasperated sigh but still kept her rage-filled face.

"What about you start with why you didn't freaking tell us who you are?" Fred shouted. Fred felt betrayed and hurt. He had the right to lash.

Zoey winced at his tone. "The picture… I didn't want to ruin the picture," she spoke. It was complete and utter babble to them.

"What picture?" Bridgit asked softly.

"This," Zoey motioned to everyone, "This picture… I didn't want to ruin…. Like it is now"

"Yeah, well, sorry to say this but this picture's been ripped to shreds," George said before walking out of the library. He had had enough of this.

"No matter how you want to put the picture back together, there will always be the traces of mistrust," Echo spoke loudly. She then went to pack up her things and went after George. She too left.

"You know, Zoey, I expected a lot of people to betray, but I never expected this from you!" Fred now said, walking out of the library and not giving a single glance back.

Zoey watched as Fred left the library. She felt her heart breaking. Her world had been smashed. Everything was falling apart. She was losing everything. Zoey sobbed. They were right. She should have told them sooner. Dumbledore was right. She should have trusted them. But what difference would it have done? They would have still left her. They would have still reacted the same. Either way, she was still a Black's daughter.

Suddenly, a very painful feeling pierced through her already broken heart. This pain caused her breath to be caught in her throat and her eyes to widen. She fell to her knees. "He - He promised!" she cried, "He promised he'll never leave me!"

* * *

**And here's chapter 38!**

**Oh~! Zoey's secret's out! **

**I would like to thank ZoomSkater14 and HayleyParadox for helping me with this chapter.**

**Also ZoomSkater14 for helping me with the previous one as well**

**:D**

**I also want to thank all of you who reviewed and the like.**

**Very, very much appreciated!**

**Now, it is late and I should be getting to bed!**

**Please don't forget to review and ask questions!**

**I really love reading and answering them!**

**I only own what I own!  
**


	40. Chapter 39: A World Crashing Down

**Chapter 39: A World Crashing Down  
**

It was midnight. No one was up except for Zoey. She sat in her common room as she listened to the soft sounds of ticking from the wall clock and the crackling of the fire in the fireplace. She was alone. It had been a week since the fight with her closest friends and she was nowhere near explaining anything to them. She had passed them by in the halls and in classes but they would ignore her, as if they never knew her. Zoey was hurt but she blamed herself, after all she never really tried to make things clear. She was afraid. She did not know what to do. She knew she should have explained her situation years ago. When she still had friends who would listen. When Fred had insisted to know what was happening. When the picture was still in one piece and un-ruined.

Zoey stared into the fireplace. She watched as the flames dance in the dark. She shivered. The flames were not enough to warm her. She felt numb. She felt rejected and heartbroken. Zoey regretted everything. She regretted owning a diary, writing her full name in it, being careless and losing it but what she regretted the most was not telling her friends sooner. Yes, everything returned to her keeping her true-self a secret. Billions of "what if" questions swarmed Zoey's mind as she brought her head to her knees. What if she told them sooner? Maybe the fight wouldn't have happened. What if a fight did happen and it didn't affect her like this because she wouldn't have gotten to know them as long as now.

Zoey let out a sob.

The thought of never knowing the twins and Echo was painful. She would have been alone to begin with. Without the Echo she would not have known the twins, without the three of them she would not have known Bridgit. Zoey blinked as her breath quivered. Her eyes felt sore. She had been crying for days and it finally seemed as though she had run out of tears. She brought her head back up and stared back into the fire. She remembered the day she got her Hogwarts letter.

_Zoey slowly walked down the stairs with her arms wrapped nervously around her body. She was simply wearing a large shirt and short shorts that day and it didn't help warm her body with the cold temperature of her house. She carefully avoided a shard of glass as she made her last few steps down. She licked her lips when she saw a light coming out of the kitchen. Her aunt was here. The kitchen was one of the only places she could stand staying in, after all it was the cleanest._

_She nervously placed her hand on the doorknob and leaned her ear against the wood. She could hear the soft clinking of a teaspoon in a cup. She straightened up. No use in avoiding her. It would only make things worse. Zoey took a deep breath and turned the knob. She opened the door with a soft push and winced at the bright light. It was the only room lit._

_Zoey kept her mouth shut and her head slightly downcast as she looked from under her lashes at her aunt. Damiana was sitting with her long legs crossed her right pointer finger in her hair, twirled, while her left was holding her wand moving it in a circular manner so that the teaspoon would mix her coffee._

_Zoey found that action utterly pointless and lazy but kept her opinions to herself. She looked over at the teacup and saw that there was an envelope beside it. She raised her eyebrow a bit. Suddenly, the envelope was snatched by long, pink, French-manicured nails._

_"You want to know what this is?" Damiana spoke in a soft, girly tone. It almost made her seem innocent, like she did nothing wrong to Zoey. Almost._

_Zoey did not reply. She just looked up._

_Damiana uncrossed her legs and walked towards Zoey, stopping just a few feet away from her. "I asked you a question"_

_"An envelope?" Zoey said waiting to be slapped. She scrunched up her eyes and waited for the contact. It never came. She cautiously opened her eyes to see Damiana sneering at her._

_"Very funny," she said as she held the envelope to Zoey's face, "But wrong. It's your Hogwarts letter. You do know what Hogwarts is, don't you?"_

_Zoey looked at the envelope curiously. Her name was written on the back with green ink. She felt and odd feeling in her heart. It was like it skipped a few beats at the sight of her name. She knew what Hogwarts was and knew for a fact that this was her Hogwarts acceptance letter. She had seen one before, her mother's. Zoey reached out for the letter but it was brought out of her reach._

_"Uh uh," Damian said with a shake of her head and a wag of her finger, "What makes you so sure this is for you?"_

_"It has my name on it," Zoey said simply._

_"Don't get witty with me. What I meant was 'What makes you so sure that you're going to get this'?" Damiana said as she tinkered with the flap of the envelope._

_"It's addressed to me."_

_"Hmm? It appears so yes but you are mistaken. You see, you are only eleven –"_

_"The age I am required to be to enter," Zoey interrupted._

_" – years-old but that doesn't mean that you're going," Damiana continued as if Zoey had never spoken, "I'm your legal guardian. I get to say if you're going or not"_

_Zoey looked at her aunt in horror. "You can't. Uncle Moony's my legal guardian!"_

_"If he was, then why are you here then?" Damiana challenged._

_"C-Cause… cause…," Zoey stuttered. She didn't really know why. _

_"Cause," Damiana mimicked, "Because he could not support you. That filthy half-breed can't even keep a job for more than a few months. It's pathetic"_

_Zoey swallowed hard. She had fought long and hard with her aunt concerning her uncle. She didn't know why he was called a "half-breed" all she knew was that whatever he was, he was still a nice man who did everything in his power to make sure Zoey was happy. Zoey loved the times she spent with her uncle and was crestfallen to hear that she could no longer stay with him. Nevertheless, she was obedient and loyal and agreed to move in with the Emeraudes if it was for the best._

_"P-please, you can't keep my Hogwarts letter. I – I need to study….," she tried. She knew that she was fighting a losing battle._

_"And who says I want you to study magic? What bloody good will that do?" Damiana asked, "Besides, no one would look for you. There are kids who are homeschooled"_

_"You won't teach me anything anyway. Why do you even want me here? You hate me!" Zoey cried as she inched farther away from her aunt. This was those rare times she had shown courage to talk back to her aunt and she did not want to have to pay for it anytime soon._

_"True. But – hmm – what if, for example, you were actually good in magic? What would you do? Turn against me?" Damiana asked as she toyed with the envelope, ripping its edges._

_Zoey bit her lip. "I won't I promise"_

_"Is that so?"_

_"Yes, I would never go against you… I promise… and when I make a promise I –" Zoey gulped, "I keep it"_

_Damiana hummed as she looked over at the envelope. Zoey winced slightly when she ripped it open. She watched as her aunt read over the letter before placing it down, with the envelope, on the kitchen table with a wave of her wand. _

_"What if you actually excelled in magic?" Damiana asked._

_"I would never use it against you"_

_"What would you do after your schooling though? Run away?" Damiana then walked towards Zoey again, stopping mere inches away from her face. Blue eyes penetrating gray._

_Zoey swallowed hard._

_"Were you even planning to run away?" Damiana asked as she straightened up, "You know I would not like that. I would hate to know that you would leave the Emeraude's. After all, you are an Emeraude aren't you?"_

_Zoey did not want to answer her, "If you want me to stay then I'll stay. After schooling I'll come back and I'll never leave."_

_"Never?"_

_"Never. I promise"_

_"Is that so?" Damiana asked, "Very well then. You may go to Hogwarts"_

_Zoey's eyes widened. She never expected it to turn out her way. This was a first. She was overjoyed but she could not help but think there was a catch. She was right; a conversation with her aunt would never end with her feeling lighthearted._

_"You may got to Hogwarts," Damiana repeated, "But bear in mind when your little friends find out who you truly are they will all leave you."_

_"What do –"_

_"Oh you know exactly what I mean Zoey… Black," Damiana smiled maliciously, "You are no true Emeraude. You may have the Emeraude's voice and you may have been born with and Emeraude power but you will never be one of us. You are still a Black"_

_"Just keep that in mind Zoey dear. Once your little secret is out you will once again be alone," Damiana ended with a smile before disappearing with a crack._

Zoey felt herself wakeup from her flashback when her leg jerked. Her heart was pounding against her chest and she felt a sweat form at her brow. The fire in the fireplace seemed to have died down and the common room was incomplete darkness. Zoey took in deep and slow breaths as she tried to get back to her feet. She wobbled a bit and stood her ground as she looked around. She could not see anything. Maybe there were some outlines of chairs and sofas she could distinguish but everything else was a complete mystery to her.

Zoey was afraid to move.

She jumped a bit and let out a small yelp when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. She turned around anxiously as the footsteps grew louder. She felt her heart beat faster when the footsteps ceased.

"Lumos," a voice came and a light appeared, "Who's there?"

"I – I am," Zoey said in a soft voice.

A chuckle came, "That makes everything clearer," the voice said, "Zoey? Is that you?"

"That depends. Who are you?" Zoey replied.

The light came closer to her as did the footsteps. In a matter of seconds, Cedric stood in front of her with a smile. "What are you doing up so late?"

Zoey blushed, "How do you know I was up late? Maybe I woke up early"

"Zoey," Cedric said with a look.

"I couldn't go to sleep," Zoey puffed her cheeks. She felt like a child compared to Cedric.

Cedric ran a hand through his hair and Zoey was vaguely reminded of Fred. Fred. She felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach and her face fall. She missed him already.

"Any why's that? Is there something troubling you?" Cedric asked.

Zoey looked up at him and shook her head. "Nothing. It's nothing. Just had a lot of thoughts in my head"

"That must be heck of a lot seeing as it is one o'clock in the morning right about now," Cedric said with a yawn.

"What?" Zoey asked in disbelief.

"It is one o'clock maybe even two in the morning," Cedric said, "Maybe you should get some shut eye now before breakfast starts"

"Sleep? I would only get like…. Three or so hours of it," Zoey said with panic.

"You don't have to wake up that early."

"If I want to make it in time for breakfast I do," Zoey looked down, "Look at me, I'm a stick!"

Cedric brought his wand closer so the light could show Zoey's face. She looked paler than usual and had dark circles under her eyes. She went back to wearing glasses, her hair in a messy ponytail and baggy clothes not too long ago and the clothes looked bigger than they were before. She was right, she was a stick.

"What happened to you, Zoey?" Cedric asked as he muttered a spell causing a fire to light in the fireplace thus giving them more light.

"Nothing happened," Zoey said with a shrug.

"Nothing – you look like the living dead! No offence, but you look like you could collapse at any second now. What happened?" Cedric asked concerned, "And don't say nothing"

"I just had a fight with my… I just had a fight," Zoey said.

"With the Beaumont girl and the twins right?"

Zoey gave him a shocked looked, "How did –"

"I know? It's pretty obvious, Zoey. You used to hang out with them every day but I noticed that it just suddenly… you know….stopped," Cedric explained.

"I see," Zoey chocked back a sob, "I – I got to go now"

She made to walk passed Cedric and almost made it to the stairs if he didn't catch a hold of her arm. Zoey wiped her tearing eyes before looking back at him. "You know, you can always talk to me," Cedric said comfortingly.

Zoey gave a small smile, "Thanks"

There was a moment's silence.

"You'll come to watch the Quidditch game right?" Cedric asked a little hopeful.

"Wouldn't miss it"

* * *

Zoey gulped as she stood in the stands. It was the Quidditch match today. Gryffindor against Hufflepuff and the weather was frightening. The sky was so dark she could not see a thing and the rain was so heavy she felt that it would leave dents in her skin. She brought her rain coat tighter to herself and tried to cover hear head better with the hood. It was no use, the wind kept blowing it back. She sighed with slight irritation when her glasses had numerous raindrops on the lenses, it really did not do her vision any good. She brought out her wand quickly muttered a spell, tapped her glasses and re-pocketed her wand. The rain began to go everywhere besides her glasses and Zoey could see the outlines of most of the students.

"I wonder who's gonna win," Bridgit said from beside Zoey

"I wonder who's going to live," Zoey replied as she brought her coat closer to her body, though it didn't do much, "How could they possibly think a game could even be… you know… be played in this weather?"

"Hey! I played in weather like this last year, didn't see you worrying for me," Bridgit said in mock anger, making Zoey laugh.

"I was plenty worried. But… the determination in your face made me think you'd kill the weather before it gets a chance to kill you," Zoey said.

"Oh I see, Well what's worrying me is the Dementors," Bridgit then said, shivering as she remembered the evil creature.

"Now that you mention it –" Zoey didn't get a chance to continue for it had appeared that the game had begun.

Zoey squinted at the sight. It was absolutely horrible, the weather. The sky was dark and the rain was hard and all she could see was red and yellow blobs zooming in the sky. She could not even hear Lee commentating. How could anyone possibly play in this condition? Several times she felt her heart skip a beat when she caught sight of a Bludger zooming by. Whoever hit it had good eyes and instincts; whoever was going to be hit was doomed. Zoey began to worry about Harry, how could he play if his glasses had distracting raindrops on them? Her worry then shifted when she saw Fred, or George, zoom by looking as if he was struggling to keep his broom straight against the harsh wind.

Zoey jumped slightly when she saw a flash of lightning.

"Looks like Wood's called for a time out," Bridgit said over the harsh wind.

Zoey's eyes widened, "I hope they know what they're doing"

* * *

As Bridgit and Zoey were watching from the stands, wondering why Wood called a time out, Hermione ran up to them.

"Do you know any spells that could help Harry?" she asked looking a little stressed out.

Bridgit looked over at Zoey. Zoey looked at her questioningly but got the message. "Why not use _impervious?_" She asked as she pointed to her glasses showing what the spell did.

"Great idea Zee!" Bridgit said, facing back to Hermione. Hermione simply looked confused at the two fifth years.

"What are you two talking about?" the third year asked.

"Uhm, why don't you just take me to where Harry is?" Bridgit suggested before looking at Zoey apologetically, "Would you mind if I go for a while?"

Zoey smiled and shrugged her shoulders, "Good luck going through the crowd"

"Nice to see you care for me, Zee," Bridgit said, bumping Zoey's shoulder before leaving with Hermione. Zoey laughed and shook her head.

Bridgit and Hermione pushed through the hectic crowd and struggled a bit with slipping on the wet surface. In a few moments they finally reached the Gryffindor Quidditch team. At the sight of the Ravenclaw, Fred and George glared.

"What are you doing here?" Fred asked angrily.

"I'm not here for the two of you," Bridgit stated, glaring back at the two of them, "I'm here to help Harry"

Bridgit them faced the confused be-spectacled boy.

"What are you going to do?" Hermione and Wood asked.

"I'm going to use a spell Zoey uses all the time," Bridgit replied, kneeling down in front of Harry.

_"Impervius," _she said and tapped Harry's glasses with her wand. Harry looked at her oddly.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Hermione exclaimed happily, "Your glasses will now repel water, Harry!"

Harry smiled, "Thanks" he said to the Ravenclaw.

"Don't mention it. Now you guys better be getting back to the game or else Cedric might just be able to beat you," Bridgit said winking at Harry.

Wood nodded and smiled a bit, "She's right," he then turned to Bridgit, "Thanks for that"

"Again, don't mention it. But you better win!" she said again and watched as the Gryffindor team made their way back to the game. She didn't miss the dirty looks Fred and George gave her. Her eyes squinted a bit before getting her attention caught by Hermione.

"Thanks," she said.

"Yeah, well, we better get back to Zoey before she clings to someone else for dear life," Bridgit said making Hermione laugh.

* * *

Zoey sat guiltily on the fountain located near Hogwarts. The Christmas feel was already in the air but she didn't feel merry at all. She felt the opposite in fact. Truth be told, she should have been glad that Hufflepuff won against Gryffindor but the mere thought that Harry almost died from falling of his broom scared her. She felt like she wanted to sprout her wings and fly to him, catch him, if she was lucky but she couldn't. She just couldn't. She licked her lips as she looked into the fountain, the water was slightly frosted. It was Hogsmeade weekend today and she figured she should be Christmas shopping but the painful realization crushed Zoey when she was about to leave, she had no friends to buy gifts for. Bridgit and the other's she already knew what to give. The Christmas cookies she made last year that was enough to last them a week already gave them joy and she already had a batch ready in a secret compartment in the kitchens.

Zoey sighed. It was hopeless. At this rate, Echo, Fred and George would hate her forever.

Things could only get worse.

Zoey gasped in pain and staggered away from the fountain. Her eyes were only half open and she could see the mist surrounding her. It was happening again. She hid behind a pillar as she tried to even her breaths. She hastily removed her coat as she felt her wings forming. She bit back a cry when she felt the feathers sprouting out of her back. Tears formed in her eyes when the process was complete. She took jagged breaths as her wings spread.

"Why now?" she whispered to herself but quickly bit her lip when she heard footsteps. She stepped into the shadows when she saw Harry passing by. He had a piece of parchment in his hands. Zoey's eyes widened. It was the Marauder's Map.

She waited for Harry to disappear before stepping back out. She figured everyone was in Hogsmeade right now and it was safe to come out in public. She wrapped her coat around her waist and took flight. She scanned Hogwarts from a bird's eye-view and nearly faltered when she caught sight of identical red-heads and a violet-haired girl walking towards Hogsmeade. They seemed satisfied. They looked like they were better off without her.

Zoey bit her lip and flew towards the Forbidden Forest. She guessed that none of the creatures lurking around would bother her seeing as she didn't look relatively human at the moment. She landed on the grassy ground and her wings folded behind her. She rolled her neck and walked deeper into the forest. She pushed away branches and stepped around large rocks. She often stopped and fear when she heard something shift within the bushes but continued her exploration when nothing appeared.

Zoey felt safe. She felt calm.

"We wish you a Merry Christmas. We wish you a Merry Christmas. We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year," Zoey sang softly as she continued to walk. She felt like something was drawing her deeper and deeper into the heart of the forest. Suddenly, she heard a bark. Zoey swiftly turned around in shock and saw a big, black dog sitting behind her with his tongue lolling out.

Zoey felt scared. She was used to Shinji since he was small and was clarified as innocent, to those he liked but this dog in front of her was big and most likely a stray. Zoey did not know what to do. She felt her wings spread out as the dog took a step forward. Zoey took a step back.

The dog barked again.

"Here, doggie… doggie," Zoey said awkwardly as she tried to imitate what the girls in her school did when they saw Shinji. The dog tilted his head at her and walked closer.

Zoey bit back a scream when the dog got close enough to lick her hand. It then nuzzled against it. Zoey bit her lip as she petted it behind its ears. "Good boy" she said quietly, "What's your name?"

* * *

Harry felt his heart beating rapidly against his chest. He had just been having the time of his life in Hogsmeade until he heard Madame Rosmerta, his teachers and the Minister of Magic himself, Cornelius Fudge, talking about Sirius Black. It had appeared so that Black and his father where the best of friends. Troublemakers, yes, but brilliant boys. Anyone could mistake them as brothers. Never saw one without the other. Almost like Fred and George.

Black was best man to his father's wedding and even made his godfather. His, Harry's, godfather, Sirius Black and that wasn't the most troubling news yet. When Harry found out that Zoey, Zoey Emeraude, his friend, was the daughter of the man who sold his parents to Voldemort, Harry felt his world crashing. Only one thought crossed his mind. _What the bloody hell is going on?_

He didn't know how we should react. Should he scream? Yell? Shout?

He didn't know anymore.

Harry thought Zoey was his friend, but was it all a set up? Was she just being friends with him so that she could lure him into a trap? Was she helping her dad? Did she let him into Hogwarts that Halloween night? Millions of questions flooded Harry's mind as he felt the world around him crash landing. His head ached, his heart pounded and he felt betrayed.

He didn't know if he should ask for an explanation. It was obvious that she was hiding it for a reason. He may not know it, but Harry was afraid to find out.

What if she was helping her dad dispose of him? Could he bear the thought of his own friend doing that?

Harry didn't know anymore. He didn't know what to feel. His mind when blank and he felt like he wanted to cry but no tears fell.

* * *

**And here's chapter 39 for everyone!**

**Garsh, 39 Chapters already? Wow! That's a lot!**

**Wonder if has a chapter limit? **

**Maybe?**

**Special Thanks to ZookSkater14 for helping me here!**

**You are simply to awesome for me!**

**Thanks to all of you who reviewed, alerted and favorited!**

**So... so... cool! I feel appreciated!**

**Lol.**

**Anyway, I'm updating fast since my tests are coming up and I really want to graduate so wish me luck guys! :D**

**I've been mean to Zoey... but please be patient!**

**Everything would work out in the end!**

**Sorry for any typos in advance D:**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**Don't forget to review and ask questions!**

**I only own what I own  
**


	41. Chapter 40: Zoey's Holiday

**Chapter 40: Zoey's Holiday  
**

Zoey sat in the Quidditch stands and looked over at the deserted field. It was the day before Christmas and as far as she knows, only a handful of students decided to stay for the holiday. She knew for a fact that the rest of the Weasleys went home for the Holiday together with Echo. Bridgit had been told to come back for a reason Zoey did not know. She had guessed to spend time with her uncle but it seemed unlikely for her seeing as Bridgit's uncle sent her a howler the year before. Cedric had gone home as well and that left Zoey alone for the Holiday. She sighed. This is what her aunt warned her about. For once in her life, she thought her aunt was right.

Zoey looked down on to her lap and saw water drops fall. She was crying again. She quickly brought the back of her hand to her face to wipe away the tears. She hated the fact that she was so sensitive. The fact that every single upsetting thing that happened to her brought her to tears. Zoey held in a sob as she remembered the fight she had a few days ago. She had lost another friend due to her cursed secret.

_Zoey crept back into the castle after promising the black dog that she would be back to visit him again. She found the dog to be very friendly and energetic even for his slightly weak appearance. He looked like he had eaten for years. She felt sorry for him but was glad that he could still stand. She made a mental note to find him again with biscuits in her pockets. _

_Zoey found herself smiling as she trudged back inside. She had made a new friend. She wondered if she would be able to keep him, bring him home with her at the end of the year. After all, he didn't seem like he had an owner._

_Zoey passed by a hunchbacked statue and caught sight of Harry. She raised her hand to wave but quickly lowered it when she saw Harry's expression. He didn't look the least bit happy. In fact, he looked betrayed and angry. Zoey felt her stomach churn. Something bad was going to happen._

_"Harry –" she began bit he interrupted her._

_"When… when were you going to tell me?" he asked his voice shaking._

_Zoey licked her lips. "When was I going to tell you what?"_

_"That you were his daughter! The daughter of the man who betrayed my parents"_

_"How did you know?" Zoey asked, wincing at his tone. She decided that it won't do any good hiding anything._

_"It doesn't matter how I know. What matters is that you didn't tell me!" Harry exclaimed._

_"Andy why do you think I didn't tell you?"_

_"Did you know?" Harry didn't answer her, "Did you know that he was your father?"_

_"Of course I know," Zoey replied truthfully. She took a small step back._

_"Did you know he was my godfather?" _

_"Yes, and that makes me your god sister," Zoey said with a nod._

_"Did you know what he did to my parents?" _

_"Voldemort," Zoey said without fear, "Was the one who killed your parents"_

_"But your dad was the one who led him to them," Harry glared._

_Zoey stayed quiet. She bit her lip and looked to the ground. She would see the ripped shreds of the picture. It was already ruined but then she could see the shreds being crumpled. _

_He's Innocent_

_Her mother's message replaced the crumpled shreds and Zoey could feel herself wondering. Should she believe her mother or what the public says? She didn't know. She looked back at Harry and saw him taking deep breaths._

_"Your friendship. It was a trap." Harry said in a soft tone._

_"No –"_

_"It is! You've been helping him enter. Telling him about me… I – I trusted you…"_

_"Harry –"_

_"No, don't… don't come near me… I – I hate you!"_

_Zoey froze. Her eyes widened and her heart stopped. It seemed that the crumpled shreds of the picture caught fire thus making it impossible to put back together. Impossible to see what it was before. Zoey watched as Harry turned around and left. She listened to his footsteps growing fainter and fainter till it was gone. Zoey sucked in a shaky breath and wiped her eyes. She turned around and saw Ron and Hermione looking at her shell shocked. They gave her a nervous, almost scared, look before following Harry. Zoey sighed and bit her lip. She dried her eyes and walked away._

Zoey stood up and left the Quidditch pitch. She didn't even know why she went there in the first place. Whenever she went there she would only remember things that would end up hurting her. The day she met Bridgit, her twenty questions game with Fred, the day she lost her diary. It was just too much. Though little memories they were still significant in her life. Zoey jumped onto the ground and trudged back to the castle.

She wandered around the empty halls of Hogwarts and looked at the different paintings. Sometimes the paintings would just ignore her but others they would smile at her and wish her a Merry Christmas. Zoey liked those paintings. They were nice and polite. She brushed her bangs away from her face and pushed up her glasses. Zoey felt rather peaceful with the quiet atmosphere until she felt something wet hit her shoulder.

Zoey let out a small scream as she felt the moistened contact. She looked at her shoulder and saw her yellow jacket turning a deep green with the blue ink seeping in. Her eyebrows furrowed when she saw something rubbery handing on her shoulder. She picked it up. It was rubber. An ink balloon had fallen on her. She heard laughter. Zoey looked up and saw the annoying poltergeist named Peeves.

Peeves was laughing and floating about while dropping more and more ink balloons. Zoey was unlucky and had more dropped onto her as well as the floor around her. She huffed and ignored Peeves for she felt highly peeved with him at the moment. She briskly walked away from him as his laughter echoed through the halls.

"Ickle Emeraude creeping through Hogwarts' halls!" Peeves sang, "Ickle Emeraude alone and calls! Her friends are gone and she's lonely and sad. Ickle Emeraude is just that bad!"

Zoey ducked her head as she fastened her pace.

She made fast turns at corners and avoided running into statues and suits of armors. She just wanted to disappear. She did not know what happened but just at the sight of Peeves all the stress she's been bottling up had just dropped on her. She had been so focused on her fight with her friends that she had been neglecting her studies. She did not fail anything, no, but her scores were dropping and it was scaring her. What if she failed a class? What if she had to repeat? Zoey felt tears well up in her eyes once more. It was simply too much. She could not take it anymore. She wanted to be free.

Zoey felt a lump form in her throat as she broke into a run. She ran blindly through the halls until she made contact with a hard surface. The surprise force pushed her to the ground. Zoey let out a gasp.

"Zoey?" a voice asked and she felt someone helping her up. Zoey swallowed hard as she looked up. She felt relief flood her body when she saw the concerned look of her uncle. A familiar face. Zoey felt herself calm down a bit as she wiggled out of his grip and hugged him.

Remus let out a huff when Zoey hugged him tightly. She stepped back a bit but then relaxed. He petted her head. "Why not come in my office for some tea?"

* * *

Zoey felt a little lighter than before. She had just explained her entire situation to Remus and she felt better knowing that there was someone who could understand her predicament. After all, Remus did know her father and it felt calming to hear stories on what he, Remus, did during his school years. She particularly enjoyed hearing stories of "The Marauders". Zoey knew that Remus was not particularly good in comforting teenage girls and she didn't blame him. She herself was not good in comforting in general. Zoey also did not blame her uncle for being slightly uncomfortable talking about her dad but she enjoyed seeing the smile on his lips and his tired chuckle whenever he told her about the pranks her father and Harry's father did. But there was something Zoey loved to hear above all the stories her uncle had shared.

Zoey loved to hear about her mother.

Remus had said that her mother was exceptionally bright and was good friends with Harry's mother. He had told her tales about her mother's odd habits and how everyone learned to love them. Zoey loved to hear what a great woman her mother was. She felt the need to be more like her. Not exactly like her but more.

Zoey swung her legs off her bed and sighed. She ran a hand through her messy bed-head hair and blinked a couple of times. Her vision wasn't the most horrible; in fact she could see just fine that is if what she was reading was near her face. Zoey squinted at the calendar near the door. All she saw was a rectangular blob. She reached for her glasses and placed them on before letting out a large yawn. It was Christmas day and Zoey wanted to get back to sleep.

Zoey looked to the foot of her bed and raised her eyebrow curiously. She saw a handful of gifts, one from Bridgit, Cedric and her Uncle Moony. She didn't expect anymore but there was another box. It was long and was wrapped in bumblebee like paper. She knelt to the ground and picked up the long box. It wasn't heavy but it wasn't exactly light either. She curiously flipped it over several times until she found her name. It was no Christmas gift mix up. It was really hers.

Zoey licked her lips and placed the gift on her bed, she decided she would save it for last. She went on in opening her Uncle's gift. She carefully un-wrapped the paper and smiled when she saw it was assorted candies from Honeydukes. She placed it on her bed, beside the unopened gift. She went to open Bridgit's and a smile appeared on her face when she saw what it was, it was a new bracelet. She slipped it one and opened Cedric's. It was a headband with a note attached to it _'I think you look lovely with your hair down' _It read. Zoey smiled softly before placing the headband on her head.

Suddenly, Zoey's smile disappeared when she caught sight of the unopened gift. She had hoped that it would take her a longer time until she needed to open it but sadly she didn't have much gifts to consume her time. It was now or never. Zoey grabbed for her wand before approaching the gift. She muttered a spell under her breath and watched the gift twitch a bit but after that, nothing happened. Zoey sighed. She was either being to paranoid or careless. She opened the gift.

"No way….," Zoey breathed out when she opened the lid of the box after unwrapping it. Inside was a broom, not any old broom but a flying broomstick, not any old flying broomstick but a Firebolt. A Firebolt. Zoey felt confused. She lifted the broom out of the box and simply stared at it. Why would anyone give her such a thing? She didn't play Quidditch and she never took flying as a regular hobby. "This has to be a mistake," she whispered and checked the box again. She found a small note inside.

_To Zoey_

The note read. Zoey flipped it over. Nothing else was written. This was no mistake. The Firebolt was actually hers. Zoey could not believe it. She had to be dreaming.

* * *

Zoey held the Firebolt firmly in her hands as she trudged towards the Quidditch pitch. She wore a turtleneck sweater under her winter robes and her Hufflepuff scarf around her neck. She wore the head band she got from Cedric on her head and placed a braid in her hair. She carefully mounted her broom and licked her lips. She must be mental. She was never good with a broom. Wings, yes. Broom, no.

"What am I suppose to do with this?" she mumbled quietly to herself and heard Bridgit's voice sarcastically say in her head _"I don't know. Sweep the floor obviously"_ Zoey shook her head. She knew what to do; she just didn't know if she wanted to do it.

"Here goes everything I guess," Zoey said and then kicked off from the ground. Zoey closed her eyes as she felt the wind push downwards as she flew upwards. She took a cold breath in before opening her eyes. She looked around the Quidditch pitch and leaned a bit to the right. The Firebolt moved to the right. Zoey blinked several times. She tilted to the left. The Firebolt moved to the left.

Zoey grinned.

She could get used to this.

Zoey flew. She flew like she never did before on both broom and wings. She flew high so she could get a good look of Hogwarts and she flew low in hopes that she wouldn't fall to her doom if she slipped of her broom. She flew in circles just to get the cold air in her face and she even chases a bird once or twice. After about an hour or two in the air, Zoey got tired. She tilted downwards and flew back to the ground. She rolled of her broom and stayed put for a while staring up at the sky.

What would Fred do when he found out she had a Firebolt? Would he be jealous? Would he want to try it? Maybe he'd accept it as a peace offering and be friends with her again. Zoey shook her head. He wasn't that thick.

Out of nowhere, Zoey heard a bark.

She tilted her head a bit and saw a black dog, though upside down from her vision, walking towards her. He stopped at her broom and sniffed it.

"Hey boy," Zoey said tiredly, "Pretty cool huh? Firebolt. Fastest broom in the world"

The dog barked.

"No, I don't know who gave it to me," Zoey said pretending she knew what the dog was saying. She did not. She just felt like talking to it. "But I doubt it's dangerous. I mean, if it was it would have thrown me off when I was hundreds of feet from the ground. Could have killed me but no, it didn't. It was just like a regular broom only faster and smoother"

The dog barked again and panted.

"I almost fell to my doom you know. A few years back. I almost fell of the Astronomy Tower but I lived through. Obviously. There was a fight up there with my… friends… I didn't participate in it though but I was caught in crossfire… Pretty dumb of me," the dog growled, "Hey, no need to get mad. It's not their fault. It was just… an idea gone too far… they all apologized when I woke up. I was asleep for four days! Missed a lot. Like, a troll breaking into Hogwarts"

The dog made a curious whine. Zoey looked at it and laughed softly. It was tilting its head to her.

"I don't know how it got in. I was unconscious! But… yeah… you know, I miss my friends. Sorry, I'm rambling right now. I feel a bit scatter-minded. I got that from my mother you know? Always jumping from topic to topic. It gets quite confusing but I guess it keeps the conversation interesting. You know what I mean?" The dog didn't reply, "I'm talking to a dog… I think I've gone mad. Is this the result of loneliness? Maybe"

The dog approached her and pressed its wet nose to the crown of her head. Zoey blinked curiously at it. "My friends… they aren't talking to me anymore. We got into a fight. No, no wands involved just… a diary and an overheard conversation apparently. You know what happened? They found out who I truly am. You see here doggie. Before this year I was known as Zoey Anastasia Emeraude but now… to them at least… I'm known as Zoey Anastasia Emeraude-Black… that's why we got in a fight," the dog made a deep growl, "It's my fault here. I didn't tell them who I really am. I guess they felt betrayed that I kep stuff from them. You see here doggie, my father is a mass murderer apparently and he betrayed his friends. The parents of one of my friends, he isn't talking to me too by the way.

I guess, yeah. I don't really know how to explain it but… because of that little… or big fact about me that I kept hidden they don't want to talk to me anymore. I don't know what to do. Everyone says my dad's a criminal but my mum says he's innocent. I wish I could ask my mum for help but she's dead. Died a few years after my dad's capture…I guess…. I'm in deep pumpkin gunk right now… You know what a euphemism is doggie? A euphemism is something I use and most of the time it doesn't make sense…"

Zoey rolled over to her stomach and made a hand motion. The dog lay down and she could now look at it from an even angle. She was face to face with it. The god continued to pant with its tongue lolling out while Zoey stared at it. She brought her hand to its head and petted it. She studied his features. He was a very handsome looking dog but also looked bigger than normal ones. She looked into his eyes. They were gray. The same gray as hers.

Her eyes widened.

She a picture of a dog flashed before her eyes.

She remembered the chocolate frog card she got in her first year

The dog titled his head questioningly.

"I think I'm going mental," she whispered to herself.

The dog whined.

Zoey brought her hand back and propped herself up a bit. She studied the dog again. Her eyebrows furrowed as she racked her brains for any answer to her millions of questions. Memories of her toddler years flashed before her eyes. She remembered her mother showing her pictures and the like and she remembered playing. Playing with an animal. A dog.

Zoey felt her breath caught in her throat and sat up straight. The dog sat up too. She grabbed hold of her Firebolt and looked at it. The dog bent down and took it by its mouth and held it. Zoey looked at him and held out her hand. The dog dropped the broom. Zoey watched as the dog looked at Hogwarts and back at her.

Zoey looked at the dog's neck and saw no collar. Zoey wondered who this dog was. He was too well trained to be a stray and almost seemed too smart to be a regular dog. It seemed that the dog had some magical qualities but she remembered Bridgit saying that dogs had none. That's why dogs were banned from Hogwarts. Zoey's eyes widened.

"Hey doggie," Zoey said in a quiet voice, "You know what an Animagus is?"

* * *

**Here's chapter 40! Sorry if it isn't that eventful. I just wanted a chapter that explained Harry's reaction and how Zoey got a firebolt because that firebolt would be needed in future chapters (A little spoiler for you guys :P) **

**I apologize if this chapter doesn't meet your likings. Sorry. My tests are coming in like one or two more days and I have to study hard. So I apologize that i'm not going to update for some time. Please forgive me.**

**Also, I had a little typo in my A/N in the last Chapter. It's suppose to be ZoomSkater14 NOT ZookSkater14.**

**Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, alerts and the like! They are all much appreciated!**

**Please be patient with me because I need to shape up before I can write more.**

**This is my graduating year and I need to pass so please be patient and wish me luck XD**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**Sorry for any errors or confusion!**

**I only own what I own!**

**Don't forget to review and the like XD**

**They make the world go round.**

**Or something...**

**Okay, I'm babbling.**

**GOOD BYE FOR NOW!  
**


	42. Chapter41:All fights must come to an end

**Chapter 41: All fights must come to an end  
**

Zoey sighed as she sat on her usual table in the library. She was located in the far corner of the Legal section. She particularly liked staying in this section because it was rather unpopular with the students and no one liked visiting it because the books never caught their interest. Mostly you would be able to find law books in this section and well, students don't really spend their times reading about things they can and cannot do in the wizarding world

She brought out a piece of parchment and a muggle pencil from her robes' pocket and began to doodle. She leaned her head on her arm as she looked at her drawing sideways. Her mind wandered to the recent events as her hand began to glide over the paper. She thought about her encounter with the dog. She had told it most of her life story and had wondered about why it was so well trained for a stray. She had asked it a question that she was sure it wouldn't understand. But it was after the question that shocked her.

_"Hey doggie," Zoey said in a quiet voice, "You know what an Animagus is?"_

_The dog sat up straight and seemed to go frigid. Zoey looked at him curiously. The dog then started to act rather nervous. This surprised Zoey. He seemed almost human. Zoey bit her lip as she reached out to the dog and was about to pat his head before he stood up._

_"Doggie?" Zoey asked but then the dog ran away. _

_Zoey's eyebrows knitted in worry as she watched the dog disappear into the Forbidden Forest. She had half a mind to go after him but something told her she shouldn't._

Zoey blinked several times as she came back to reality. She looked down to her parchment and saw that she had drawn the dog. The dog that she had been thinking about. She sat up straight and bit her lip. She folded the drawing and kept it in her pocket together with the pencil. She brought her hand out with another object in her hands.

It was the fortune teller.

Zoey slipped her fingers in and began to play.

"Gryffindor…five…seven…one…," Zoey mumbled to herself and opened the flap. Her fortune came out.

_All will be revealed in time_

It read. Zoey frowned and watched the fortune disappear. She tried again.

"Ravenclaw…six…two…one…," Zoey bit her lip and read the fortune.

_Those who left you will come back but those who never left will._

Zoey hastily pocketed the fortune teller. She swiftly stood up and walked out of the library. It was her free period and she still had thirty minutes left before Herbology. She gave a sigh. She used to spend her free period with Fred or both of the twins but now she'd see it happening. Fred and George were still mad at her, Echo was avoiding her, Harry and Ron steered clear of her and Bridgit hung out with Hermione because it seemed like she, Hermione, had a misunderstanding with her own friends. Even Cedric didn't hand out with her that much because he had his own friends. Zoey looked down at her hands as she placed down each digit for every person she eliminated from her list.

"I can't hang out with Uncle Moony because he has papers to check and lessons to plan," Zoey placed down her pointer finger, "And I haven't seen 'doggie' since Christmas," she placed down her thumb. Zoey sighed. She had run out of digits and friends. She walked further down the hall and caught sight of Ginny. Her face lit up. She had forgotten about Ginny. Zoey made her way towards the second year but slowed her pace when she saw Ginny enter a classroom. Ginny had a different schedule. A schedule that made it hard for them to hang out.

Zoey turned around. She felt pathetic. She walked down the hall and found the moving staircase. She climbed it. Zoey found a slight joy with the staircases. She enjoyed the shocking feeling when it moved and she loved to explore the level the staircase brings her to. Zoey smiled when she reached the seventh floor. She jumped of the staircase and walked. She looked at the different paintings hanging on the walls, occasionally having conversations with them.

On a particular painting, Zoey squinted. The painting held a mother caring for her child. The background was of their backyard and the scenery was grassy with one apple tree in the distance. It looked to be afternoon and the mother was lulling her child for a nap. The painting looked normal except for the background. Something caught Zoey's eye. Near the apple tree was a knight with a large sword and a fat pony at his side. Zoey raised her eyebrow. What was a knight doing in the painting? She wondered.

The knight turned towards her and Zoey stepped back when the knight brandished his sword and yelled "Ha!" before galloping away on his chubby horse. Zoey blinked in confusion. Was that Sir Cadogan ? Suddenly, Zoey heard the sounds of fast footsteps followed by and irritated yell. She turned to her left and saw the Weasley Twins running her way with suppressed laughter evident on their faces. It was obvious that they had just pulled a prank. Zoey watched as they passed her by and made a quick turn to hide behind a statue of a jolly fat man with a large vulture on his shoulder. It was an odd statue but it was useful to hide behind.

She gave the statue, or the twins, a bewildered expression before turning around to see the caretaker, Mr. Filch, looking very angry with purple and green gunk covering him from head to toe. Zoey held her breath and took a step back when Filch caught sight of her and marched towards her.

"Where are they?" he asked with a glare. Zoey had to breathe through her mouth for he had smelled ghastly.

"W- What?" Zoey asked as she tried to use as little air as possible. She did not want to taste the gunk. After all, whatever you smell is the taste of the object...or something like that. Zoey didn't know. She read it from a muggle book.

"Those bloody twins!" Filch said angrily. His cheeks blotched red. "I know you're hiding them!"

"Why would I?" Zoey found herself asking. Filch was always in a foul mood but now it seemed even more foul. Zoey did not like that.

"I always see you hanging out with them. For all I know you could have been in on the prank they pulled," Filch glared as he indicated the gunk he was covered in.

Zoey winced. It seemed as though Filch had not noticed that she hadn't been hanging out with the twins for the past month or so. She did not know how to feel about it. Instead she let her eyes dart to the statue the twins were hiding behind. She quickly looked back at Filch and noticed he had a sort of malicious smile. Zoey gulped.

"They're behind that aren't they?" Filch asked as he made his way towards the statue. Zoey's eyes widened and took a side step blocking Filch.

"No they aren't," she said hastily

"Yes they are," Filch said, "Because if they weren't you wouldn't be stopping me right now. Now move aside."

Zoey stumbled aside from Filch's force. She felt her panic rise when he was just a few feet away from Fred and George. At this moment Zoey spoke before thinking. "You're looking for the one who pulled the prank on you right?"

Filch turned around and squinted his eyes. "Yes, and I'm about to find them"

"But you already found them – err – me," Zoey felt her hands get clammy.

"What are you on about?"

"I was the one who pulled the prank," Zoey breathed.

"You're lying," Filch said with a glare, "I saw the those twins pull it"

"T-they made have pulled it but…but I told them too!" Zoey said with her eyebrows furrowed, "I told them to… to cover you with that purple and green gunk. Yup, it was all me"

Filch raised an eyebrow. It looked like he did not believe her for a second. In truth, Zoey didn't believe herself. She cursed herself for being a terrible liar. She bit her lip as she straightened up. Might as well distract him so that the twins could escape.

"So, since you've found me," Zoey said as she raised her wrists, "You can lock me up in detention or… yeah…"

"You're covering up for them aren't you?"

"Of course not! I – I can prove that I told them to do it. Here, watch," Zoey brought out her wand and gave a wave, _"Gunkyfy!"_

Her wand shook and yellow green liquid squirted out of it and onto Filch. Zoey felt her expression turn to horror when the gunk began to change color. Yellow green to green to blue green and so on a so forth. It was worse than the purple and green gunk Fred and George pulled on him. _I can't believe that spell worked, _Zoey thought to herself as the gunk turned a bright pink before changing to a deep red. She made a face when it turned back to yellow green except with orange blotches.

Filch seethed in anger. He grabbed hold of Zoey and dragged her away. "You're coming with me," he said angrily.

Zoey stumbled over her feet and sighed with relief. She looked behind her and saw the twins' heads peeking out from behind the statue giving her a confused expression. Zoey was about to smile but then changed her mind. They were still angry with her. She gave them one last look before turning back and following Filch to wherever he was going to take her for her detention.

* * *

Fred watched with confusion as Zoey tried to get Filch's attention back to her. He and his brother had just thrown balloons filled with the reject potion they made in Potions class at Filch not too long ago and were just about to escape him when Zoey caught their eye. They swerved behind a statue of a fat man with a vulture perched on his shoulders to get a look at her. She had returned to her messy hair and glasses look and looked thinner than ever. They never really got a good look at her after the fight but now that they have she looked worrisome. She looked like a walking skeleton.

_Come of it mate, you're not suppose to care. She lied to you, _Fred thought to himself as he shook his head and refocused his attention to the caretaker and the Hufflepuff.

"I was the one who pulled the prank," he heard Zoey breath out.

"What is she doing?" George whispered from beside him.

"I don't know," Fred whispered back, "but by the looks of it she's taking the blame for us."

"Why would she do that?"

"I don't know," Fred then directed his attention back at the Zoey.

"Of course not! I – I can prove that I told them to do it. Here, watch," He watched Zoey bring out her wand, _"Gunkyfy!"_

Fred tried with all his might to keep his laughter hidden. From the corner of his eye, he could see George doing the same. Filch was covered with gunk that seemed to change color every three seconds. It was hilarious to see it change from a dark color to a neon one. The look on Filch's face was priceless as well.

"Gunkyfy," George chuckled from beside him, "I didn't know that was a spell"

"It isn't… Zoey…made it all by herself," Fred found himself smiling and quickly frowned. He shouldn't be smiling. This was Zoey! The girl who kept her entire identity a secret from him/

"You mean like in second year?" George asked.

"Exactly," Fred answered as he watched Filch take Zoey away with him.

Fred peeked out from behind the statue and George followed suit. He watched as Zoey looked back at them and seemed to struggle before looking away. He raised an eyebrow. What was she going to do? What's Filch going to do with her?

* * *

"Zoey, have you seen either Fred or George?" Echo spoke with an apathetic voice.

Zoey stiffened at the sight of the Ravenclaw. She, Zoey, was just about to head towards her detention. She even had a wooden bucket and floor brush in her hands when Echo approached her. Zoey gulped as she nervously shuffled the bucket from one hand to the other.

"Err – yeah… just a while ago…. They were hiding behind the statue of a fat man with a vulture on his shoulder," Zoey replied softly.

Echo nodded her head before catching sight of the bucket. "Just tell me, why are you doing Filch's work?" Echo scoffed, "You're a student not a janitor"

Zoey winced at her tone. "I – I got detention," she replied as she looked down at the bucket.

"Aren't you supposed to write lines, then?"

"This is Filch we're talking about," Zoey furrowed her eyebrows, "He thinks lines are too easy and this is the closest to corporal punishment… I guess"

Zoey then knelt down on the floor and brought out the floor brush. She began to scrub. She just remembered that Filch was going to check up on her in an hour and if she didn't get at least more than half the floor done she would have more work to do. She had already spent most of her day doing the first and second floor she didn't want to do the rest of Hogwarts and skip more of her classes. She was having trouble catching up as it is.

"Meh. it's kinda true," Echo looked around for a moment not sure what to make out of Zoey's scrubbing but then she just knelt down beside her, "Have you started studying for your OWLs?"

Zoey stopped scrubbing. She then spoke without thinking. "Why do you care? You haven't spoken to me in weeks"

"It's true that I haven't spoken to you in the past month. After a while, I realized that my actions were so much of an immature git. So I stopped," Echo shrugged.

"Really now," Zoey raised an eyebrow before returning to scrubbing the floor. She felt like one of those misunderstood muggle princesses.

"Really," Echo stood up and pushed away her bangs of her face, "You want any help with that?"

Zoey didn't reply. She stared at Echo with wide-eyes.

"What?" Echo raised an eyebrow.

"Y – You're eyes," Zoey stuttered out as she dropped the floor brush into the bucket making it go _'plop!'_

"They've always been like that…," Echo took a small step backwards, "Not used to it, I see. I'm sure all the others are"

Zoey furrowed her eyebrows. "I know I'm not one to talk but… are you hiding something from me?"

"Not actually hiding something from you since from the very start it was already quite obvious," Echo pointed at her right eye whilst her other hand covered the left eye.

"Uhuh… I know your eyes are gold, Echo," Zoey said, "But right now… it seems like there's more… brush your bangs back"

Echo did as she was told, and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh wow," Zoey's eyes widened, "Didn't know you were beautiful," she said teasingly.

Echo grimaced as she heaved a deep sigh, "Bree didn't tell you yet, did she?"

"Bree? You mean Bridgit? No… she didn't… tell me what exactly?" Zoey asked as she fell back to the floor and took out the brush. She began to scrub the floor again.

"Bree didn't tell you that I'm a Veela," Echo just stared at her down.

"Veela? What's that?" Zoey asked as she picked up a rag hanging from the side of the bucket and moved to wiping the painting, asking them to move so that she could clean them.

"Err – Veela's have the power over the storm and can almost always manipulate men…," Echo shuddered at the thought, "And they can shoot fire from their hands"

Zoey raised an eyebrow. "Never saw you control the storm. Are you pure or half?" she asked. Zoey found it very odd that she was very calm in taking all this information in.

"Half, actually. Mum said before that I can only shoot fire out from my hands, nothing else," Echo spoke casually now, as if the fight had never actually occurred.

Zoey nodded her head. "So you never told me this because….?"

"I thought it was quite obvious," Echo simply stated.

"And I thought it was quite obvious why I didn't tell you guys who my parents were and who I actually was – am," Zoey fully faced Echo and leaned against the wall. Zoey was tired of all the drama and wanted to take this casually. She was sick and tired of her weak state. She no longer wanted to seem like a fragile girl in front of Echo anymore.

"I guess we think of people similarly then," Echo huffed out a sigh.

"Uhuh," Zoey said before looking down. She couldn't help but ask, "Should I be mad?"

"If you want to," Echo spoke, "then feel free to throw a tantrum"

"That's the thing… I've read a lot of muggle and wizarding teen books and well most of them had this sort of scenario," Zoey made a hand gesture, "Secrets kept, fights and making up. Usually – err – the victim, if you will, of the story would either get all sappy and emotional or throw, as you say, a tantrum. I, for one, am completely calm right now because… well… I've never experienced this before so… what should I do? "

"Act level-headed, get mad at what's suppose to get mad about," Echo smiled, "Those kinds of things"

"Is this something to get mad about? The fact that you, Fred and George wouldn't let me explain?" Zoey asked

"Most likely," Echo responded, "Though each of us will be of fault"

Zoey slowly nodded her head before going back to the floor and picking up the brush. She didn't know how much time had passes and she would rather have Filch seeing her cleaning the floor rather than talking to a friend. Zoey smiled. Friend. She continued to scrub until she heard footsteps. She looked over her shoulder and saw the twins. Fred and George. She watched them looked at her then to the floor and lastly to Echo.

"Those gits are alive, I remember," Echo shook her head.

"And they're sort of the reason why I'm serving detention tonight," Zoey said as she watched the twins make their way towards her and Echo.

"Wow. If only I knew how to shoot fire from my hands," Echo looked downward, "But mum never taught me"

"And I would rather not have you murder them," Zoey said with a chuckle, "Oh chicken nuggets. I'm too nice"

"Too nice," Echo repeated.

"Is it a good thing though?" Zoey asked.

"Nope. Not always. At least," Echo smirked, "Oh and not a word to the twins about my humanity"

Zoey glanced over her shoulder and saw the twins drawing nearer. She found it odd that they haven't greeted Echo yet. She then looked back at Echo. "I thought they would have known about you being a Veela"

"Yeah, but they wouldn't let me live it down if they were reminded"

Zoey nodded her head and sat down with her legs folded beneath her. She watched as Echo stared at the twins. "Now," Echo began, "I need to abduct George for hiding all my hard-earned stashed chocolate," Echo swiftly left Zoey and headed towards George. Zoey watched as George opened his mouth to speak but quickly closed it when his facial expression changed to shock after her was abruptly pulled by Echo. She watched curiously as Echo began to walk the other direction with George stumbling behind her.

"Echo!" George exclaimed, "Where are you taking me?"

Echo did not say anything. She continued to walk until she and George were out of Zoey's sight. Zoey's shoulders shook a bit as she tried to keep in her laughter. Echo and George were truly something. She turned her head back to the bucket and paled when she saw Fred's reflection. She looked up form under her lashed and saw him watching her. She gulped.

"Hi," he said.

* * *

**And here's chapter 41~**

**I know I said in the last chapter I wasn't going to update for a few days but i really needed too!**

**I just finished my first day of tests and I died a little inside.**

**MATH WAS IMPOSSIBLE!**

**I tell you that subject's going to cause me my life!**

**Anyway, special thanks to HalyeyParadox for helping me with this chapter!**

**and to everyone who favorited, reviewed and the like!  
**

**Also, we see that Zoey and Echo has made up!**

**What about Zoey and Fred?**

**Oh~!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter~!**

**Don't forget to review and the like!**

**I only own what I own!  
**


	43. Chapter 42: New Picture, Stronger Bonds

**Chapter 42: New Picture, Stronger Bonds  
**

"Hi," Fred said.

Zoey froze and just watched him awkwardly run his right hand through his hair and rubbing it against the back of his neck. His left hand stayed in his pocket. Zoey bit her lip and dunked the brush and the rag into the bucket making some drops of water splash out. She looked down to the floor and focused her gaze on the droplets. She heard Fred shuffle. She made kept her lips in a firm line as she furrowed her eyebrows. She did not know what would happen next. She wished she had her fortune teller right now.

"So…cleaning the floor are you?" Fred began awkwardly.

"Err – yeah," Zoey replied as she removed her glasses to clean the lenses, "Filch's detention"

"For the… prank –"

"That I apparently told you and George to do," Zoey laughed awkwardly and so did Fred.

The laughter died to with a half sigh and laugh. They returned to silence.

Zoey licked her lips and stood up. Fred stepped forward looking like he was about to help her but he went back to his original place when Zoey began to dust of her robes. She then looked back at him and gave him a small smile. She hated the tension, the awkwardness but she really didn't know what to do about it. She waited for Fred to begin the conversation but it didn't look like he was going to say something any time soon. Zoey thought about starting the conversation but she didn't know what to say. She racked her brains for any tips that she could have gotten from the books she had read but nothing. The books basically described what was happening to her right now. Zoey felt her hand twitch. Her heart was beating rapidly against her chest.

She wanted to get his over and done with.

"Fred –"

"Zoe –"

They stopped and went back to the silence.

Fred licked his lips and held out his hand. "You go first"

"No you," Zoey said.

"No, you," Fred argued, "Ladies first"

"Don't use that on me. You should go first"

"And why's that?"

"Because I really didn't have anything to say," Zoey said sheepishly. She felt an embarrassed blush appear on her cheeks. She saw Fred give a lopsided smile at what she said. Her heart began to beat faster. She really missed him. She felt pathetic but it was true. She truly missed him and felt broken when he left.

Fred shifted from one foot to the other as he thought about what he should say. Should he begin with an apology? After all, Zoey did deserve on. How about a joke? To lighten up the mood? Fred racked his brain and for the first time he could not think of anything funny to say. He felt his eyes widen at that realization and his mouth hanging a bit open. The Fred Weasley speechless? Can't think of anything to say? What has the world come to?

Zoey looked at Fred curiously. He had been shifting awkwardly a while ago but now he was staring into space with wide eyes and his mouth hanging open. She looked back and saw nothing shocking behind her. She then returned to Fred and saw his eyes widening even more. It looked likes something was going on in his head. Zoey felt her heart beating again. Something was going on with Fred.

She cleared her throat.

Fred came back to earth.

"Are you alright?" she asked. Fred shook his head a bit before refocusing his gaze on her. He seemed to have realized that the tension as still there. He coughed into his hand.

"I'm fine," he said, "What about you?"

"It depends," Zoey said with a small shrug

"Depends on what?"

"Where this conversation will go," Zoey said and cursed in her head. She made the tension even thicker.

Zoey knelt back to the ground and took out the dripping brush. She began to ferociously scrub the floor. She was trying to distract herself. As she was scrubbing she recalled all the moments she'd spent with Fred. All those times he tried to get her to tell him what had been happening to her, her secrets and her past. Zoey felt her hands shake a bit and she almost lost her balance for her was putting all her weight on her arms as she was scrubbing. Suddenly, she heard something land on the floor and looked up to see another floor brush. She saw Fred plop down on the floor as well and began to scrub the floor too.

"What…?"

"It wasn't your prank," Fred said as he scrubbed the floor, "So this isn't your detention"

"Well I did lie to a school official," Zoey said as she continued to scrub.

"Lying doesn't exactly get you landed in detention," Fred paused, "Well it depends on the lie and the teacher… what I'm trying to say is lying to Filch doesn't count"

Zoey laughed, "Is that so?"

"Yes," Fred grinned, "I should know"

"From experience I'm guessing?"

"Bull's eye," Fred winked.

Zoey grinned as her shoulders shook from laughter. She then brought her hand to her mouth as she tried to calm her laughter. She didn't exactly know why she was laughing. Sure, Fred was funny but the joke didn't really require a very long laugh. She then closed her eyes and snorted a bit. She blushed when she realized what she had done.

"Hey, you snort when you laugh," Fred tilted his head and smiled.

"Not all the time," Zoey hid her blush by ducking her head and letting her bangs and the hair that fell lose from her tie fall.

Fred reached towards her and tilted her head up. He pushed her hair away. Zoey gave a rather confused smile, the red still evident on her cheeks. "No need to be embarrassed. I like it. It's cute," Fred grinned.

"Just get back to scrubbing," Zoey said with a grin and a shake of her head.

"I thought this wasn't my detention?" Fred asked.

"You already scrubbed. It's yours now… besides this could be your detention for the next prank you pull," Zoey said as she scrubbed harder.

"That hurts Zoe," Zoey looked up, "Right here," Fred then pointed to his chest.

Zoey laughed, "That's your right chest Fred. Your heart's on you left"

Fred looked down and quickly placed his pointer finger to his left, "I knew that. It's just –"

"You don't know the difference from your left and your right?"

"I'm not an idiot!" Fred blushed.

"I didn't say you were!" Zoey laughed again, "But that was the second time you confused the placement of your heart"

Fred laughed at his own mistake and took the brush. He then threw it in the air causing droplets of water to spray out. Zoey made a face as she moved her head away from the water. She then made a disgusted sound. Fred laughed at her. "It's just water!" he said

"From the floor!" Zoey wiped her face with the sleeve of her robe.

"Like you haven't been touching it," Fred said.

Zoey gave him a bemused look before placing her hand in the bucket and removing it only to sprinkle Fred with the water on her hands. Fred made a sound of surprise before falling back to avoid the water. His leg kicked the bucket when he fell causing it to topple over. Zoey yelped and moved far away from the liquid crawling on the floor. She watched as it spread across the floor and towards different directions. It seemed to have a mind of its own.

"Sorry about that," Fred apologized as he sat back up.

"It's okay," Zoey brushed her bangs back, "At least the floor's clean… I guess"

"No, not about that but I guess I'm sorry about that too. When I was apologizing for was about everything," Fred struggled with his words. It looked like he didn't know how to put his apology into words.

Zoey looked at him and studied his face. He was telling the truth. She bit her lip and looked back at the puddle of floor water. It had stopped moving and just reflected the ceiling. She vaguely wondered if that was what Mrs. Norris saw the previous year before being petrified. Zoey shivered slightly. She didn't want to remember her fourth year. It was truly horrifying for her. After a few more seconds she looked at Fred and smiled softly "It's okay," she said in a voice almost like a whisper.

Fred's eyes widened and he looked at her in shock. Zoey looked like she was slightly lost in her own world but Fred realized that what she always looked like. Zoey almost always seemed like she was thinking. Thinking of millions of things yet at the same time nothing. She always seemed at peace. Fred mentally shook his head. He was staring at her.

"What?" he asked.

"It's okay," Zoey repeated.

"It's okay," Fred said slowly, "Just like that. You forgive me."

"What else do you want me to say?" Zoey asked with confusion.

"I don't know. It just seemed like… Well, remember that fight George and I had with Bridgit and well, you wouldn't forgive me for the longest time," Fred licked his leaps as he scratched his head, "I just figured why did you forgive me so easily now? This… this fi – err – misunderstanding was bigger than last time"

"So you don't want me to forgive you?" Zoey tilted her head.

"What? No! That's not what I meant. I mean, why? I was an arse – Zoey don't wince at that word ("I can't help it!" Zoey whined) – and I didn't even give you a chance to explain why you hid your… identity from us. I also showed them your diary without your permission," Fred confessed

Zoey bit her inner cheeks as she tried to think of something to say. With Echo, it had been a calm conversation when they made up but with Fred, it seemed a little more complicated. Like her secret affected him more than the others. Zoey momentarily wondered how she would be with George. Would it this be awkward or this hard to communicate? Unlikely. These things only ever happened with Fred. Only with Fred.

"Well, with Bridgit it was entirely your fault… well not entirely but it was your fault but now… it was my fault," Zoey said slowly.

"I was the one who took your diary and showed it to them," Fred pointed out.

"But I was the one who dropped it wasn't I? That and I was also the one who didn't tell you lot who I really was – am. No, Fred, don't argue. You know everything will just trace back to me," Zoey said, "Let's just leave it at that okay? So… Friends?"

Fred studied Zoey's held out hand. "You know I don't want to leave it at that, Zoe"

"I know," Zoey said as she wiggled her fingers impatiently, "But let's leave it at that for today"

"Sure," Fred said as he grabbed hold of her hand.

Zoey moved her hand to shake his but yelped in surprise when Fred pulled her towards him and enveloped her in a hug. Zoey blushed as she felt Fred's body heat warm her and smiled slightly when she felt his arms hold her tightly against him. She had missed this contact. The innocent gesture amongst friends. She closed her eyes and breathed in his scent.

She felt his chest rumble as he laughed.

"Are you smelling me?" he asked.

"Is it wrong?" Zoey asked in return, "You smell nice. The unique Weasley scent"

His chest rumbled again. "I didn't know we Weasleys had a scent"

"Of course you do," Zoey said as she listened to Fred's heartbeat, "Everyone does"

"Oh yeah? What about Echo"

"Mint and Raspberries"

"Bridgit?"

"Strawberries"

"What about you?"

"Hmm? I don't know. How do I smell like?" Zoey asked as she readjusted her position. She wondered what time it was.

She felt Fred press his face in her hair and laughed when he exaggerated his inhaling. Fred lifted his head and made a gasp for breath. "You smell awful!" he exclaimed.

Zoey smacked his arm.

"Just kidding," he laughed, "You smell like coconut milk. That's odd why do your friends smell like berries yet you smell like a coconut? What's wrong with you?"

Zoey smacked his arm again. "For your information. A strawberry is not a berry!"

Fred loosened his grip on the Emeraude and looked at her with wide eyes. Zoey tilted her head curiously at him. "You're lying," he said.

"I'm not. A strawberry is not a berry but a banana is," she said, "oh and a tomato is a fruit.

"Stop it! You just ruined my favorite desert toppings!" Fred whined

Zoey made a face, "You put tomatoes on your ice-cream?"

"What? No! Strawberries and Banana's I can never look at them the same way again!"

"And how is that my fault?"

"You told me that berry trivia," Fred said in a 'matter of fact' voice, "Now I know my food has been lying to me"

Zoey laughed and placed her head on his shoulder trying to control her laughter. Fred was acting like a child but it made her laugh. How could she possible ruin his desert by telling him a berry trivia? And how could food even lie? They can't even speak! Zoey laughed harder with the thought. Her shoulders shook and she snorted again. Fred laughed as well.

In a matter of minutes all laughter died down and silence once again hung in the air. Zoey shifted and faced the wall. She casted her eyes down and looked at the puddle. She was suppose to be cleaning the floor but couldn't see why anymore. She had most of her friends back and couldn't care less what Filch would do when he found out she was slacking. Zoey sighed in content. She then felt Fred shift.

"I don't want to ruin the moment but… when are you going to tell me?" Fred said in a soft voice.

Zoey turned her head towards him and blushed when she realized how close their faces where. "Tell you what?" she whispered.

"Everything," Fred breathed.

"All in due time," Zoey replied as she closed her eyes. She wanted to keep this peaceful picture. She didn't want to ruin it. She felt happy. Like nothing could go wrong. Everything was right.

Suddenly, there was a yell. Zoey jumped a bit and Fred tensed. She turned around and the yelling became louder and sounded frantic. In a distance she could see someone running towards them at top speed. Behind that person was another person, except this one was holding a rather large pocket book. Zoey felt her eyes widen when she realized that George was running away from Echo.

"YOU BLOODY BURK!" Echo exclaimed as she swung her pocket book at George.

George ducked and picked up his pace. When he caught sight of his twins and Zoey he said, "Save yourselves! Run from the crazed Veela!"

Zoey raised her eyebrows at George and quickly gasped when George slipped on the puddle. She watched him stumble, fall and glide across the floor. Though George looked utterly terrified at Echo, Zoey couldn't help but laugh. It was truly comical. Echo then came running and, not noticing the puddle, slipped as well. She glided across the floor and somehow landed on George. Zoey had a slight bemused smile on her face when she saw their slightly embarrassed faces. Fred laughed.

"Way to have a moment you guys!" Fred yelled over at his twin.

"Oh belt up, Fred," George groaned.

Fred simply laughed and looked back at Zoey. "We'll continue this later?"

Zoey was about to respond but she heard another set of fast footsteps. She looked back and saw Bridgit coming around the corner. She looked slightly out of breath and looked at both sides of the corridor. When she caught side of Zoey in Fred's arms, Echo on top of George she, Bridgit, seemed to have forgotten what she was doing and a mischievous smile crept on her lips.

"Look what we have here, A couple's festival!" Bridgit said, making George and Echo take notice to her.

"What are you doing here?" Fred asked ignoring her last comment.

"Uhm, let's just say Filch caught me at the same time the Slytherin common room erupted with red and gold sparks and confetti," Bridgit answered, approaching the four of them.

George and Echo had gotten up and went towards Fred and Zoey as well. Zoey smiled at all of them. The picture, though she could not fix it she had gotten something to replace it. A better one. A picture that shows that they all stayed strong no matter what had happened. She visualized the picture being placed in a frame a frame that would not harm the picture when it falls. Zoey broke into a grin. She felt so happy, very light hearted. Like nothing could go wrong.

There was a yell.

A yell that made the five of them look towards the corner Bridgit emerged from. Filch came running out. He heaved angrily as he was decorated with red and gold confetti. He turned towards the five fifth years and glared. He opened his mouth to yell again but then caught sight of the puddle.

"My floor," he began, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY FLOOR!"

"Err – cleaned it?" Zoey sheepishly said.

* * *

**And here's chapter 42!**

**A moment purely dedicated to the ZED couple though there was a little GECHO and Bridgit appeared as well!**

**Thank you Hayley Pradox and ZoomSkater14 for helping me out!**

**Thank you all for reviewing and the like as well!**

**This chapter was rather short and at the beginning I kinda had a hard time but I had fun none the less!**

**Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Stay tuned for the next one!**

**Don't forget to review and the like!**

**I only own what I own!  
**


	44. Chapter 43: Boggart

**Chapter 43: Boggart  
**

"So how has project 'Train-Harry-to-keep-away-the-demetor-away' been going?" Zoey asked as she took a sip from her cup of tea.

She was once again in her uncle's office enjoying the messy yet at the same time organized room. She looked around and caught sight of a Grindylow in the corner of the room. She raised an eyebrow to it before placing her cup back on the table. She looked up at her uncle. Lupin was fixing papers on his desk and pulled out a quill and a red ink bottle. He was going to check papers. Zoey's shoulders shook a bit as she held in a laugh. She had read a bit of her mum's journal and there was a little entry about her uncle. He was a Marauder and a prefect. It had said he was a very diligent boy, loved to read and was most likely the quietest of the Marauders. Zoey would be lying if she said her Uncle was different from when he was a boy, but it was still funny to see him in "Teacher mode". Just think, a Marauder becoming a teacher. That's laugh.

Then again he _was _one of those "Cool" teachers.

Point one for Remus.

"If you mean me teaching Harry how to do the Patronus Charm then it's going as I had expected it to go," Remus said as he encircled the score he gave and went to another paper.

"And you expected it to go…?"

"Slowly," Remus said, "So far he's only been able to get fog out but… he was able to stop the Dementor"

"You sent a Dementor at him?" Zoey asked with wide eyes.

"What? Of course not. We used a Boggart," Remus looked at her.

"A Boggart? So he's afraid of Dementors?" Zoey asked as she began to stir her cup of tea.

Zoey watched as her Uncle simply nodded his head and went back to checking the papers. She shifted in her chair and sat with her legs hanging over the armrest and her face pressed at the back of the chair. She watched. She was not with her friends today for the simple reason of that they were training. Yes, training for the next Quidditch game. It was Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw. Zoey did not want to watch them train because she felt like she couldn't relate for she was not much of a Quidditch player and she did not want to get in their way. She would only serve as a distraction.

She let out a sigh as she listened to the scratching sounds the quill made on the paper. Boggart. She remembered her lesson with her Uncle. She had seen her classmates' fears. A brunette Ravenclaw was afraid of dragons while a blonde Hufflepuff feared clowns. Zoey had seen Echo's and Bridgit's fears as well. Echo's Boggart was a ghost while Bridgit was a burning house. She remembered the shocked gasps of the class when it was Bridgit's turn. Of course, who wouldn't be shocked to see a burning house in the middle of their classroom?

Zoey blinked as she continued to watch her uncle work. What was her Boggart? Class had ended before she could have her turn and to be honest she had wanted to see her fear. She wanted to see if it was going to be her Aunt Damiana or something else. Truth be told, Zoey was afraid of her aunt but she was also scared of high places like the Astronomy Tower. Zoey wondered if the Boggart was to turn to the Astronomy Tower would it still fit in the classroom? It would have been comical if it did turn to the Astronomy Tower but was in a mini version of it. She bit her lip. If it were to turn to her Aunt what would the Boggart do? Beat her up in front of the entire class? Not likely, could a Boggart even touch you? No. Zoey knew she didn't like the concept of perfection but how would a Boggart change into that? What does perfection even look like? The Boggart was good but not that good. Zoey thought hard. What was she afraid of? She knew she was scared of many things. She did not like to be left alone and hated to be rejected by people, but how could a Boggart even display her fears? How could it show loneliness or rejection? Zoey did not know.

"Uncle Moony," Zoey began, "What does your Boggart look like?"

Remus noticeably stiffened. Zoey observed that he looked scared for a moment. Was his Boggart really that bad? Her eyes moved to his scars. He seemed like he faced tons of scary creatures what could possibly scare him the most? Zoey blinked as Remus returned to checking the papers.

"Uncle Moony?" Zoey asked timidly.

"I heard you got detention with Filch the other day," Remus said quickly trying to avoid the subject, "Is there something you want to tell me?"

"No, is there something you want to tell me?" Zoey asked.

Remus looked at her in the eye before placing his quill down and the papers in his drawer. Zoey listened to the sounds his movements made as she waited for an answer. When Remus looked back at her Zoey figured her wasn't going to say anything.

"Remember the last time you were absent?" Zoey asked, changing the subject.

Remus nodded.

"Well, Professor Snape substituted and – how do I say this? – he sorta taught us something we haven't even learned yet," Zoey struggled with her words.

"A new lesson you mean?" Remus asked.

"Yes, a new lesson that we weren't suppose to learn yet. So it was like an advanced lesson," Zoey said as she shifted a bit, "And when he substituted he told us to turn to page three-hundred and ninety-four. You know what that chapter is on?"

"I have a feeling you're going to tell me," Remus said with a tired smile.

"The chapter was about Werewolves," Zoey said, "And that's all. I just felt like I should tell you and all be – Uncle Moony? What's wrong? You've gone all frigid"

Remus blinked and sighed. His "niece" was both smart and observant yet at the same time she was clueless. There were many instances where she was so close to the answer but yet so far for she did not know the answer was just in front of her. Zoey did not know that she was so close to finding out her uncle's secret. The only way she would know was if he told her. The question was, would he? Remus loved Zoey. He loved her like the daughter he never had. She was the product of his two best friends. The two people in the world that accepted him for who he was. The question was, would Zoey accept him as well? Remus knew for a fact that Zoey would. That was just the type of person Zoey was. Zoey was kind. In fact, she was _too _kind.

Zoey was the type to give everyone more chances than they deserved. The type to give everything the benefit of the doubt. She always looked at the bright side. Always tried to make others happy. Put everyone before herself. She was that type of girl. The type that would do anything to be accepted. Remus knew for a fact that if Zoey had the chance she would not agree to everyone. Sure, there were times where she spoke her mind but she did not force to get her way. If things didn't go as plan she would run away. Run away from the thing she feared. Remus sometimes compared Zoey to himself. Both had dark secrets in their lives and both just wanted acceptance. Remus kept his secret in order to live amongst other wizards and to be accepted into their kind while Zoey remained quiet about her life and did everything to please people in order to not be rejected.

That was just how they worked.

But Remus knew his limits. He knew when to stop and who to like but Zoey didn't. Zoey knew there were people in the world that just did not like her; she just did not know how to make the feeling mutual. She tended to exceed her limitations to please. She did not like the feeling of being alone. She did not like to be abandoned. That was her flaw. Zoey did not want to be hated by those she liked. She wanted to be accepted even if it meant getting the short end of the stick.

Remus ran a hand through his graying hair.

"Uncle Moony? Could it be that your worst fear is a werewolf?" Zoey asked with a tilt of her head.

Remus gave a dry laugh. Oh, the irony of her question.

"Uncle Moony, it's okay to be afraid of them," Zoey said with a worried face. Her Uncle had been awfully quiet

"What about you Zoey?" Remus asked, "Are you afraid of werewolves?"

Zoey looked at her uncle questioningly. "It depends"

"Depends on what?"

"If they're nice or not"

Remus shook his head. There she goes again. Giving people the benefit of the doubt. "But werewolves are monsters. Monsters are never nice"

"But they're still people aren't they? They only become monsters once a month. It isn't that bad – I mean I've seen witches who are even scarier than monsters when they're on that time of month," Zoey said with a shiver.

Remus laughed for a minute before turning serious. "But werewolves are dangerous creatures, Zoey; you do not want to encounter one"

"But like I said it's only on –"

"No, Zoey. Werewolves are shunned. They are not accepted anywhere. If you associated with one, then you'll be shunned as well," Remus explained

Zoey's eyebrows furrowed in thought. Why were they talking about this? Why did her Uncle want her to think badly on werewolves? This was not like him. Zoey bit her lip. Her uncle had a point. If she was friends with a werewolf then it would be just like her being the daughter of a mass murder. She would be hated. People would glare at her whenever she passed them by. She would be bullied and people would be scared of her. No one would look at her the same way again. This was her fear.

All Zoey wanted was to be accepted. She had changed part of her identity just to be liked. She had friends and even though they had a fight she still took them back. Though Zoey acted like she did not know, she knew she was supposed to be mad. She was supposed to be furious, irritated, and angry at the fact that they judged her before she could explain herself. She should have been pissed. She should have told them that they should beg for her forgiveness, but she didn't. Zoey was a coward. She was scared that they would leave her forever so she took them back in a heartbeat. She hated the feeling of being alone. She had neglected her health just because her friends left her. Zoey knew she was too nice. She hated the fact that she did not know how to be "angry" or "mean". There were times where she could put up a fight but on the inside it was killing her. Zoey hated it. She hated that she could not do anything about it.

"What about you, Uncle Moony? Are you associated with a werewolf?" Zoey asked with a raised eyebrow.

Remus swallowed hard. He did not expect her to ask such a question. "What would you do, Zoey," he said quickly to avoid the question, "If you found out your friend was a werewolf"

"I wouldn't do anything."

"What –"

"I wouldn't do anything because what am I suppose to do?" Zoey asked, "They'll still be my friend. I won't treat him or her differently so technically I'm not going to do anything. Maybe help him or her after the transformation but that doesn't really change anything, does it?"

Remus nodded slowly and stood up from his chair. He saw sincerity in Zoey's eyes. He should have known. Of course she would accept him. Her father did and so did her mother. He should have known. Remus walked over to Zoey and patted her knee making her sit properly. Zoey looked up at him curiously but Remus just smiled.

"You better be heading to class now," he said.

"But –"

"What kind of professor would I be if I let my student skip her class?" Remus asked.

"A fun one?" Zoey guessed.

"Rhetorical question"

"I know," she playfully stuck out her tongue and gave her uncle a hug before leaving his office.

Remus smiled softly when he heard the door click. He ran his hand through his hair before walking back to his desk and taking a seat.

* * *

Zoey wore a confused smile on as she stood in the Quidditch stands. In a matter of minutes the match of Ravenclaw against Gryffindor would begin and Zoey did not know which team to cheer for. Her two female best friends were on one team while both of her male best friends were on the other. She figured she did not have to pick sides but then she did not want to be confused on whose team she would be yelling out when she cheered.

Zoey gave of a happy sigh as she looked up. The weather was much better than the one against Hufflepuff. The sky was clear and there was a nice breeze blowing by. She looked back down to the Quidditch field and saw the teams emerging and walking towards the center. She caught Bridgit's and Echo's eyes and gave a wave. She then scanned the team and caught sight of Cho Chang the Ravenclaw Seeker. She knitted her eyebrows and concentration and noted that she was rather pretty. She did not know the girl personally but she had heard Bridgit ranting about her at times. She says that Cho Chang was not her favorite housemate to put it politely.

The Game began.

Harry kicked off from the ground and Zoey watched as his broom flew to the air the highest and zoomed around the quickest. Even though he said he hated her Zoey could not help but feel happy that Harry was playing. He loved Quidditch. She watched as he zoomed around the field and laughed as she listened to Lee's commentating. So far so good. The game was going great.

Zoey looked towards Cho and noted that she was a very good flier. She watched as she kept cutting in front of Harry causing him to change directions. Zoey felt guilty when she began rooting for Gryffindor to win. She was glad that Bridgit and Echo could not hear her thoughts.

"HARRY THIS IS NO TIME TO BE A GENTLEMAN! KNOCK HER OFF HER BROOM IF YOU HAVE TO!" Zoey heard Wood yell and she bit back a laugh. She would be lying if she said she was not annoyed that Cho kept stopping Harry from getting the snitch but it was rather comical. Comical in what way Zoey did not know. She just found herself laughing.

Zoey watched as Harry zoomed downwards and Cho following after him. Her heart stopped for a moment when she thought he was going to crash into the ground but breathed out a sigh when she saw him curve back upwards. She looked towards the Ravenclaw's end and saw Bridgit guarding the three hoops. She then saw it. The golden ball flying near her friend. Zoey thought hard. Would it be alright If she yelled out the snitch to Harry? Was it against the rules. Zoey did not know but she kept her mouth shut. What if Cho heard her? Then Ravenclaw would win. Zoey felt a guilty feeling in her stomach. She was hoping that Bridgit and Echo did not know Occlumency.

Zoey found her heart stopping again. Harry had spotted the snitch and was zooming towards it. He was so close to it but then what caused her heart to stop was flying below Harry. Three Dementors. She watched as Harry whipped out and yelled something out. She could not hear him but what amazed her was what came out of his wand. It was silvery and big. Zoey squinted her eyes. It looked like a stag. She then blinked her eyes when she heard Madam Hooch whistle. She focused her eyes back to Harry and saw that he was being smothered by the Gryffindor team. Zoey smiled. Gryffindor had won.

* * *

It was night time and from what Zoey had heard the Gryffindor team was having a party back in their Common Room. The twins invited her, Bridgit and Echo to come but Echo wanted to get some more studying done for the OWLs and Zoey didn't feel like joining. It would have been too awkward for her to join. She stopped in front of the painting of a mother and her child and looked back at Bridgit. She smiled.

"So how has things with Hermione been going?" Zoey asked, "Is she still in a fight with Harry and Ron?"

"Yes and in my opinion those two are being right gits," Bridgit answered

"What was the fight about anyway?" Zoey asked.

"Well, Harry received a Firebolt and Hermione, being smart, asked McGonagall to check it for jinxes, just in case your…uhm… dad jinxed it. Then it got confiscated, now they hate her for that," Bridgit answered awkwardly.

"But the Firebolt was returned already. Harry was using it in the game," Zoey said, confused.

"Yeah, oh and did I mention Ron thinks that Hermione's cat ate his mouse? I'm telling you that mouse, well Rat, is better of gone," Bridgit then said.

"Why's that?" Zoey asked.

"I hate rats," Bridgit answered, shivering at the thought of the creature.

"Ahh…" Zoey said with her mouth opening in realization. She then turned back to the painting. Her face fell. She missed her mum even though she never got to know her. It was just that empty feeling that bothered her. She had lost someone she hardly knew and it was killing her. Zoey wished she knew her mum. She wished her mum was never killed. Zoey wished for a lot of things but sadly most of her wished could never be granted.

"What was she like?" Bridgit asked, realizing Zoey's pain.

"What was who like?" Zoey asked removing her gaze from the picture.

"You mum," Bridgit answered, looking at the painting.

Zoey gave a sad smile. "I don't really know. She died when I was about three… I witnessed it too. That's probably why I can see the – never mind. You probably can't see them," Zoey said with a shake of her head as she looked back at the painting. The mother was slowly rocking her chair as the baby slept.

"Are you talking about the Thestrals?" Bridgit suddenly asked her eyes still on the painting.

"You can see them too?" Zoey asked as she looked at her friends with wide eyes, "Who did you see… err… you know?"

"I…uhm… witnessed my parents death," Bridgit answered, now bowing her head as the memories flashed back.

Zoey did not know what was going on in her friends head. She figured she was remembering the scene. The scene where her parents died. Zoey would have probably done the same. She would have recalled her mother's death even though she did not want to. She bit her lip. She knew it was the wrong time to ask but the question was bugging her to no end. She spoke without thinking. "Bridgit, I've been meaning to ask you but… why is your Boggart a burning house?" Zoey asked. Her eyes widened when she realized what she had said. "Y – you don't have to answer," she stammered.

"No, it's fine. You don't need to apologize," Bridgit answered, raising her head. She tried to stop the tears from flowing but was unsuccessful.

"My Boggart is a burning house because that was how my parents were killed," Bridgit said, "I was supposed to be killed to but my uncle saved me… my mom told him to save me. He wouldn't have is she didn't ask him"

"Your uncle? The one who sent you the Howler?" Zoey asked as she recalled her fourth year.

"Yeah…," Bridgit answered, her voice fading.

"I'm sorry," Zoey apologized.

"He hates me," Bridgit said with her tears still flowing, "He hates me because I'm my dad's daughter. He loves my mum but hates my dad. The fact that I look like him doesn't help either"

Zoey nodded slowly. She knew the feeling of being hated. It was one thing to be hated it was another to be hated by a relative. Being hated by someone who shared your blood was slightly more painful. It was painful because your family was the one thing you could run to when everything else falls around you. If they hate you, you end up with nothing. Zoey bit her lip again. She did not know what to do. She looked back at the painting and got an idea.

"Wanna head down to the kitchens? You know, get some hot chocolate?" she asked with a timid smile.

"Sounds great," Bridgit said, giving her a teary smile. She wiped the tears away and followed Zoey.

Zoey had a determined smile on her face. She knew where the kitchens were. They were near her Common Room behind the painting of fruits. All she had to do was tickle the pear. She hoped that they wouldn't get caught.

* * *

**and here's chapter 43 for you all!**

**Thanks for all the reviews and the like! I'm almost up to 200~ :D**

**Special thanks to ZoomSkater14 for helping me write this up!**

**You are awesome, you know that?**

**Anyway, this would be the last you lot would be hearing from me for sometime. I still have exams and I should be studying right now so Imma disappear for a few days but please don't leave yet! There's still more to come! You just have to be patient with me please :D**

**I've got to go now and hit the books, the Information sheets and the like. get my brain filled with information.**

**Wish me luck guys! :D**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**I only own what I own!  
**


	45. Chapter 44: Accidentally

**Chapter 44: Accidentally  
**

Zoey gulped as she stood in front of Dumbledore's office. She had been given the password by Professor Sprout after she had eaten her breakfast and was told to come here as soon as possible. Zoey did not know what she did. She wondered if she did anything against the rules. Her heart hammered against her chest. It couldn't have been that. Fred, George and Bridgit did a lot of things that were against the rules and yet they never had to go to Dumbledore's office. Zoey racked her brains. Did she ever do something so bad that she needed to be sent here? Heck, did she do anything bad? Zoey scrunched up her eyebrows as she thought harder. Did someone catch her in the kitchens with Bridgit? No, then Bridgit would be with her too. What about skipping class? No, the twins skipped class as well.

Zoey pushed her glasses up her head and wiped her eyes. She was tired and stressed. She had not slept that well last night. She was sitting on her bed the whole night enduring that painful feeling in her chest. She did not know what caused the pain it just felt uncomfortable and it kept her awake. Zoey let out a yawn.

"Might as well," she whispered to herself and knocked on the door. There was a soft "Come in" at the other end and Zoey pushed the door open.

"Whoa," Zoey breathed out as she entered the room. The Headmaster's office was large and took a circular shape. It had many windows and portraits that Zoey guessed were the past headmaster's and headmistresses'. Zoey eyes glazed a bit when she caught sight of Phineas Nigelllus Black, her great-great-great grandfather. She shook her head and continued to look around the room. She saw that the room had a number of spindly tables that held delicate looking silver instruments that whirred and emitted small puffs of smoke.

Zoey jumped back when one of them coughed out a small cloud.

She bit her lip and looked towards the incredible collection of books Dumbledore had. Zoey did not realize it but she then began to walk towards one of the silver objects. She brought her face close to one of them and coughed when it puffed smoke in her face. Zoey coughed as she brought her hand to her face.

"Are you alright, Miss Black?" a voice said from behind Zoey.

Zoey gasped and whirled around in great speed. She let out a small squeak when she accidentally hit the table behind her. She turned around to stabilize it before looking back at Dumbledore. She offered a small uneasy smile. Dumbledore returned it and took a seat on his desk. He gestured towards the chair in front of his desk. Zoey made a small nod before sitting down on it.

Once Zoey was seated she looked towards the portrait of her great-great-great grandfather. Zoey noted that he looked like a very clever wizard and had a pointed beard. He wore silver and green robes and this did not come to a surprise to Zoey. After all he _was _a Slytherin.

"I see you've caught sight of Phineas," Dumbledore's voice broke Zoey's gaze. She looked towards the current headmaster. "If I'm correct he's your great-great-great grandfather?"

"Yes, he is, Sir," Zoey said softly almost as if she did not want anyone to hear her.

"There's nothing to be scared of, Miss Black," Dumbledore said with slight amusement.

Zoey looked at her headmaster in the eye. "Really? Then, please excuse me sir but, why am I here?" she asked with wide eyes.

"You are here for the mere reason that I wanted to talk to you," Dumbledore said, "You have not visited me yet, Miss Black."

"Ah, I'm sorry sir… I was just… busy," Zoey blushed.

"Hmmm," Dumbledore hummed as he raised an eyebrow at the girl. He then nodded his head when Zoey did not say anything else. "Did you hear what happened last night in the Gryffindor Tower, Miss Black?" Dumbledore asked after a few minutes had passed.

"I don't think I have, sir," Zoey paused, "What _did _happen?"

Dumbledore smiled a bit before turning slightly serious. "Young Mister Ronald Weasley had been attacked," he said.

Zoey eyes widened and she felt her heart skip a beat. "H-he has? Is he alright? W-what happened?" she asked in panic. She rose a bit from her seat seeming as though she were to bolt out of the room to go to Ron's aid.

"Relax, Miss Black, relax. Mr. Weasley's fine. Everyone on Gryffindor is fine," Dumbledore said as he raised his wand causing Zoe's chair to bump her from behind the knees and making her fall back on it.

"Gryffindor?" Zoey breathed out as her heart continued to hammer, "What happened in Gryffindor Tower? What happened to Ron?"

"Mr. Weasley had said that he saw Sirius Black standing over him with a knife," Dumbledore said as he stroked his long beard.

Zoey froze. Her eyes remained wide and her face paled. The only thing to be moving in her entire body was her heart which was still rapidly beating though at the news it seemed to have skipped a beat. She swallowed hard and gripped the armrest so hard that it caused her knuckles to turn white.

"Did… did… did he," Zoey struggled with her word.

"Did your father harm Mr. Weasley? No, he didn't. He gave him quite a scare though. Slashed his curtains as well," Dumbledore said with a wave of his wand. Cups and a teapot floated towards them. Dumbledore flicked his wand and the teapot tilted pouring tea in both cups. Dumbledore waved his wand again and one of the cups floated towards Zoey. Zoey held out a shaky hand and caught the cup. She took a sip and tried to calm her beating heart.

"How did he… dad get in?" Zoey whispered as she lowered her cup to place on top of her legs and looked back at Dumbledore.

"Sir Cadogan let him enter," Dumbledore said as he took a sip of his own tea.

"Sir Cadogan?" Zoey asked in disbelief as she remembered the knight with the fat pony, "But – But he shouldn't let people in without the password!"

"That's right. He knows that," Dumbledore said.

"Then why –"

"Because your father _did _have the password."

Zoey gulped. Her father had once again broken into Hogwarts and this time he was just a bed closer to Harry. What if he broke in for a third time? What would he do then? Zoey wanted to ask how her father had broken into Hogwarts into in the first place but she kept her mouth shut. She had an idea. He _was _after all a Marauder. She would be lying if she said he didn't memorize the secret passages like the back of his hand.

She brought the cup back to her lips but she did not drink. She just let the liquid brush on her lips to moisten them a bit before bringing the cup back to her lap. She looked back to Dumbledore and saw him wave his wand one last time and a small table appeared in front of Zoey. Zoey placed her teacup on the table and rubbed her hands together nervously.

"Sir…?" Zoey began without thinking.

"Yes, Miss Black?" Dumbledore replied.

Zoey bit her lip. Dozens of questions filled her mind but the one that was on the tip of her tongue was the one question she did not want to ask. "Is it normal for people to sprout out wings?" Sure, Zoey knew the answer was a definite "No". But what she truly wanted to know was if Dumbledore knew anything about the Emeraudes, anything about the Emeraude powers or what Zoey's power was. Zoey mentally shook her head and brought the teacup back to her mouth and gulped down the rest.

"I was wondering if I could head back to class," Zoey said slowly trying to carefully place her words together so it wouldn't sound like a lie, "I think the bell has rung and I don't want to be late for Divination"

Dumbledore took another sip of his tea and nodded once he brought his cup back down. "I suppose you are right, Miss Black. I wouldn't be a good headmaster if I make you late for your class, now would I?"

Zoey stayed quiet but smiled.

"It was pleasant having you here, Miss Black. I hope you would come around more often. It gets rather lonely at time," Dumbledore laughed.

"I will, Sir," Zoey smiled again before getting up from her seat and walking towards the door. She placed her hand on the doorknob, gave one last look towards her headmaster and left.

* * *

Zoey made a small skip when she jumped back to the ground. She looked behind her and once again the gargoyle was in place, blocking the stairway towards the headmaster's office. Zoey studied it a bit. Could it talk? She wondered. She squinted her eyes and looked at the face and the other interesting featured of it. She was so immersed with the gargoyle that she did not hear the sounds of running footsteps. What brought her back to reality was the impact she felt when something hit her in the side and pushed her to the ground.

Zoey let out a shock gasp as she fell down and hit her head on the hard ground. She saw stars and groaned. She moved her head to the side and tried to blink away the stars. When she finally got to see properly she moved her head again and her face was caught in what felt like hair. She scrunched up her face and moved again. It was red-hair. It was a Weasley.

"Err – to whomever Weasley I may concern… can you please get off of me?" Zoey breathed out.

The Weasley groaned and lifted himself up with his arms. He looked down at Zoey and blushed a bit before grinning sheepishly. "Sorry about that Zoey," he said.

"No problem, George," Zoey laughed a bit. She didn't feel awkward with him. If it were his brother though, _that _would be another story. George chuckled before getting back to his feat and helping Zoey back up. Zoey thanked him and straightened out her robes. She ran a hand through her hair and winced a bit when she touched her head.

"You okay?" George asked once he noticed Zoey's wince.

"I'll be fine," Zoey smiled reassuringly, "I've been through worse"

"Really?" George asked.

Zoey's eyes widened a bit before stuttering out, "Why have you been running? Are you late for class?"

"Fred and I are skipping," George said with a scratch of his head.

"What class exactly?" Zoey raised an eyebrow.

"Transfiguration"

Zoey groaned, "Aren't you failing that?"

"How did you know?" George playfully asked as he began to walk towards the direction he was previously running towards. Zoey followed him.

"Shouldn't you be attending it?" Zoey asked him as he continued to walk to who-knows-where.

"But you said it yourself, I'm failing it," George said with a shrug.

"The more reason you should be in class," Zoey said with a sigh. She stopped walking and George faced her.

"What?" he asked, "Fred's good in Transfiguration so it's fine"

"Then what are you good in that Fred isn't?"

"Herbology," George then began to walk again.

Zoey nodded her head and walked after him. She did not want to continue the conversations. She knew it was hopeless. George was like Fred and at time like Bridgit and Echo. Some subjects just didn't matter to him. Zoey thought about Divination. She was skipping it just to lecture George on his skipping of Transfiguration. She began to feel like a hypocrite. She was about to open her mouth to speak but George interrupted her.

"I never got to apologize to you," George said without looking at Zoey, "You know for the fight and all"

Zoey blushed a bit. She had completely forgotten about that. Ever since Fred and Echo apologized the fight was more or less forgotten. Zoey vaguely thought that George had already apologized. It seemed like he had. "George you don' ha –"

"No I want to," George then looked at her. "Zoey, I'm sorry"

"I forgive you," Zoey smiled.

"Really?"

"Yep"

"Phew! That was easier than I thought," George laughed. Zoey laughed as well. She was half expecting the apology to be somewhat serious but no, George made it light hearted yet at the same time he got his apology done. "I thought that I would have to get down on my knees and beg!"

"Ah dear Merlin don't!" Zoey laughed, "That would be too awkward!"

George raised an eyebrow and a playful smirk danced on his lips. Before Zoey knew it George got down on his knees and took her hand in his. Zoey blushed and continued to laugh as George began to flip his hair and made unnecessary hand gesture.

"Zoey, my dear Zoey," he said in a supposedly suave voice, "Would you please accept my apology?"

"Geor –" Zoey then laughed.

"What's that my love? You don't? But please understand! I never meant to cheat on you!"

Zoey laughed again. "Wha –"

"I understand," George then got to his feet and turned his head to the side making his hair flip again. Though in reality he was just messing it up. "You don't. I'll do you a favor and disappear!"

George then took a leap away. Zoey gasped out his name and George looked back at her with a grin. "What's that my love? You forgive me? You want me back in your arms?"

Zoey blinked as an amused grin formed on her lips. She honestly did not know where George was going with his little act. Truth be told, he was being completely random and hardly made sense. Nevertheless, Zoey decided to play along. She opened up her arms and George swopped towards her and brought her into a back breaking hug. He noisily sniffed her hair and pretended to cry.

"Let's run away my love!" He exclaimed as he brought her out of the hug and held her hand. He looked towards a random direction and pointed at it. "To a new world!" He then ran.

Zoey let go of his hand just in time for him to stumble on his own feet. George took a couple steps forward to regain his balance before looking back at Zoey with a grin on his face. Zoey just shook his head at him as the amused expression was kept on her face. He was truly something.

"Well, I'm hungry," George then stretched, "All this drama sure worked me up an appetite"

"Uhuh," Zoey said with a raised eyebrow.

George stuck his tongue out at the gray eyed girl and swiftly turned around. "You coming?" he asked over his shoulder. Zoey shook her head. "You go on," she said and watched George shrug and walk towards the kitchens. She shook her head again and breathed out a soft laugh. The Weasley's were really something.

Zoey smiled and turned around. No use in going to Divination. She was far away from her class and it would be ending in about twenty or so minutes anyway. She placed her hands in her pockets and walked down the corridor. She turned to walk by a corner but stumbled back when she saw someone hiding behind it. It was Fred.

"So you and George are an item now?" he asked with an amused smirk.

"What?" Zoey asked, confused.

"'My love'? 'Run away'?" Fred asked. His smirk changed to a grin and his eyes sparkled. Zoey couldn't help but get lost in them for a moment. She shook her head and looked down.

Zoey blushed, "He was just joking"

Fred looked at the Hufflepuff. He shook his head and placed a hand on her shoulder causing her to look up at him. He noted that her cheeks were a little pink. He didn't know why though.

"Why don't we run away?" he asked

Zoey's blush deepened, "Wh – what?"

"Y'know, let's go to the Quidditch Pitch," Fred said with a shrug of his shoulder, "I haven't been able to spend time with you since you had to scrub the floor."

Zoey's eyebrows knitted together as she felt her blush deepen with embarrassment she made her hand into a fist and thumbed Fred on the shoulder (though it made no effect to him). Fred stumbled a bit, to humor her, and acted hurt. "What was that for?" he pouted.

"For making me think different!" Zoey said as she stomped her foot.

"Think different?" Fred laughed, "What did you exactly think when I said that we should run away?"

"Never you mind!" Zoey said with a huff and held her head high. She began to walk towards the Quidditch Pitch. She heard Fred give another laugh before following her.

* * *

Zoey sat down on the green grass of the Quidditch pitch. It was such a nice day out and she did not want to sit on the hard chairs in the stands. She closed her eyes and lay on her back as she heard Fred take a seat as well. She let out a content sigh. For once, everything seemed alright. A knowing voice at the back of Zoey's head said differently. Her father was still a wanted man, the golden trio was still avoiding her and OWLs were coming up. Zoey chose to ignore the voice.

"Hey Fred?" Zoey asked as she opened one eye to see Fred looking down at her.

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever tried my fortune teller?" Zoey asked as she brought her hand to her pocket and pulled out the piece of charmed origami. Fred took it from her hand and looked it over.

"This is the one that landed you in detention back in third year," Fred said as he opened the flaps. Underneath the numbers was nothing. "How do you even get your fortune?"

Zoey opened both her eyes and sat up. She took the fortune teller and closed her eyes. Her head pounded. Without thinking, she leaned her head on Fred's shoulder as she held the fortune teller in front of her. She furrowed her eyebrows as her blush crept back on her cheeks. She wanted it to go away but she couldn't control it. She knew it would go away if she just lifted her head but she couldn't. It hurt too much to move it right now. Zoey felt Fred shift a bit but he didn't push her away.

"It's like this," Zoey began as she readjusted herself and held the fortune teller firmly in her hands showing Fred the four houses. "Choose a house"

"Gryffindor," Fred said and watched as Zoey moved the fortune teller in an open-close motion. She stopped after ten counts.

"A number," Zoey said

"Any number?" Fred asked

"Any number," Zoey repeated

"Alright… seven then," Fred said and watched as Zoey repeated the open-close motion. Zoey then stopped after seven counts. Out of instinct Fred said another number. Zoey moved it again with five counts. Fred said his last number and Zoey opened the flap.

Fred watched with wide eyes as a light emitted from the fortune teller and his fortune spelled out in cursive writing.

_Tell her._

The fortune read. Zoey looked at it curiously. It was the shortest fortune to have ever been said by her fortune teller. She wasn't even so sure if it was a fortune. She watched as it went back inside the fortune teller. She readjusted her position. She wanted to see Fred's face but it hurt to lift her head.

Fred, on the other hand, was glad that Zoey could not see his face. His face felt rather warm and he was sure that there was a red color decorating his cheeks. When he saw the fortune he felt his heart skip a beat. He tilted his head downwards to look at Zoey but instead he ended up touching the of her head. He breathed in. He smelled coconut milk.

Zoey sighed softly and closed her eyes. She brought her fortune teller back into her pocket and stayed still to enjoy the soft breeze. It was the perfect weather outside. The sun was covered by the clouds but it was still light out. There was a nice breeze and the day was quiet. Then again, Zoey thought, it was only quiet because everyone was in class while she and Fred, and still possibly George, were skipping classes. Zoey reopened her eyes when she felt her headache lighten up and caught sight of something black move by. Her eyes widened and slightly tilted her head back to tell Fred what she saw but the moment she tilted her head her eyes widened.

Her lips brushed Fred's.

Fred's eyes widened and so did Zoey's. Both their cheeks reddened and Zoey pulled away quickly. She looked down and bit her lip, the lip that had brushed against the boy who she had been crushing on since she was in second year. Her heart beat rapidly against her chest when the realization dawned on her. That was her first kiss. Zoey gulped as she looked at Fred from under her lashed. He was looking at a distance with furrowed eyebrows and his lips were in a tight line. Zoey took note that his cheeks were red and hid his freckles.

Zoey opened her mouth to speak but realized she couldn't say anything. Things had gotten a whole lot awkward. She blinked her eyes several times trying to think of something to say but came up with nothing. She looked back to where she saw the black figure and her eyes widened when she saw a dog. Not any dog but 'doggie'. She wondered if the dog saw what had just happened. She took note that the dog was sitting up straight and seemed to look from her to Fred.

Zoey raised her eyebrow at the dog. Why would it be looking at the both of them? Seriously, that dog seemed more human than animal. Zoey continued to watch the dog until it focused its gaze on her. When the dog saw that it caught her eye with barked and walked back in to the forest. Zoey gave it a bemused look as it disappeared.

"Was that a dog?" she heard Fred say. Zoey looked back at him and noticed that he did not look at her. Instead, he looked at the place where the dog was previously sitting on.

"Err – yes," Zoey replied with a slight stutter, "He's been staying here for the past few…. Months?"

"You seem unsure," Fred smiled a bit but he still did not look at her.

"I don't keep track of time," Zoey said as she bit her lip once more.

"Really now," Fred laughed a bit before standing up and offering Zoey a hand, though he looked everywhere but her face, "We should go. You have Potions next"

"So who memorized whose schedule now?" Zoey asked with a crooked smile.

Fred laughed.

* * *

**HEY GUYS!**

**I'm back!**

**Tests are OVER!**

**but I still have Graduation practice and such...**

**Oh! I was told that I am the most outstanding in Art for the Gifted (my club!)**

**How cool is that? I don't know about you guys but it's pretty cool to me XD**

**Okay, in here we have some GOEY (George/Zoey) moments and a major (it's really up to your opinion) ZED moment!**

**Clap clap clap**

**Anywho, I would love to thank you all for reviewing, favoriting, alerting and the like!**

**LOVE you guys for it!**

**WOHOO! reached over 200!**

**I'm happy!**

**Are you?**

**Oh! And thanks for all your nice reviews, really I truly appreciate them :)**

**SO AWESOME YOU PEOPLE OUT THERE!**

**Well, I gotta go now!**

**Don't forget to review and the like!**

**I only own what I own!  
**


	46. Chapter 45: Try Me

**Chapter 45: Try Me**

"You alright?"

Zoey tensed and looked up from the fireplace. It was midnight and she was once again in the Common Room staring into the fire thinking about the things that have been happening to her. Primarily, Fred. Zoey blushed at the memory of her lips brushing against his. From the many times she had repeated the scene in her head she came to the conclusion that it wasn't a _real _kiss. It was just a brush of lips, but still the thought made her heart skip a beat every time she recalled his slightly rough lips made contact with hers. Her eyes widened at the memory once more and she tried to get her mind of the image.

"What are you doing up, Cedric?" Zoey asked as she looked at the gray eyes of her fellow Hufflepuff.

"I should be asking you the same question actually," Cedric chuckled as he sat beside her and stared into the fireplace for a while. He then looked back at Zoey, the light of the fire making her skin glow a bit. "Now, tell me what's wrong," said Cedric.

Zoey bit her lip as she looked back at the fireplace, "What makes you say something's wrong?"

"You're always up at the middle of the night in front of the fireplace when something's up," Cedric said with a small shrug.

"This is only the second time," Zoey pointed out.

"That may be so but I am right in saying that something's bothering you… right?" Cedric asked and drew Zoey's attention back to him.

Zoey blinked up at him for her head was slightly tilted downwards. She didn't really know what to say. Cedric _was _her friend. In fact he was her only friend in the Hufflepuff house. He was also very loyal, heck why would he be sorted here if he wasn't? Zoey inwardly sighed. She knew she could trust him but the idea was a little awkward to her. She hasn't even told Bridgit and Echo what had happened to her. She didn't even know if she _would _tell them.

"Something's bothering me," Zoey admitted as she looked back to the fire. She remained quiet.

Cedric waited for a few minutes before deciding that Zoey wasn't planning on saying anything anytime soon. "Are you going to tell me what's bothering you or are you going to leave me hanging?" Cedric joked.

"Why don't you guess?" Zoey broke into a small smile; might as well keep the conversation a little interesting than telling him her 'Fred problems'.

"Is it about your friends?" Cedric guessed but then shook his head, "No, can't be"

Zoey blinked her eyes, "What makes you say that?"

Cedric scratched the back of his head, "Well, you just got back with them right? I saw you hanging out with them the other day so I figured everything was cool with you lot – unless, there was another fight… Was there?"

"No," Zoey shook her head, "I'm not that bad at keeping friendships"

"Is it because you're a little secretive?"

"What?" Zoey asked with wide eyes as her hear began to beat faster.

Cedric rubbed the bottom of his chin in thought. "Well, I don't know if it's true – this from my own opinion, but you just seem to always have things going on in your head. Of course, everyone's thinking about who knows what but for you it just seems that on most times you're having a silent battle with yourself. Life, there's something you want to say but you don't really know how or when to say it," Cedric then gave a sort of shy smile, "That's just my opinion though"

Zoey felt her cheeks heat up as she looked into Cedric's eyes. Sure, what he said was similar to what Ginny had told her last year but when Cedric said it… it seemed different. It had a different affect on Zoey. She bit her lip and looked down at the floor. She observed the shadows and said, "Me being secretive was the reason for our fight but now… there isn't a fight."

"Of course there isn't. You took them back didn't you? I doubt there was going to be one," Cedric said as he tilted Zoey's chin up.

"Then why did you say –"

"I just wanted you to admit you keep secrets," Cedric said, "Sure, everyone has them but it seems like yours are a little more troublesome than others. You see Zoey, I don't want to sound rude, but you aren't the type to want to fight – no don't interrupt me on this one – You are the type to do anything to please people. To make them like you and at times you also seem too good, nice even. You just seem so perfect."

"No one's perfect, Cedric," Zoey said with furrowed eyebrows as she took in everything he said.

Cedric nodded his head. "I know that but at times it just seems like you're so close to it"

"I don't try to be"

"That makes it worse!" Cedric laughed.

"Well, try looking in a bloody mirror then!" Zoey said defensively, "You're pretty close to 'perfect' yourself!"

Cedric wore and amused expression. "I don't think I've ever heard you say 'bloody' before," he mused, "It doesn't really seem like something you'd say"

"It isn't," Zoey blushed, "I use euphemisms to cover it up"

"Like what?"

"I would normally say 'Well, try looking in an eggin' mirror then!' or something," Zoey's blush deepened.

"'Eggin'," Cedric repeated, "really interesting euphemism skills you got there…but getting back to the point, which wasn't about you being perfect because it seemed like the conversation drifted that way, you are really just the type to want to please people."

"I don't want to disappoint their expectations of me," Zoey said quietly

"And what exactly are their expectations of you?"

Zoey shrugged.

"Let me rephrase that," Cedric said, "What do _you _expect from _yourself_?"

Zoey looked back to the fire. What did she expect from herself? Did she have any expectations? Zoey didn't know. Maybe, what Cedric meant was if she had a dream? No, a dream was far from expectations but that passing thought caused Zoey to wonder. What did she expect from herself? What was her dream? What did she want to do with her life? She did not know. She had no dreams, aspirations or expectations. She felt unprepared. She felt uneasy.

"I – I don't really know," Zoey breathed out at the realization, "I just want to make other people happy… I guess… make them like me."

"I don't want to sound mean but Zoey not everyone would like you. It's not possible," Cedric pointed out.

"I know that, but don't you think it's better for at least some people liking you than having everyone dislike you?" Zoey asked as she watched the fire crackle.

"I don't think anyone could dislike you, Zoey. You're too nice. There's nothing to hate," Cedric said as he patted her back.

"Wanna bet?" Zoey looked back at him.

Cedric shook his head and brought his hand back to his side. He looked at the fire. "You just can't please everyone, Zoey. That's all I'm trying to say. There will be times where you have to say 'No!' or 'I don't want to do that' or something. You have to speak your mind up at times. Tell them what you're thinking"

"I do tell them what I'm thinking," Zoey said quietly. It was true though she hardly fought for her way.

"You have to get angry at times too. You can't always be happy –"

"I'm not always happy," Zoey interjected

" – Yes, but you're also quiet. I sometimes see you working and well when things don't go your way you don't get irritated or angry or show any negative… explosive feeling. You brush it off. You remain silent," Cedric said with a scratch of his head

"Anger doesn't help anyone," Zoey said softly.

"But it doesn't help if you keep it pent up inside," Cedric said, "Zoey, I know I said that you seem that you're so close to perfect but in reality you have flaws. Not big ones but flaws just the same."

Zoey gave a lifeless smile. "That's why I don't want to speak my mind or get angry or whatever…. Flaws are what make us human. If I start to speak my mind and the like then… I'll truly be perfect and… that's my worse fear"

Cedric watched Zoey stand up and walked away from him. She headed towards the stairs that led to the dormitories. He didn't say anything and only waved her a goodnight when she looked back at him. Zoey gave a small smile, though seemingly forced, and went up the stairs. Cedric listened to her echoing steps as he looked back at the fire in thought.

* * *

It was now seven-thirty in the morning, and as always the Great Hall was filled with chattering students, and the clinking sounds of their utensils as they ate. One of those many students was none other than Fred Weasley but what made him particularly different from the other students was that he was not eating nor chatting with his friends. No, to be honest Fred was acting rather strange that morning. He was seemed to have something in his mind that really tore him away from the real world. That something was surprisingly not about his next prank.

Echo and Bridgit looked at George with question when Fred scratched is head furiously. George simply shrugged his shoulders for he did not know the reason for his twin's odd behavior. It was rare for George not to know what was on Fred's mind but it was true, George was in the dark with his twin's silent dilemma.

Fred, who had stopped with his scratching, did not notice his friend's curious gazes and even if he did, he didn't really care. All Fred cared about was what was haunting his thoughts at that very moment. The only thing that was occupying his mind.

Zoey.

He couldn't get the feel of her soft lips against his. True, it was just a brush but to Fred it might as well have been a snogging session in a broom closet. Fred's eyes widened when he pictured the scene. _What the bloody hell am I thinking? _He asked himself as he tried to shake the image away. _It was just an accident right? _He thought to himself. Fred suddenly realized that, that was it.

It was just an accident.

It was caused when he was placing his face in her hair and when Zoey looked up at him.

It was completely unintentional.

No meaning behind it.

Fred inwardly groaned. He didn't want it to be _just _and accident. He wanted it to be real and full of emotion. _Why are you doing to this to me, Zoe? _Fred banged his head on the table making the nearby plates and goblets shake a bit from the sudden vibrations. Fred didn't even let out a pained sound even though his forehead throbbed and he guessed he left a mark. This was the second time he had harmed the defenseless table due to his troubling thoughts.

"What's up with him?" Bridgit asked George as she watched Fred bringing his fist to the table and banging it causing the plates to shake. She heard Fred making unintelligible mutterings under his breath. Something was really bothering the boy.

Fred wasn't paying attention to anything. He didn't even hear Bridgit's question or what George answered. All he heard was his pounding heart. All he had in his mind was Zoey.

The image of the fortune teller suddenly flashed in his mind. _'Tell her'._ The fortune read. Although Zoey didn't understand it, Fred knew. He knew what it meant. He knew what it was trying to tell him. He knew all too well. In fact, he was wondering why he wouldn't even tell her in the first place. "Don't be such a wimp," he whispered to himself, trying to get some courage. He was a bloody Gryffindor for crying out loud! If he had the guts to pull pranks on Snape why couldn't he say a simple confession?

_Why can't you just tell her?_

A voice in his head asked. Fred really hoped that his mind and heart had the answer for he, himself, was at lost. Why couldn't her tell her? Oh, right. Cause confessing was a whole lot harder than placing explosive cherry bombs in everyone's cauldron during Potions.

_It's easy._

The voice in his head said.

_Just walk up to her and say "Zoey, I love you"_

Fred's eyes widened. _I love you. _Did he truly love her? Sure, he fancied her for some time but did he _love _her? Fred was utterly confused. He thought about Zoey's gray eyes, oh how they shined with private thoughts and secrets he wished he knew. Her cheeks, the obvious rosy color they held and the way they flushed when she was embarrassed. Her hair, her soft, long brown hair, they way it just fell from her massy ponytail and the small braid it held. It was messy yet unique. It was her. Her lips, Fred thought, they were so soft. Even if he didn't kiss her he knew. For she had kissed him on his cheek all those months ago. They were soft.

Fred noted that he loved those things about her but was his love shallow? Did he only love her looks? No, he loved her awkward moments and her soft voice. The way her eyebrows knitted together when she was worried or the way they furrowed when she was in concentration. Her small panic attacks and they way she always tried to keep them from doing pranks or any other shenanigans. Her secrets. The secrets she said she would tell him one day. Her hidden demons. He loved them all. He loved her.

That was it.

It was a fact.

Fred loved Zoey.

No, he _loves _her.

"I have to tell her!" Fred abruptly shouted as he banged his hand on the table, making the silverware shake, and stood up. In his hand was a sandwich that George had placed in his hand when Fred was thinking. Fred did not notice this but he didn't care. All her cared about was telling Zoey what he felt.

"Tell who what?" George asked as he watched the fillings of the sandwich drip down Fred's hand. Fred took no notice of it and turned to his twin.

"I have to tell –" Fred stopped when he caught sight of the door of the Great Hall. He saw some students enter but what caught his eye was a pair that stood a little away from the door.

Zoey and Cedric were laughing and happily parted with a hug. Fred took note that Zoey's cheeks were slightly flushed.

Fred sat back down and made his hand into a fist causing him to destroy the sandwich in his hand.

"Fred, that sandwich did not do any harm to you, it really never did. Now, tell me, why did you have to ruin its dreams of going down your digestive track?" Echo spoke, twirling a lock of her hair between her index finger and thumb.

Fred was about to glare at her but looked down at his hand. There was pathetic crumpled sandwich with its insides messily spilling and dripping on the table. Fred made a face and released his hold on it. He then wiped his hand on a hanky before looking back at Echo. He jabbed his thumb towards Zoey who was walking towards them.

"That is Zoey and please don't dare tell me that your hormones are only beginning to take action _now,_" Echo laughed before continuing on eating her oatmeal.

Fred opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted when Zoey finally reached them.

Zoey smiled at her friends and greeted each of them. When she reached Fred her smile stiffened and her eyebrows knitted as her cheeks flushed. She spluttered out something unintelligible before taking her seat beside Echo. She hastily reached for an apple and played with it in her hands.

Echo's eyes went back and forth from Zoey to Fred. Zoey's was awkwardly playing with an apple and her cheeks were flushed while Fred was looking at everywhere but Zoey and his cheeks were noticeably red as well. It only took her a mere second before she a mischievous grin graced her face.

Zoey looked up at Echo and jumped back a bit when she saw her face. Something was up. "What are you thinking about?" Zoey asked cautiously.

"Oh nothing. Just nothing," Echo spoke.

Bridgit noticed the tension of the situation. She really didn't want something to come up now, so she decided to save the situation while she could.

"Hey look! Professor Sprout is heading out way," Bridgit said, spotting the head of Hufflepuff house.

Everyone looked up from whatever they were doing and looked towards the squat teacher. It was true. "What do you suppose she's coming our way for?" George asked as he took a gulp of his morning pumpkin juice.

"Uhm… since we're in our fifth year, maybe she's coming to ask us about the career we want to pursue so we know what NEWT subjects to take?" Bridgit answered, but it sounded more of a question.

Fred arched an eyebrow. "Shouldn't the head of our houses be the one to talk to us about that? Besides, McGonagall already spoken to George and I and I'm pretty sure Flitwick spoke to you and Echo too"

"Professor Sprout is head of _Hufflepuff,_" Bridgit emphasized and looked towards Zoey.

Zoey jumped slightly in her seat and opened her mouth to say something but stopped when Professor Sprout stopped by them.

"Good Morning Miss Emeraude," she greeted and sent a nod towards Bridgit and the rest.

"G – Good Morning, Professor," Zoey squeaked out as she placed the apple back on the table.

"I know it too early and rather sudden but I would need to speak to you privately Miss Emeraude," Professor Sprout smiled, "You've already had your breakfast?"

Zoey slowly nodded. It was a lie but she didn't know what else to say.

"Okay, so why don't we head to my office then?" Professor Sprout smiled before walking towards the Great Hall. Zoey stood up from her seat and glanced towards her friends.

"I'm sure you'll come out alive," Echo gave her a warm light-hearted smile. Bridgit and George nodded in agreement. Zoey returned the smile and gave one last look to Fred. Fred gave a smile and Zoey's cheeks flushed a bit before turning away and following her professor out of the Great Hall.

* * *

" – YES I DON'T BELIEVE IT! HE'S SAVED IT!"

Zoey heard Lee's booming voice as he commentated the match of Gryffindor versus Slytherin. Zoey did not know what was going on but by the sounds of it Wood just saved a goal. She didn't really know for she was not watching. Zoey did not want to attend today's Quidditch match even though if the Gryffindor's won they would have the House Cup. Zoey felt bad about not caring. She felt guilty for spending this day to wallow in her thoughts instead of supporting her friends. She felt like she betrayed them a little bit but she had to slightly agree with Cedric. There should be a time where she would say "No" (though she didn't particularly say. She just didn't attend)

She sighed as she kicked a pebble from the ground and stuffed her hands into her pockets. She wanted to get away from the world for a while. She wanted time alone for her thoughts. Zoey let out a pained gasp as the mist surrounded her once more. She quickly unstuffed her pockets and hastily removed her robes. She dropped them to the floor and hunched forward as she felt her back begin to sprout out wings. She bit her lip and held in a scream as she felt her wings spread and flapped a bit.

"I'll never get used to this," Zoey said in a hoarse whisper and picked up her robes before straightening her back. She roles her neck and stretched before looking towards the Forbidden Forest, her wings began to flap as she took a few steps towards the forest and her feet left the ground. Zoey swallowed hard and took off into the air and into the forest.

Zoey looked at the forest beneath her. Mostly she saw the tops of the tress and every now and then a creature that hid within the forest. Some she knew about and others she wished she never saw. Zoey continued to fly until she reached the middle of the forest, then she began to lower herself back to the ground. She looked around her surroundings and sighed when she saw no sign of the black dog. She slumped on the floor and her wings folded behind her, she closed her eyes.

_"Miss Emeraude there's nothing to be nervous about," Professor Sprout said as she took a seat behind her desk, "Please, take a seat"_

_Zoey nodded slowly as she sat down on the chair in front of Professor Sprout's desk. She nervously licked her lips._

_"So, Miss Emeraude I take it you know why you're here today?"_

_"W – Well, my friends say that you're going to talk to me about my career choice and what subjects I would most likely be taking for my NEWTS," Zoey struggled with her words. She hoped she got it right. She wasn't fully paying attention to them._

_Professor Sprout nodded her head. "That's right," she said, "So do you have any thoughts on what you want to do after you graduate?"_

_Zoey bit her lip. What did she want to do after she graduated? What job would she take? She never really thought about it. She always thought that her time in Hogwarts was going to last much longer but now, after being asked what she wanted to do after leaving Hogwarts, Zoey realized she only had two years left and she's gone. She'll leave her sweet haven. Most likely never to be back again. It broke Zoey's heart. Zoey racked her brains and tried to find a job she wanted to do but she knew it was hopeless. She had a clear grasp on what was going to happen to her after Hogwarts. She knew deep inside that after she graduated she would not be looking for a job. No, she would be returning back to the Emeraude suburb. Back in her broken home and away from the rest of the world. She would be caged and kept away. Just like she promised. She would never leave._

_ "I could mention some jobs and you could tell me what spikes your interest," Professor Sprout offered when she saw Zoey's troubled face._

_Zoey shook her head and without thinking she said: "What about a Healer?"_

_"A Healer?" Professor Sprout slightly gasped, "But that's very difficult to become!"_

_"Try me," Zoey said with a small smile._

_Professor Sprout nodded her head once more. "Alright then. To become a Healer you have to at least receive an 'Exceeds Expectations' at NEWT Potions, Transfiguration, Herbology, Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts"_

_Zoey's eyes widened with every mention of a subject. She knew it was not easy to become a Healer but she never imagined it would be that hard. "I'm rather good at Charms," she pathetically said._

_"I know that, Miss Emeraude," Professor Sprout said with a smile, "Professor Flitwick speaks highly of your talent in Charms"_

_Zoey blushed and scratched the back of her head. "I never knew that"_

_"Well, now you do but you must not only be good at Charms. You also have to excel in Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology and Defense Against the Dark Arts and so far so good but you are doing dreadfully on Potions and you seem to be struggling with DADA"_

_"Well, I can ask Fred to tutor me in Transfiguration and George with Herbology," Zoey said._

_Professor Sprout raised an eyebrow at the names of the twins but didn't say anything. "That's good to hear but from what I see you are doing well with those subjects. What I'm trying to say is that you need to do better in Potions and DADA"_

_Zoey wanted to say that she was doing horribly in Potions because for some reason unknown to her Snape was out to get her. He didn't treat her as bad as Harry but all the same she was not his favorite. DADA was different story. She loved the subject, she got along with the teacher and she understood the lesson. Her only problem was that she could not execute what she had learned. She could not cast any of the spells properly. She was not dreadful at the subject but to put it in her Uncle's words there was 'room for improvement'._

_"Well, I suppose I could try to do better in Potions and DADA," Zoey said weakly and almost unsurely._

_"That's all I'm asking," Professor Sprout smiled as she stood up from her desk an approached Zoey, "I know you are a bright witch and would be an excellent Healer you just need to try hard enough to reach your goal. You have to exceed what people are expecting from you"_

_Zoey gave a weak smile. What were people expecting from her? What was she suppose to exceed? Was there any point? The moment she leaves Hogwarts she would be sent straight back to her home to stay in forever. It didn't help that Witches and Wizards lived longer than Muggles either. Zoey kept all her thoughts in her head and watched as her professor straightened her hat and said: "Well that's all I had to say at the subject. You seem pretty sure and capable of being a Healer but if you have any questions or problems don't hesitate to come to me"_

_"Don't worry, Professor," Zoey said as she got up from her chair, "I will"_

Zoey was abruptly brought back to reality by the sound of a twig snapping. Her wings opened wide as her head snapped towards the direction of the sound. She calmed a bit when she saw that it was just a dog. 'Doggie' to be specific. Zoey broke into a crooked smile.

"Hello, Doggie," she said as the dog took a few steps towards her, "I was wondering where you've gone. You did a disappearing act on me after… well… after you know."

Zoey felt her cheeks warming. "You know… I've like him since my second year and I've been keeping that little fact to myself for some time now. I haven't breathed a word about it. I guess when we – err – brushed lips… it was kinda big deal for me and kinda not. I don't know what to think of it… I was wondering whether I actually _love _him or not," Zoey laughed softly at her own word.

Love.

She was fifteen and yet she did not know what "Love" truly was.

She did not know what "being in love" felt like and was not sure if that was what she was feeling right now.

Doggie barked.

"Okay, I'll change the topic then," Zoey said as if understanding the dog, "A few days ago I had a talk with the head of my house, Professor Sprout. I'm a fifth year Hufflepuff you see and I'll be taking my OWL exam really soon so Professor Sprout wanted to know what I wanted to be after I leave Hogwarts. You know, what career I want to take so I know what NEWT subjects I'll have for my remaining two years here…You see Doggie that was really hard for me because I didn't even realize that in two years I'll be gone from here forever. Not Hogwarts though...I'll never come back here

"You see Doggie, once I graduate I'll be going back to the Emeraude Suburb and back into my house where everything is broken and dusty. Once I come back to my house I'll never leave. I'll never leave my house and I'll never find a job because that was what I promised my Aunt Damiana. You know Doggie, My aunt Damiana is evil. Ever since I came to live in the Emeraude Suburb in my own house she had been bullying me in more ways than one and not in a good way."

Doggie barked again and growled.

"I see what you mean Doggie, how could there be a "good way" to bullying. There isn't. It's just that my aunt's bullying is more like abuse. With blood and emotional and physical scarring," Zoey shivered as she heard the dog growl again, "But let's not talk about that. You know Doggie, I said I wanted to be a Healer. I don't know why but I just felt like it was right. It was the first job that came to mind and I just said it."

Zoey looked down, "I would need to excel in a bunch of subjects. I wonder if I'll be able to do it. I wish my mum was here to help…even my dad. I just want someone to tell me I can do it if I tried hard enough."

The dog didn't bark. Zoey heard nothing but a voice. A masculine voice that sounded like it belonged to e thirty year old man or so.

"You can do it if you tried hard enough," the voice said, "Heck, I bet you can do it even without trying"

Zoey looked up and her eyes widened.

"Dad"

* * *

**MY GAWD!**

**LONG CHAPTER!**

**THANK YOU ZOOMSKATER14 AND HAYLEYPARADOX FOR HELPING ME OUT!**

**YOU ARE BOTH UBERLY AWESOME!**

**Anyway, believe it or not I had a little Writer's Block in the beginning then suddenly WUBAM this happened. Don't know how but from a little writer's block I got a chapter that has 5 thousand something words or so.**

**I'm rambling.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Stay tuned for there is much more to come!**

**Thanks for all your reviews and the like they are very much a appreciated!**

**My Batch Party is drawing nearer and nearer.**

**You what that means?**

**INSPIRATION!**

**Inspiration for what?**

**Guess!**

**:P**

**Don't forget to Review and the like :D**

**I only own what I own  
**


	47. Chapter 46: She got that from her

**Chapter 46: She got that from her**

Zoey couldn't believe it. What was once a dog had transformed into her father, or maybe the other way around. Be it as it may, Zoey did not know what to do, what to feel. She was scared yet at the same time she did not want to scream or run away. She was frozen to the spot. She felt her wings spread open before folding behind her and going back into her. She did not wince at the pain she continued to stare at her father. Her father, Sirius Black, did not look like the man in the photos. He's casual elegance seemed to have disappeared as did his handsome face. The man in front of her had a gaunt, sunken face and waxy skin. His teeth were yellow and his hair was long and matted. Zoey knew for a fact that this was the effect of being in Azkaban for twelve long years.

Zoey watched as her father made an awkward scratch to the back of his head. She figured he did not know what to do next as well. Zoey bit her lip as she looked around. There were no Dementors in sight so her father did not need to revert back to a dog and Zoey had no use for them in the first place. She was not going to report her father. Zoey blinked several times as she stared at a random tree. Her father was a wanted man, it had been said he killed numerous muggles together with his friend, Peter after he had betrayed James and Lily. Was he going to do the same with her? Was he going to kill her too? Or was he going to hold her captive. Zoey gulped and looked back at her father. He was looked up at the sky.

Zoey placed a hand over her chest as she felt her heart beating fast and faster. What was she suppose to say to a man she hasn't spoken with since she was about two-years old? What was she suppose to do with a man who had killed people and worked with the Dark Lord? What was she suppose to say to her own father?

"H – Have you always been able to change into a dog?" Zoey awkwardly asked as she tried to bring her dad's attention away from the clouds.

Sirius looked down at his daughter and raised a brow curiously. Zoey was playing with her hands as her eyes darted from him to the sky and back to him. She was nervous and scared. It looked to him that fidgeting was something she would do when she did not know what to do at the current situation. It was a habit she developed all on her own. He did not do it as a child and neither did her mother. It was all her. Sirius did not know why he decided to show himself to her. He was glad watching her from the sidelines and hearing her talk to him when he was in his animagus form. It was nice to hear that she was doing great even with all the crap that has been going on in her life. In truth, Sirius half expected her to scream or call for help.

"H – Hello?" Zoey asked nervously. Her father had not moved for some time, all he did was stare at her. What was he thinking?

"Fifteen," Sirius said, "I was fifteen when I became an animagus"

Zoey knitted her eyebrows together. She did not really expect him to answer. "Why?"

"Why what?" Sirius asked. He decided to be casual with Zoey. He decided to talk to her like he would talk to her mother. How did he talk with Lucy? It was so long ago since they had a conversation.

"Why did you become one?" asked Zoey. Things were going great so far. Her father had done nothing dangerous. There was nothing to fear… yet.

"You don't know?"

"Obviously I don't," Zoey paused, "S - Sorry"

Sirius gave a bark of laughter. It was rather hoarse for he did not do it often as of late but it was laughter none the less. Zoey gave a small jump, not expecting him to laugh. She inched away a bit.

"You don't have to be so nervous," Sirius said with a grin on his face showing his yellow teeth, "I won't bite"

Zoey kept her nervous look as she bit her lip. Sirius saw this and his grin went away. He felt stupid for what he said. Why wouldn't she be nervous? Heck, he was glad that was it. It would have killed him to know that she was afraid of him.

Zoey looked down at the ground and didn't say anything, neither did her dad. She thought about what her mother's letter had said. _He's innocent. _Was he really? Zoey did not know. People say he's a mass murderer and some say that he shows not mercy but yet, here Zoey stays helpless and unprotected but she had not been attacked. Her father did not lay one finger on her. Zoey thought back to when she had spoken to him while he was a dog. He had done nothing wrong to her. He only kept her company and listened to her as she spoke. He did not harm her at all. If that was all, Zoey would have believed her mother but there was the case of her father breaking into Hogwarts. He had scratched the Fat Lady's painting and almost killed Ron in the dead of night. Those two facts were keeping Zoey on the line. On one hand he could be an innocent man yet on the other he could be a mass murdered waiting for Zoey to let her guard done and attack.

Zoey was leaning towards the innocent hand.

Why?

Zoey's guard was already down yet she was still in one piece. Still breathing, still alive.

"Hey da – err – Why are you here? In Hogwarts I mean…," Zoey said timidly as she looked towards Sirius. Sirius had gotten tired of standing up and lazily sat on the grassy ground. He was picking at the grass before Zoey spoke.

"I have something to do," Sirius said simply

"And that something is…?"

"I have to dispose of something that should have been taken care of all those years ago," Sirius said with a rather dark expression.

Zoey gulped and looked away. Could he be talking about Harry? "R – Really now… and that thing is in Hogwarts?" Zoey asked as she played with her hands. Intertwining them together and letting go.

"Of course it is," Sirius said with a raised brow.

"Right," Zoey paused as she began to wrestle her own thumbs, "Dumb question… sorry"

Sirius didn't say anything. He just stared at Zoey, scrutinizing her. The first time he caught sight of her he almost tackled her to the ground for he thought that she was her mother. Zoey, she looked like her mother in every way possible. Sure there were differences here and there but they were easily over looked. Their hair was the same brown and fell to the same length. Her skin was just as pale as hers and he could have sworn that they had the same freckles but that was absurd. Zoey was just as frail looking as her mother and he guessed it was because of the Emeraude family. Lucy refused to eat with her family so she was always malnourished while Zoey was forbidden to eat with them.

The list could go on and on and Sirius could only find one thing he had in common with his own daughter. It was her eyes. They were the same gray as his, the same shape as his, they were his. They even had the same haunting look but hers was more hidden than his. She did not want anyone to see her fears and the terrible things she felt inside yet Sirius had no choice. She would be the same if she spent all those years locked up being framed for a crime you never did and having people you once trusted turn their back on you. She would never feel those. He would not let her.

Sirius was then brought back to reality when Zoey waved a shaky hand before his eyes. How long was he unresponsive? How long has she been waving her hand, trying to get his attention? Sirius shook his head and decided to ask the question that's been bugging him ever since he showed his human form to Zoey. The question that had been bothering him since he had spoken to his own daughter.

"Why do you trust me?"

"W – What?" Zoey asked in shock. She had not expected the question.

"Why do you trust me?" Sirius repeated, "You did not run away or call for help when I revealed myself to you. You did not whip out your wand and cast every spell you know at me. You didn't summon the Dementors or beg for mercy. You just stayed there… why? I'm a dangerous man."

Zoey's eyes widened with every word that he said. He was right. Why _did _she trust him? Zoey breathed in and breathed out slowly as to calm her beating heart. She decided to say whatever came to mind.

"A – Are you really a dangerous man?" she asked and bit her lip as she waited for the answer.

"I killed twelve muggles together with Peter Pettigrew," Sirius said with distaste at the mention of his old friend, "I also betrayed James and Lily Potter"

"Is that true?" Zoey asked as she recalled her mother's letter.

"That's what people say"

"But am I suppose to believe them?"

"Would you believe me if I said I was an innocent man? That I was framed? That I would rather die for my friends than give information to Voldemort so I could live?" Sirius tested.

Zoey bit her lip as she remembered what her mother wrote in her letter. She had read it so many times that she nearly got everything memorized by heart. Zoey took another breath.

" Da – uhm… I did not run away or call for help earlier because, to be honest, I was frozen in fear. I did not 'whip out my wand' and cast every spell I know at you because well… I completely forgot I had it with me even if I did I doubt it would have much effect even in your – err – weakened state. I'm terrible at Defense Against the Dark Arts" Zoey took another breath, "I didn't summon the Dementors because I'm terrified of them. I don't know what the ministry was thinking, sending Dementors to Hogwarts to protect us or something. Frankly, they're doing more harm than good"

Sirius stayed silent and gestured Zoey to continue. He felt like he was listening to Lucy speak again. Lucy was always the type to speak honestly and often rambled and went of topic. Zoey was just like her and Sirius felt the same degree of love towards her, the love of a father to his daughter. He also felt a sense of pride.

Zoey, not knowing what her father was thinking, took another breath. "I didn't beg for mercy either because… well… I'm not really the type. I've read books where the character begs and well… it's kind of – err – how should I say this? Embarrassing. Especially if the person their begging was not going to do them any harm in the first place…"

"You didn't answer my first and last question," Sirius pointed out when Zoey ceased talking.

Zoey licked her lips as she looked towards the direction of the Quidditch Pitch. The game should have ended ages ago. She wondered who won, who had gotten the House Cup. She gulped and looked back at her father. "_And, my lovely child, please believe me when I tell you that your father was the most loyal man I know and that he would never betray his friends._ _He's innocent,_" Zoey recited as she watched her father's eyes widen, "That's what mum wrote to me in her letter."

Sirius opened his mouth to speak but Zoey interrupted him.

"Mum trusts you so I trust you. I know I haven't known the both of you for that long and I know I would might never do on a count on mum's… well gone but I want to get a chance to know my own father… I stayed here because, though foolish as it is, deep inside I wanted to know if you, dad, are really what the public says you are," Zoey took another breath and hopefully in was the last scared breath she took, "I trust easily and I forgive without thought…. I know I shouldn't but there's nothing I could do about and… why are you smiling?"

"You're rambling," Sirius said with a chuckle, "Just like your mum. She hoped you didn't get that quality from her"

Zoey blushed, "She said it in the letter. She says that it gave you a hard time"

"It did but that's what I love about her," Sirius then wore a bitter smile, "She's really gone now, huh?"

"Yeah…"

* * *

Zoey sat in the library bent over a large book while several other books surrounded her, caging her and separating her from the rest of the library. When she had left her father back in the Forbidden Forest and returned to Hogwarts she was instantly greeted with cheerful Weasley Twins. They ran up to her and enveloped her in a hug and jumped up and down while cheering before releasing her and joining the rest of the Gryffindors. Zoey, with utter confusion, went to Bridgit and Echo for an explanation and it turns out the Gryffindors had won the match.

It was now June and OWLs were coming up. No doubt Echo was only making last minute reviews for she had been studying since their fourth year. Bridgit was already smart to begin with and would ace the test no matter what. Fred and George…well according to them they don't need any OWLs for what they would be doing for their future career but they still decided to study so they won't flunk out of Hogwarts. Zoey on the other hand was completely stumped. She always refused to go study with Echo but now she was regretting her decision. She had no idea what to study. Charms was easy since she had a natural gift at it and Transfiguration and Herbology only required a quick review and she did not particularly care about Divination but her problems were in Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Zoey knew she was a hopeless case in both subjects and the book that were currently surrounding her were all on those two subjects but alas no matter how many books she read or how many notes she took, she was still at lose.

Zoey sighed as she closed her book and pulled out her OWLs schedule. Monday was the first day of tests and the subject for that day was Charms. At least she was confident about that. Zoey rubbed her eyes and looked out the window; she could see the Forbidden Forest from where she was seated. _Maybe dad can help me, _She thought to herself but quickly dismissed the thought. Bringing a whole lot of books to the Forbidden Forest was highly suspicious and she did not need to be interrogated for her plans. That would not be good for anyone.

"I'm doomed," Zoey moaned hopelessly as she banged her head on the library table making a few books topple over.

"Whoa, don't want to harm your brain cells before a test"

Zoey looked up from the table and a blush crept on her cheeks. It was Fred. Fred gave a smile and waved at her, in his other hand was a book. "Fred," Zoey breathed, "What are you doing here?"

"Going to look at the menu for lunch," Fred said with a role of his eyes, "I'm here to study of course. I got a book and everything"

"Sorry, did I hear you right? You came here to _study_?" Zoey asked with wide eyes. The fact that Fred wanted to take the OWLs seriously pushed all feelings of awkwardness and embarrassment away.

"Haha, very funny," Fred took a seat and wore a grin, "Surprised that I actually want to do well?"

Zoey blushed and pushed her bangs away from her face and pushed her glasses further up the bridge of her nose. "Yeah… well, You and George said that you won't need to know what we're learning here for your future career or something like that…"

"Something like that… Well, for your information we need to learn Charms," Fred said as he cracked open his book.

"Now what do we need to know?" he asked as he looked at the page before looking back at Zoey.

Zoey raised an eyebrow at Fred, "You don't know what you're supposed to study?"

"Yep, that's why you're here. You're a master at Charms," Fred said with a scratch of his head, "You know… what's the word? Ah! _Charms Master_"

Zoey laughed into her head and shook her head. "Very original," she said and pulled Fred's book towards her. She then took out her wand and tapped it on her quill. She took the quill and opened Fred's book. She highlighted the first sentence.

"Whoa, how'd you do that?" Fred asked as he stared wide eyed at both the highlighted sentence and at the quill.

"I – err – Charmed it?" Zoey replied but it came out as a question, "You know… I made it into a highlighter"

Fred sent her a confused look.

"It's a muggle product. You highlight important information like what I just highlighted in your book," Zoey then pointed to the sentence, "That is one of the things you must know and _learn _how to cast. Also," she flipped the pages until she found what she needed and highlighted the first paragraph, "That's important information and would most likely come out in the test as well….what else am I missing?"

Zoey bit her lip in concentration as she continued to flip over the pages not noticing that Fred was not even looking at the book. He was busy gazing at Zoey admiring her silently. He only stopped when she looked up at him and smiled softly. Fred felt his cheeks warm up in embarrassment. Had she caught him staring at her?

"Do you know the Color Changing Charm?" she asked. She had not noticed him staring.

"The what?"

"Color Changing Charm," Zoey repeated and looked back at the book, "Well, it's not all that hard to do but you would need to really concentrate so I'm going to highlight the important wand movements then I'll explain it to you later…"

"Right"

"Oh, and Fred?" Zoey asked as she looked up from his book, "You owe me"

"How much?" Fred asked as he pretended to reach for his wallet. Zoey laughed and swatted his hand. Fred grinned.

"I don't want money… I just – err – but if you don't want to…," Zoey trailed off.

"No, what is it?" Fred asked as he leaned closer. Zoey blushed and leaned farther away from him but Fred didn't take notice.

"Well, I was hoping if you'd tutor me in Transfiguration," Zoey said as she ducked her head, "I'm not failing it… it's just well –"

Fred touched Zoey chin and tilted it so she was looking at him. "I'll tutor you," Fred said.

Zoey felt her blush deepen and struggled to find the right words to say at the moment. Should she mention the kiss? No, she couldn't. It would become all awkward between them and no studying will get done. Studying? Was that really what Zoey wanted to do at the moment? Not really, no, it wasn't. What she was trying to avoid was Fred telling her that the kiss was an accident, it was never suppose to happen, and it was meaningless. Zoey did not want to hear those words so she didn't want to mention what had happened a few months ago.

She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by a voice. She felt Fred's hand drop and she looked to her side to see Cedric standing there with his charming smile on his face. Zoey greeted him.

"What brings you here?" Zoey asked starting a friendly conversation, "I thought you were the type to study in advance?"

Cedric laughed. "Is that what you really think of me?" he joked as Zoey gave a shrug of her shoulders, "But, yes. I studied in advance. All I have to do now is a quick review"

"Don't have to rub it in," Zoey grinned and heard Fred stifle a laugh. She sent him a quick smile before looking back at Cedric, "So you're here to review then? You can sit with us if you want but we're studying Charms, but I'm guessing you know everything"

"I don't know _everything,_" Cedric emphasized

"But you know most," Zoey quickly said with a raised eyebrow.

"Changing the subject from my intellect. I was sent here to deliver a message from Madam Pomfrey," Cedric said as he ruffled his hair and looked towards the window before looking back at Zoey.

Zoey's eyes widen, "Madam Pomfrey? What does she want with me?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing," Cedric said, "But from what Professor Sprout said, Madam Pomfrey is asking for you in hopes that she could explain the 'Healer's job' to you so you'd have an advantage"

"Professor Sprout? You've spoken to her about my career choice?" Zoey asked in bewilderment.

"She _is _the head of our house and yes, we did. She brought it up with me the other day. Don't know why though," Cedric then took a look at his watch and sent Zoey and apologetic look, "Sorry, but I have to get going now. Good Bye Zoey," he then looked at Fred. Zoey took note that Cedric was debating which twin was sitting next to her, "Weasley," he gave a nod.

"Diggory," Fred returned the nod and Cedric turned around and walked away.

Zoey moved a bit in her chair to watch Cedric as he left. He was just a few feet away from the door when Bridgit was coming the opposite way. Bridgit raised her hand to wave at them but caught sight of Fred's expression. He didn't look to happy and his eyes were forming a glare. Bridgit turned around to watch Cedric's back before looking at Fred, then to Zoey and then back to Cedric who was about ten or so feet away from her. Bridgit swiftly turned around and yelled:

"Hey Cedric! Wait up! I wanted to ask you for some flying tips!" she ran after him.

Zoey raised her eyebrow and watched Bridgit's retreating figure before she disappeared from sight. Why would Bridgit be asking Cedric for flying tips? Didn't she say she didn't even like the way Cedric flew on the broom? Zoey's eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Something was up. Did she want to know what it was? She looked down at the highlighter quill in her hand. Not really. She thought it would be safer for her if she did not know.

She looked towards Fred. "So you and Cedric are on last name basis huh?"

"What?" Fred asked with a slight jump.

"What is the incantation used to make objects fly?"

"Zoe, I'm not that thick," Fred said as he looked at her with a smirk on his face, "It's _Wingardium Leviosa_"

"Are you sure?" Zoey asked with a shake of her head and a small 'tsk' sound. She held his book up and away from his sight.

"You mean it isn't?" Fred asked with slight panic.

Zoey gave a small laugh and placed his book back down on the table. "I know you're smart Fred and yes, it's _Wingardium Leviosa. _And remember 'swish and flick'!"

* * *

"_...a) Give the incantation and b) describe the wand movement required to make objects fly._"

Were the first two questions on Zoey's test on the Monday of her Charms exam. Zoey wore a proud smile as she dabbed her quill in the ink bottle and quickly wrote her answer. It was the same question she asked Fred the day before. Her eyes went over to the place where he was seated, if he got the answer wrong she would smack him with a heavy book. Zoey's attention went back to her test paper and she looked at the next question and answered more quickly than the last. By the time she finished her test she looked around and saw that everyone else was still hunched over their test papers scratching their heads and writing their answers. Zoey bit her lip to conceal her smile before looking back at her paper and quickly reviewing her answers.

After about half an hour Zoey and the rest of the class submitted their papers and it was now time for the practical exam. Zoey waited patiently for her turn and when it finally arrived she held her wand confidently in her hand as she looked down at her rat. She quickly took a glance towards her examiners and they each gave her an encouraging smile. Zoey returned it and, with ease, changed her rat orange within a second and back.

"Very good, Miss Emeraude, very good," one of the examiners said as he checked something on his clip board, "Professor Flitwick does not lie when he said you're one of this best students"

Zoey blushed, "Thanks you," she said softly.

The examiner merely gave her a smile and dismissed her. Zoey swiftly turned around and exited the room.

Her first day had gone by without any problems. She wondered if tomorrow or the days that would come after would be the same.

* * *

**Hey! I'm alive and I'm sorry I was gone for some time.  
**

**Busy days lie ahead!**

**Well, here's chapter 46**

**I struggled a bit with this but now all is good :)**

**We're are nearing the end of their 5th year!**

**Wonder what happens next?**

**~ mystery ~**

**Anyway, thank you all for your reviews and the like they are all very much appreciated!**

**Sorry for any typos because I don't have the time to read this over. Sorry D:**

**This chapter's a little bit shorter than the last... sorry about that also.**

**Wow, I'm very apologetic today... tonight... depends on the time zone...**

**Well, stay tuned for the next chapter which will hopefully be coming soon! :D**

**Don't forget to review and the like!**

**I only own what I own!  
**


	48. Chapter 47: Swerving off the rode

**Chapter 47: Swerving off the rode  
**

"IT'S OVER!" the twins exclaimed as they punched the air and did a small happy dance after they left the testing room. They did not care who saw them, heck even some students joined along in the cheering and the dancing. Fred and George walked around and patted random students on the shoulders and hugged their friends with glee, they even frightened the unsuspecting first years who passed by. The OWLs test had ended and it was obvious that the twins, and every other fifth year, were overjoyed with that fact.

"No more studying!" George yelled

"No more cramming!" Fred's voice followed, "Haha!"

"NO MORE ANYTHING!" they said in unison before dashing out of sight.

"Most likely to catch up on their pranking," Zoey muttered under her breath after the twins rounded a corner. She smiled a bit out of pure relief that the tests were finally over and she twirled her quill in her fingers. The feathers were slightly ruffled and the tip was stained with black. "You lived a good life," Zoey said to the quill for she had to buy a new one soon. She turned around and looked back at the testing room. The tests were over and the only thing she had to worry about now was her results. Whether she passed or not, Zoey did not want to dwell on the thought.

"Zwei, I was thinking if you would want to spend two weeks in my summer house?" Echo's voice came from behind her.

Zoey whirled around and pushed up her glasses before brushing back her bangs. "Summer house?" she asked, "Where?"

"The center of the Bermuda Triangle," Echo simply answered, rocking back and forth on her heels. Zoey raised an eyebrow.

"Bermuda Triangle?" she paused, "I have to be back home the week before the Quidditch World Cup," she bit her lip, "You're attending it as well aren't you?"

"Don't remind me. Fred and George can't shut their bloody traps for one second when that's what they're talking about," Echo grimaced and took a glance at where Fred and George disappeared.

"So you're not going?" Zoey asked slowly.

"I'm going of course," Echo raised an eyebrow.

Zoey nodded her head and pocketed her damaged quill and headed towards the stairs. She grabbed hold of the railing when it began to move. Zoey looked back at Echo and took note that she stood in place staring up at the ceiling. Zoey, too, looked up and noticed that it looked the same way it always did. "Hey Echo?" Zoey asked as she began walking up the stairs when it ceased movement, "What's so eye-catching about the ceiling?"

Echo opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by a yell. She turned around while Zoey moved in her place to see where the yell came from. Their eyes widened when they saw George tumbling down the stairs. Behind him there was a large smoke cloud that was colored swamp-green. Zoey quickly covered her nose when an odd smell started to seep towards them. There was a 'boom' that shook them a bit and suddenly green goop was seeping down the floor and slowly progressing down the steps. Zoey looked towards Echo and noticed that she was not where she was previously standing.

There was a groan.

Zoey looked down the stairs and saw Echo's violet hair fanned out on the floor while the rest of her body was covered by George, his ginger hair the only color visible from all the black and gray of his robes. Zoey bit her lip thinking if she should say something.

"A – Are you alright?" she managed to say as she descended down the steps only looking back twice to see how long she had till the goop reached them.

"Mind. Numbing. Pa-in." Echo moaned out and moved a bit from under George who groaned in reply. She, Echo, opened her eyes only to see George's blue eyes widening the same way as hers. She opened her mouth and let out an ear piercing scream.

George jumped back in surprise and Zoey quickly covered her ears. She looked at George and saw that he didn't cover his ears but instead winced at the sound. Zoey also took note that his cheeks were flushed. Either from embarrassment or something else, she did not know. George looked at her and Zoey bit her lip before pretending that she did not notice the shade of his cheeks by looking around only to see that the paintings were, too, covering their ears. After about thirty seconds had passed Echo's screamed began to soften before dying out leaving a breathless Echo. Echo took a few deep breaths before saying in a quiet voice:

"What just happened?"

Zoey looked back at George and saw that he was not looking at either of them. He did the same thing Fred does when the atmosphere got to awkward. Zoey raised an eyebrow at him but he did not see since the back of his head was the one facing her. She shook her head and helped Echo back to her feet before looking towards the stairs. The goop was only about fifteen more steps away till it reached the floor. Zoey was starting to think it was getting thicker and goopy-er with each passing step.

"I'm having the same question, actually," Zoey said, "What is that?" she then pointed at the goop.

George looked towards where she was pointing and a smirk crawled on his lips. The redness on his cheeks were gone. "Something we decided to pull in celebration for the last day of OWLs," he said before bending over to take a better look at the goop that was now five steps away from them. Zoey took a step back.

"We?" she asked

"Fred, Lee and I," George said with a shrug, "Who else?"

"What are you pointing at?" Echo's voice came and they turned towards her. Her eyes were squinting while her right hand was rubbing the back of her head. "I think I bumped my head too hard. I'm blind!" she said in a panicky state of manner.

"Let me take a look," George said as he walked closer to her, "You can't be blind. You can still see me can't you?"

Echo looked around at everything except for George. "Zoey who said that? Are we going to get killed?"

Zoey rolled her eyes in amusement but before she could say anything there was another explosion. She, Echo and George all turned back to the beginning of the stairs and saw another cloud of green smoke but this time it had some sparks in it which made small explosion contributing to the cloud. From the smoke emerged a figure which was Fred. Fred wore a grin on his face as he dashed out of the cloud of smoke. He looked down at them and gave a wave.

"That's where you ran off to, George!" he exclaimed, "Hanging around with their lot and I'm not invited? Rude!"

Fred then looked down as he prepared to walk to towards them but stopped with one foot raised when he took note of the goop. He then turned back when there was an angry yell from the other side of the cloud. Fred turned back at them and brought out his wand. "George, help me out here will ya?" he said before George pulled out his own wand. Zoey watched them with a curious look as they both made a wave with their wands and muttered spells under their breath. She looked back at Fred and saw that his feet started to lift above the ground. It wasn't as high as she was when she flew, his were only by a few inches, just enough to avoid the goop.

Slowly but surely, Fred floated towards them and the moment his feet touched the ground the goop was already on the last step. Fred whipped his forehead before grinning back at them. "That was a close one. Now all we have to do is – "

But Fred never got to finish because Filch, who was red in the face from anger, came out of the cloud of green smoke with the look of bloody murder written on his face.

"WEASLEY!"

Filch exclaimed.

Fred turned back to Zoey, Echo and George and said with a hiss, "Run!"

* * *

Zoey sighed as she picked up a small jar from the table. She turned it over and read the label. "Dreamless Sleep Potion," Zoey muttered before opening the jar. She took a whiff and looked inside. It was still half filled with purple liquid. She placed it on the bottom shelf of the Potion cabinet in front of her. After that she took another jar from the table and read the label. "Calming Draught," she read aloud before opening it and taking note that it was almost empty. A lot of students needed to take the draught before the test. Stress took its toll on them before the OWLs and they tended to break down during classes. Zoey placed the draught back on the table and picked up another potion.

"You know it wasn't _that _bad. Filch didn't catch us," came a voice. It was Fred and he was laying down on one of the Hospital beds making the pillow twirl above him with a wave of his wand. Zoey shook her head and placed theSkele-grow on the third shelf.

Fred then turned over so that he was leaning on his side, the pillow still twirling above him. He began to think. He thought about the tests and whether he did alright on it, he thought about the Quidditch World Cup that would be happening within the next few months, he thought about what he would be doing tomorrow, but one thought stood out among the rest. He thought about Zoey. Zoey, the girl standing in front of him, the girl who never seemed to leave his mind, the girl who he was in love with. Days, weeks and months had passed since their "kiss" and they still never spoke about it. Fred, in truth, didn't want to talk about it because he didn't want to hear her saying that it was an "accident" and it wasn't supposed to happen but at the same time he wanted to talk about it because there was a little hope inside him telling him that she would say things he wanted to hear.

Fred grimaced.

He sounded like a love sick puppy.

He shook his head and watched Zoey sort out the different potions; separating the ones that could still be used from the ones that would do more harm than good as of late. She wore her hair in a messy bun and brushed her bangs away from her face so often that it just stood out from odd angles. Her glasses slipped to the edge of her nose and she constantly bit her lips. A crease formed on her brow whenever she picked up a potion she wasn't familiar with. Fred wondered if he should tell her now. Tell her that he loves her. He felt his heart hammer against his chest.

What if it went wrong?

What if she did not hear him since she was busy concentrating with her work?

What if she didn't believe him and thought that his confession was a joke?

What if she was so shocked by the sudden confession that she dropped the potion and went to fix her mistake rather than reply?

What if she didn't love him back?

Fred groaned. This was killing him. He was over thinking things yet when he didn't he felt like he would screw things up. He wanted to plan the confession yet at the same time he just wanted to get it over and done with. He lay back onto his back and watched as the pillow continued to twirl above him. Zoey was killing him and she didn't even know it.

"Hey, Zoe?" Fred spoke without thinking, "Can I ask you something?"

Zoey looked at him with a raised eyebrow. She slowly placed a potion back on the table and wiped her hands on her robes. "Sure," she said

"Do – Where's Madam Pomfrey?" Fred quickly asked and inwardly kicked himself for changing his question.

"Madam Pomfrey?" Zoey asked with a tilt of her head, "She went out for a bit. Why?"

Fred shook his head. "Nothing… that wasn't the question I wanted to ask"

"Then what was the question?" Zoey pushed her glasses further up the bridge of her nose.

"Have you ever fan – So you wanna be a Healer after Hogwarts?" Fred silently swore under his breath. He changed his question again. What was he trying to avoid? Right…rejection.

Zoey blushed before picking up the potion and looking at its label. "I never really thought about it before. The idea just came to me when I was with Professor Sprout discussing what I wanted to be. It was kind of a top of the head answer but," she placed the potion on the fourth shelf, "I enjoy this," she indicated the entire Hospital Wing, "Healing people and the like. It's just refreshing… sort of. The feeling is hard to describe. I just… feel happy" She ended her struggle with words with a sheepish grin.

Fred gave a short nod and a laugh. "So you like healing people huh?"

"Well, I just want to be able to help. Since no one was there to help me I just want to be there for people," Zoey said quietly with a rather dark look on her face.

"Zoe –" Fred began but Zoey interrupted him.

"Stupid me," she hit the back of her own head, "I just made the atmosphere dark and all. Let's change the subject"

"No –"

"What are you planning to do after Hogwarts?" Zoey quickly asked before returning to the potions on the table and the cabinet.

Fred kept quiet. It was obvious that Zoey was trying to change the subject. Fred realized she has yet to tell him what her past exactly was. He decided not to push the topic. "It isn't just me. It's George and I," Fred said before swinging his legs of the bed so he was sitting upright.

"Of course," Zoey gave a small laugh before putting another potion on the fifth shelf, "So what do you guys plan on doing then?"

"It isn't as _grand _as being a _Healer_. Obviously we can't possible compare to your awesome career," Fred said with a lofty tone, "Oh look, I feel bad about myself now. Thanks, Zoe. You're absolutely terrific. I feel like yesterday's trash" He ended before making an exaggerated sigh and falling back onto the bed placing his arm over his eyes and sticking his tongue out feigning death.

Zoey rolled her eyes and brought out her wand. She pointed it as one of the beds summoning the pillow bringing it over Fred's twirling pillow, dropping the spell causing both pillows to fall on Fred. Fred bolted upright and threw one of the pillows at Zoey. Zoey squealed a bit when it hit her.

"Okay, okay. I give up. So what exactly is your plan for the future?" Zoey asked as she picked up the fallen pillow and used her wand to place it back on the proper bed.

Fred charmed is pillow to twirl and do flips above him once more before placing his wand at this side and looking at Zoey. Zoey raised her eyebrow.

"We plan on having our own joke shop," Fred said. He then looked up to watch the pillow do odd tricks. "Go on then. You can laugh or tell me it's a horrible or impossible idea. I won't stop you," he said when Zoey did not say anything for the past few minutes.

"No, I'm not going to say any of that," Zoey said in a quiet voice. Fred looked back at her and watched her continue fixing the potions. He wondered vaguely why it was taking her so long or why she hadn't just used magic to fix it.

"Then what were you going to say?" Fred asked.

Zoey placed another potion on the first shelf. "I was going to say that it sounds like an awesome plan," she gave small smile, "A joke shop. That's brilliant. You and George really know your stuff and… well… It's just a fun idea. Maybe to some it seems impossible but you know after knowing the both of you for all these years I sort of realized that," she paused and looked at Fred in the eye, "Anything's possible if you got enough nerve"

Fred felt himself blush but quickly looked down to hide it. "Is that so?" he managed to say while trying to calm his burning cheeks.

"Yep," Zoey said popping the 'p' without taking notice to Fred's slightly flustered face. "So was that what you wanted to ask?" she raised an eyebrow after she placed the last potion on the shelf and closing the cabinet's doors. She straightened her robes and pushed up her glasses.

"No," Fred said truthfully, "Where is Echo?" he randomly asked.

"She's with Bridgit. Why?" Zoey asked. She then re-tied her hair into a sloppy bun.

"Nothing," Fred said with a sigh. He was really avoiding everything. He looked around the Hospital Wing and stopped at a window. It was getting late. He quietly wondered what time it was. Was it past the fifth year's curfew? Wait, why did he care? Not like he ever obeyed the curfew in the first place.

Zoey blinked her eyes several times. "So what did you want to ask?"

Fred took a deep breath. It was now or never.

"By any chance do you – err – _fancy_ anyone at the moment?" he asked while his heart hammered against his chest.

Zoey felt her cheeks flush and stammered over her words. "F – fancy? You m – mean do I l – like anyone right now? W – Well –" but Zoey didn't get to finish. Instead of actually making sense with her words she ended up taking in a gasp when Fred's twirling pillow landed on his head knocking him to the side since he did not expect to be hit.

"Bloody hell," Fred gasped as he rubbed the back of his head. The pillow did not harm him; it was just a simple reflex.

"Mr. Weasley, would you _please _court Miss Emeraude on your own time? It's long past the fifth year's curfew and you should be back in your dormitories in your bed and under your blankets. No, don't you dare ask why Miss Emeraude is allowed. She's here on my orders," Madam Pomfrey said as she pocketed her wand, "Now go before I report you to Minerva"

Fred grumbled under his breath before straightening up and heading to the door. Zoey quietly watched him as he reached for the doorknob and left. She frowned a bit when she heard the door's soft click and the fading footsteps of Fred. Zoey only brought her attention back to her surroundings when she heard Madam Pomfrey rummaging through the cabinet Zoey had just finished fixing.

Zoey placed her hands behind her back as she waited patiently for Madam Pomfrey to give her orders. It was not odd for Madam Pomfrey to ask Zoey to help her around the Hospital Wing; it _was _part of Zoey's training for becoming a Healer after all. What was odd was the time Madam Pomfrey asked for help. It was true that it was past the fifth year's curfew and it was very strange for Madam Pomfrey to even let Zoey stay out late. Zoey bit her lip when Madam Pomfrey began to pull out the potions Zoey was not familiar with.

"Madam Pomfrey?" Zoey timidly asked, "What would we be doing tonight? Is there someone we need to treat?"

"Yes and No," Madam Pomfrey said before closing the cabinet and heading off to her desk, "Miss Emeraude could you please fetch the cauldron?"

Zoey nodded and headed towards the cauldron. She heaved it up and slowly walked to her mentor. "Madam Pomfrey. What's happening? Who's hurt?"

"I don't know if I should be the one to tell you but obviously you would find out on your own. I trust you Miss Emeraude," Madam Pomfrey told Zoey with a more serious tone than usual as she began to prepare her ingredients beside the cauldron. "Look outside that window, Miss Emeraude and tell me what you see." Madam Pomfrey said before Zoey could ask any more questions.

Zoey slowly nodded her head and walked towards the window Fred was previously looking at. She pressed her face close to the glass as her eyes scanned the view outside. "I see… the Forbidden Forest… and the Whomping Willow," Zoey said.

"That's nice, Miss Emeraude, but what I want you to look at is the sky. Tell me what you see," said Madam Pomfrey.

Zoey looked up at the sky and it was the same velvety color as before. The stars shone brightly and the only difference was the moon. It was at its fullest. "Madam Pomfrey, is there supposed to be something wrong with the sky? All I see are the stars and the moon"

"That's what you're suppose to see, child. Tell me, what does the moon look like?"

"Well, a moon? It's a full moon tonight," Zoey said unsurely.

Madam Pomfrey stopped her potion and wiped her hands on a towel she walked over to Zoey. "Do you know what happens during a full moon?" she asked in a quiet voice.

Zoey blinked and furrowed her eyebrows in concentration. "What's suppose to happen?" she asked when she could not think of an answer.

"Think harder. Remember your Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons," Madam Pomfrey said.

"On a full moon… that's when … a normal wizard or Muggle transforms into a beast…," Zoey said slowly, "Madam Pomfrey it can't be that –"

"Tonight, you will be helping me to prepare a little something that will help the said wizard to be able to rest after his transformation. True he is used to it but this little something will help him feel better sooner. We will be preparing it tonight so it will be ready for him in the morning," Madam Pomfrey said before turning around to go back to her cauldron.

"He?" Zoey asked with slight fright in her voice, "Who's the werewolf?"

* * *

It was a full moon and everyone was in the castle snug under their blankets, everyone except for three Gryffindors, Two Ravenclaws, three grown men and one werewolf. Those who were awake were currently in the Forbidden Forest but the Ravenclaws were just somewhere close but not quite in the Forbidden Forest. The Ravenclaws were girls and it seemed that they were having an argument, an argument that was on the losing side of the guilty looking girl.

"YOU'RE A BLOODY DEATH EATER?" Echo's shrill high-pitched voice that was an octave higher than her usual tone of voice rang out and was carried away by the breeze making it only audible to Bridgit.

Bridgit licked her lips and shook her head, "Please, you got to understand"

* * *

**And Chapter End!**

**Thank you "HayleyParadox" for helping me out**

**Thank you to all of you who reviewed and the like.**

**They are very much appreciated! :D**

**I'm sorry if the chapter is rather short. **

**I would have written more but it's already late and I wanted to end it here before the next chapter**

**So stay tuned for the next chapter XD**

**I'm going to Graduate in 2 days time!**

**Can't wait :D**

**Don't forget to Review and the like!**

**Sorry I can't answer some of your questions, If i did it would reveal stuff that I want to keep as a surprise! :D**

**I only own what I own!**

**PS: sorry for any typos and the like D:  
**


	49. Chapter 48: Letters

**Chapter 48: Letters  
**

Zoey wiped her eyes and held in a sob as she walked down the hall. She had just finished helping Madam Pomfrey with the potion and she was dismissed to take a few hours rest before returning to the Hospital Wing to treat the patient. Zoey hiccuped. The patient. The patient was none other than her Uncle Moony. The man who took her in when her mother died. The man who did selfless things to be able to support Zoey until she had to be given to the Emeraudes. The man, who seemed like he could do nothing wrong was a werewolf. A very dangerous beast that could kill you at the spot. A beast that can transform you into one of them. A beast that was greatly shunned by the muggle and wizarding community. Zoey felt a lump in her throat. Her Uncle could not be that beast, he just couldn't.

_"Uncle Moony, it's okay to be afraid of them"_

Zoey heard her voice echo in her head and she held in another sob. She wiped her flowing tears and tried to get herself together.

_"What about you Zoey? Are you afraid of werewolves?"_

She heard her uncle's voice. He was trying to tell her something. He wanted to know if she would accept him for who he was. How could she not realize that? She had said that it depended. Her fear on werewolves depended on how they act, if they were nice or not. Zoey's eyes widened. Her Uncle was one of the nicest people she knew. Was she afraid of him?

_"Werewolves are monsters. Monsters are never nice"_

Zoey heard her uncle's voice in her head. Was he trying to tell her that _he _wasn't nice?

_"But they're still people aren't they? They only become monsters once a month."_

She remembered reasoning with him; unconsciously trying to let him see that Werewolves were people more than half of the time.

_"Werewolves are dangerous creatures. You do not want to encounter one"_

Zoey stopped dead in her tracks. She had already encountered one. Not in wolf form but in human form. He did nothing to her. He only loved her. Zoey bit her lip and rubbed her eyes. Tears were no longer flowing. It had seemed that she had run out of tears to shed. Her eyes felt raw. Zoey looked up at the moon. She wished that the sun would take its place, to end her Uncle's suffering. To change her Uncle back to the man she knew.

_"Werewolves are shunned. They are not accepted anywhere. If you associated with one, then you'll be shunned as well,"_

Did Zoey care about being shunned? Did she care that her Uncle was a werewolf? She had told him that if someone close to her were a werewolf she wouldn't do anything. She said that she would treat them the same way she always treated them when they were human. Was she going to be true to her word? Zoey wondered if her care about being accepted by people would harm her love for her uncle. Would she abandon her uncle if given the chance to be loved by society? Zoey furrowed her eyebrows and glared at the ground. Of course not. Right now, she couldn't care less about how people thought of her. All she cared about at the moment was her uncle.

Zoey swiftly turned her back at the sight of the moon and went up the moving stairs. She did not care that it was way past her curfew and she did not care that Madam Pomfrey can't save her now since their training was over at the moment. All Zoey cared about was getting to her Uncle. Madam Pomfrey had said that her Uncle has been drinking Wolfsbane Potion and stayed in his office every transformation. _That's what the cauldron was for…, _Zoey vaguely thought to herself when she remembered the cauldron in his office.

Snoozing painting after snoozing painting Zoey passed until she reached the door to his office. She placed her hand on the handle and caught her breath. Did she really want to be in the same room as a transformed werewolf? That was when they were most dangerous. Zoey bit her lip. Madam Pomfrey _did _say that if her uncle took the Wolfsbane Potion his body would be the only one that would change. His mind would still be intact and he would still have control over his actions. He would not harm her… right?

Zoey gulped and twisted the handle. He would not harm her and even if he did she had her wand in her robes' pocket. Her only problem was that she did not know any spells that could be used against a werewolf. The spells she thought that could be affective were the ones she had been struggling with. Zoey sucked in a gasp when she pushed the door open. It was too late to turn her back now. It was now or never.

"Uncle Moony?" Zoey asked in a soft voice when she peered through the door. She expected to see her Uncle in werewolf form inching farther away from her into a dark corner. She expected to see a werewolf in the room either sleeping or looking curiously at her. All her expectations involved a werewolf but she was left in utter confusion. The office was the same as before only that there was no werewolf in sight. Where was her Uncle?

Zoey bit her lip and lit her wand with a soft "_Lumos_" she quickly scanned the room and the place behind her. She looked under the tables and behind the drawers. She even looked at small gaps that obviously could not hide a werewolf but to no avail. He uncle was not in the room. Zoey's breathing quickened. Where could he have possibly gone? She knew her Uncle was smart and that he still had his mind intact, he wouldn't have left the room. Heck, he couldn't even leave the door unless he broke it down. Zoey quickly looked back at the door. Nope, it was still intact. She looked at the windows. They were still fixed. It was no use thinking he was still in the office. Zoey came to the obvious conclusion that her Uncle left the office before his transformation. The only question was: "Where did he go?"

Zoey was about to turn and leave but something caught her eye. She held her wand tighter in her hand as she approached the table. She peered down at it and her eyes widened. It was the Marauder's Map. Zoey need not say the correct incantation for the map was already open and she could see several people walking around. She saw Filch and Mrs. Norris patrolling the seventh floor and she saw several ghosts moving about down the halls. She saw Peeves loitering around on the third floor but none of those surprised her. What surprised her were the names located in and near the Forbidden Forest. She saw Bridgit and Echo's names standing far apart from each other and she saw her Uncle's name running around in the Forbidden Forest. "That's where he is…," Zoey said in a shaky whisper before once again scanning the map. She was sure her uncle would do no harm to any of the students since he was so far away and Bridgit and Echo were already several feet away from the castle.

"It can't be," Zoey gasped when she caught sight of her dad's name in the castle. He was in one of the classroom, which classroom it was she did not bother to check for she was focused on the names that were floating near her father's. Harry, Hermione and Buckbeak were with her father and in a matter of second her father's name joined them. Zoey let out a pained gasp. It was happening again. Mist began to surround her out of her own will. Her eyes shot wide open and she grabbed hold of the desk, gripping on it tightly as she felt the wings beginning to sprout out from her back. She bit back a scream when she felt them spread wide, enjoying their freedom.

Without thinking, Zoey went towards the window and opened it. She shivered slightly when a cool breeze passed by but she did not linger. In less than a second she jumped out of the window and flew towards the West Tower. She did not know why she was going there but her instincts told her that that was the place where she got to be. She squinted her eyes to keep the wind from harming them and she tried her best to keep a straight face as she fought the wind. She was flying faster than she ever flown before. Before it even reached two minutes Zoey landed on the West Tower and felt her wings retreat back into her body. She winced a bit but then licked her lips when she saw Buckbeak arrive with Harry, Hermione and Sirius on his back. Zoey watched Harry and Hermione jump off Buckbeak and Sirius thanking them. Zoey decided to reveal herself.

"And when you see Zoey tell her –" Sirius stopped and looked up when he heard footsteps. Harry and Hermione turned around at the source of the sound, panic and fright written on their faces.

"Tell me what, dad?" Zoey asked in a soft voice as she walked closer to her father; a small smile on her face. "That you're free? That you can now go out and live your life?"

"In a way yes. I am now free from Azkaban but I am still a wanted man," Sirius said, readjusting himself on Buckbeak's back.

"I guess you can't have everything, huh?" Zoey bit her lip, "Where are you going to go?"

Sirius looked at everything except for Zoey. "Somewhere far away from here. Where that place is… I don't know yet"

Zoey slowly nodded her head.

"We'll see each other again," Sirius said reassuringly, "How _did _you get here anyway?"

Zoey gave a small smirk and let out her hand showing her palm. On it was a single white feather. Hermione looked at it curiously while Harry and Sirius nodded their heads. The feather blew away in the breeze.

"Sirius, we're running out of time," Hermione said with slight panic.

"Right," Sirius said and Buckbeak moved a bit, "You are truly your father's son, Harry," he looked at Harry and then at Zoey, "What I was going to tell them to tell you was that I love you"

Zoey gave a large smile, "I love you too, dad"

Sirius gave a grin before squeezing Buckbeak's sides with his heels causing Buckbeak's wings to rise. The hippogriff took off into the air. In a matter of seconds both Buckbeak and Sirius were getting smaller and smaller until they were out of sight. A cloud covered the moon.

Zoey turned around and faced Harry and Hermione. She blushed. She took a step back and looked down. "Well, I best be going now. It's after curfew and all and I have to wake up to go –"

But she was cut off when the air was knocked out of her by the strength of Harry's hug. Her eyes widened the same time Harry's hug tightened around her. Zoey looked down at Harry and then at Hermione who wore a tired smile on her lips. Zoey bit her lips and wrapped her arms around Harry as well. They stayed like that for a few moments before Harry loosened his grip slightly.

"Sorry," he said, "About everything I said and did"

"It's fine… all's forgiven," Zoey said in a quiet tone before running her hand through his hair. The kind of gesture and older sister does to a younger brother.

Harry smiled.

* * *

Zoey furrowed her eyebrows and pouted her lips childishly. She was once again in her Uncle's office and she threw quite a childish tantrum. She continued to glare at the ground as her Uncle moved around the room waving his wand at various objects in order to fix and pack them into his several suitcases. It was the day after her father had once again escaped and her Uncle was up and ready to go since he had already taken the potion Zoey and Madam Pomfrey had made him. Zoey immaturely stomped her foot on the ground.

Remus sighed and dropped his wand to his side. "Zoey," he said patiently, "We've been over this."

"But you can't resign! I won't let you!" Zoey said with a childish tone. She was being a brat but she couldn't help it.

"The parents won't be happy knowing a werewolf will be teaching their children," Remus ran a hand through his hair, looking around his office trying to see if he forgot anything.

"Then they're being potato heads! You've been teaching the students of Hogwarts for a _year_ now. _Obviously,_ you didn't do anything wrong to them! Why would you harm them now?" Zoey said stomping her foot to emphasize each important word.

"But there's nothing I can do about it. If they don't like the teacher's in Hogwarts then they would not send their students here. _That _would be a problem," Remus said

"How did they find out anyway?" Zoey asked curiously.

"Err – Severus _accidentally _let it slip that I am a werewolf this morning at breakfast," Remus said awkwardly before returning to waving his wand around sending shoes back into shoe boxes and books and papers into folders and bags.

Zoey raised an eyebrow, "Accidentally, huh?" she then dropped the subject and went towards Remus' table. The map was once again open and she looked at the moving names. She spotted Harry's name approaching Remus' office. "Harry's coming," Zoey said.

"I see," Remus said from behind her. He had stopped packing just to peer over her shoulder.

Zoey pulled out her wand and pointed it at the door. She muttered a spell causing the door to open on its own. She then pocketed her wand and faced her uncle. He was looking at her curiously. "It's so Harry wouldn't waste any time knocking. He can just walk right it," Remus gave her a look, "What? It's called consideration"

Remus didn't believe her but a smile broke on his lips and pulled her into a hug. Zoey returned it. "I'm going to miss you so much," Zoey whispered. A few seconds later they heard footsteps. Zoey let go of her Uncle and smiled when she saw Harry walking into the office.

"Well," Zoey said taking one last good look at her uncle, "I'll be going now," she gave him a hug, "I'll see you whenever"

Zoey then passed by Harry and sent him a smile before leaving the office, shutting the door close when on her way. She then ran a hand through her hair and went on her way to her dormitories. She had so see if she got everything packed and ready to go.

* * *

"I'll see you, Cedric!" Zoey waved and watched Cedric being brought away by both his parents. She had had the pleasure of meeting the family when the train stopped at platform's nine and three-quarters. Amos Diggory was a friendly man and Zoey had a pleasant conversation with him. Sure, he bragged about Cedric winning the Quidditch math against Harry, something Cedric modestly said that he only won because Harry fell of his broom, but Zoey could not help but feel Amos pride radiating from him.

Mrs. Diggory was a very beautiful and pleasant woman. Zoey could see that Cedric got most of his traits from her. Zoey gave another wave when they looked back and smiled happily when they were out of sight. It was good to finally have a friend in her own house. Zoey swiftly turned around to see Fred glaring at a distance while George and Echo were having a pleasant conversation.

"Fred? What's wrong?" Zoey asked as she touched his arm.

Fred blinked a couple of times before realizing that Zoey had spoken to him. He looked down at her, she had grown a few inches but he was still way taller, and grinned. He brought his hand up and ruffled her hair. "Nothing," he said with a laugh before pocketing both his hands. Zoey scrunched up her nose and tried to fix her hair, though it made no difference.

"You just had to say so. No need in messing up my hair," Zoey said as she gave up and blew her bangs away from her face.

"I messed it up?" Fred asked, "I was only _improving _it"

"Uhuh," Zoey raised an eyebrow before sticking her tongue out at him. Fred returned the gesture.

"Zwei, I'm going to go with you to your house to help you pack up. Even though the Bermuda Triangle is near the equator, it can be as cold as the arctic there," Echo spoke in a very high sing-song voice.

"But we have all our things with us now," Zoey asked, turning away from Fred, "What else is there to pack?"

"I don't know," Echo rolled her eyes, "maybe your scuba diving suit or swimwear"

Zoey raised her eyebrow, "I don't swim," she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What' this we hear about the Bermuda Triangle?" George said leaning on Fred's shoulder.

"And what's this about going to Zoe's house to pack her swimwear?" Fred leaned towards Echo and Zoey while wiggling his eyebrows.

"We're going to the Bermuda Islands and stay put there for two weeks," Echo merely raised her eyebrow at the twins before closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose, "Keep your bloody heads out off the damn bloody gutter; we're not bringing any boys, unless, of course, you use the portkey we use that takes place of a really truly burnt Christmas Tree," Echo paused, "Please don't tell me I just blurted those things"

"Alright," Fred began

"We won't tell you," George continued

"But you _did _blurt out those things," they ended in unison.

Zoey laughed, "Mrs. Weasley won't even let you go."

"Oh well," Echo allowed a grin on her face. "I guess that we have to miss Fred and George over two weeks and maybe pretend that they're in a coma," Echo then pouted.

Fred and George placed their hands on their hearts and feigned hurt. "That hurts Echo," George said.

"What if we really were in a coma?" Fred asked.

"Easy. You'd be in a coma, of course," Echo stuck out her tongue. The twins did the same.

Zoey smiled, rolled her eyes and shook her head. She then looked around the platform trying to catch sight of the Golden Trio, Bridgit or the Weasley Family. No less than ten seconds she caught sight of Bridgit walking away with her luggage in tow while Shinji was walking behind her. Zoey was just about to call out to her but was stopped when Echo grabbed hold of her arm and placed a hand over Zoey's mouth making her words muffled. Zoey's eyes widened with confusion.

"Bridgit's in a bad mood. You better not disturb her, she says she needs time to be alone for quite a while," Echo spoke in a deep sullen tone while she looked somewhere else, refusing to look at Bridgit.

Zoey pried Echo's hand of her mouth and knitted her eyes in worry.

"Bad mood?" Fred asked with a snigger, "Is it that time of month for her?"

"Obviously not, Fred," Echo looked at him with no expression dancing on her eyes unlike the childish disposition it held just before Zoey had noticed Bridgit.

George tugged his twin's sleeve, "Now _she's _in a mood. Better not add fuel to the fire unless we want to get back home alive, mate"

"Where's the fuel, George?" Echo raised an eyebrow, "I'm not angry or filled with the brim with hatred, but we all know it's somewhere under there." Echo smiled a small smile.

Zoey was just about to back up the twins but was interrupted when she heard the hooting of an owl. She and the rest looked up to see a black and white owl flying their way. It was a few sizes smaller than a regular owl but was still big enough to carry packages as big as a box. Zoey raised an eyebrow at it and winced slightly when it landed on her shoulder. She stiffened at the added weight and slowly held up her arm and let the owl hop to it so she had room to move her head. Zoey gulped and studied the owl a bit. Its eyes were a bright honey brown and its head and boy were of white color while its wings were black with white spots. The beak was a light orange and held a letter with her name scrawled on the envelope.

"Who's it from?" Echo asked Zoey.

Zoey reached towards the owl and took the letter from it. She flinched slightly when it affectionately rubbed against her hand. She then let the owl hop to her shoulder as she opened the letter. She quickly scanned the message and a small smile played on her lips. She then pocketed the letter and let the owl nibble on her finger.

"So who's it from," Fred asked.

"Never you mind," Zoey said and looked towards them, "So what's a nice name for this little girl?"

"You're keeping her?" George asked

Zoey nodded, "The letter does say she's officially mine."

"How about 'Eos'?" Echo smiled.

"I was thinking about something like 'Eva' since it means life and all," Zoey paused, "But that sounds rather egotistical since my name means the same. What does 'Eos' mean?"

"Means 'dawn'," Echo spoke.

Zoey nodded her head and looked back at the owl, "Dawn… Eos… I like it," she then smiled at her friends, "Well, it will be easier to Owl you guys now"

"Damn straight," Fred grinned, "And you better send us letters everyday"

"Seeing as you're going to leave us for two weeks and you have no excuse _not _to send us letters. You do have your own owl now," George added

"Shut up, both of you," Echo said and stuck her tongue out once more, "Don't make me send Iolanthe just to peck your heads"

Fred and George took a step back. "Don't have to be so violent," they said before looking around.

"I think I see mum," George said.

"Well, then, we'll be seeing you before the Quidditch World Cup?" Fred asked as he grabbed hold of his luggage cart. George did the same.

"Yeah," Zoey smiled and Fred blushed a bit. He covered it with his hand and pretended to cough into it.

"Bye, George. Good Luck, Fred. Don't be messing with the stuff I left," Echo sternly spoke but the twins already turned their back to her and waved not really taking her warning seriously.

Zoey quietly watched them leave until they were out of sight. She felt Eos fly away from her shoulder and landed on her luggage cart. Zoey looked at her fondly before looking at Echo. "Why'd you wish Fred good luck?"

"That he might survive through the coma," Echo shrugged and grinned.

Zoey didn't question any further. She rather not know what Echo really meant. She then looked back at Eos and watched as the owl looked at her questioningly. "Now… let's find you a cage and see if I can keep you alive through the summer"

Eos gave a frightened hoot.

"Hey, this is the first time I've ever had a pet besides a rock," Zoey then began to push her cart, "Now… where can I find owl food…"

"Easy. Find rats," Echo chirped.

* * *

**And that's the end of their 5th year!**

**Yey!**

**Oh, and I finally graduated! Toga and diploma and everything!**

**I celebrated on April 1 so that means... HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRED AND GEORGE!**

**Stay tuned for an extra/bonus chapter dedicated to those lovable twins :P**

**I love April one but there are time where I completely hate it. I hate it when people pull pranks that go to far and are not even funny.**

**I don't want to go into details.**

**Special thanks to HayleyParadox for helping me out.**

**Thank you all for supporting me and reviewing and the like. I couldn't have gone this far without you all!  
**

**Oh, and sorry if this is shorter than the other chappies. I was slightly on Writers Block here but at least I finished it!**

**I hope it was/is good!**

**Hopefully the bonus/extra chapter would be up and running tomorrow so once again... stay tuned :D**

**Oh and for chapter 49 (which is not the extra/bonus chapter) will be about Echo and Zoey's summer so stay tuned for that too!**

**I feel like a radio :P**

**Well, that's all I got to say in this author's note.**

**Don't forget to review and the like! :D**

**I only own what I own  
**


	50. Bonus Chapter! Moments like these

**And now it's time for a Crossroads Special! **

***clap, clap, clap***

**This is dedicated to the Weasley Twins in celebration for their birthday!**

**Though this is a day late...**

**At least I uploaded it :P**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**_MOMENTS LIKE THESE_**

Zoey bit her lips as she walked around Hogsmeade. In her pocket was a bag of coins while in her hand was nothing. That's not what she wanted. She wanted her pocket to be empty while her hands full. She looked at window after window and still could not find what she wanted. It was the day before April first and she still hasn't found a gift for Fred and George. Zoey passed by Zonko's Joke Shop for the tenth time that day and looked through it once more but she still could not find anything that she wanted to give the twins. She entered Honeydukes for the twelfth time and could not find any candies she wanted to wrap. She was stumped.

She sighed when she sat on one of the benches and placed her head in her hands. She had absolutely no idea what to give the twins. Sure, they would have liked anything from Zonko's or Honeydukes but Zoey wanted to give them something special. She thought of getting them something for Quidditch but she realized she did not have the first clue as what to give since she never played Quidditch in the first place. She thought maybe a book would suffice but then remembered she had no idea what kinds of books the twins read or if they read in the first place. Zoey shook her head. Of course they knew how to read, the question was did they like reading.

Zoey stood back up from the bench and continued to walk around, she was just about to give up and come back another day when she passed by Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment. She looked through the window and saw a wide variety of magical instruments from telescopes to hour glasses. She felt the money bag in her pocket and opened the door with a small jingle from the bell. She looked around and became curious from what she saw.

"May I help you Madam?" said the shop owner when Zoey approached a pile of telescopes. Zoey picked one up and studied it a bit. She looked through it and smiled a bit.

"Yes," Zoey said, "I would like to purchase this"

The shop owner smiled and took it away from her and headed to the counter. Zoey had found a gift for George. The shop owner entered the price of the telescope into the cash register and asked if there was anything else Zoey wanted to buy. Zoey shook her head and took the telescope. She left the shop with a smile and walked down Hogsmeade once more. As she was walking she brought the telescope back out from the bag and looked into it. As she was walking she did not know that she was going to run into something until it actually made contact with her, painfully. Zoey groaned and dropped the telescope to the ground and placed a hand over her eye. It throbbed with pain. She kept her eye close and picked up the telescope to examine it. It was still as good as new. She carefully placed it back in the bag and looked at one of the shop's windows to see her reflection.

"Dang it," she said when she saw a purplish color surrounding her eye. She covered her injured eye and looked up at the shop's sign. "Tomes and Scrolls" it read. Zoey bit her lip and tried to ignore the throbbing feeling in her eye. "Might as well," she said to herself and pushed open the door. She looked around and went to a random section. She wondered if she would be able to find anything that would interest Fred and George. A pranking book was not on her list since they were already good with that. She wanted something that would be able to help them in the future. A study planner? Nope, that wouldn't help them one bit.

Zoey looked at every book in every aisle until she reached something that caught her eye. She looked at the spine and the cover and saw no title, this confused her. She opened the book and scanned the pages. She saw different pictures of magic and potions and descriptions on each. It looked really interesting. She went back to the beginning of the book and thoroughly read the chapter. After each passing sentence the smile on her lips grew bigger and brighter. She had found the perfect gift. She snapped the book shut and ran towards the cash register, slightly scaring him when she slammed the book down and brought out her bag of coins. No less than two seconds she was out of the bookstore with the gifts in her hands.

She felt the feeling of accomplishment and even though her eye throbbed like there was no tomorrow and she should have probably went back to the castle to get it checked she still felt like there was one last thing to buy. Zoey readjusted the gifts and ran to Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop to buy two new quills, various colors of ink and two thick notebooks. She quickly purchased them and went to Potage's Cauldron shop and bought a reasonable sized cauldron which she dunked the other gifts inside. She then ran out of the shop with a smile on her face and headed back into Hogwarts.

Zoey quickly went to the Ravenclaw Tower and bit her lip. She shuffled at her feet and readjusted her things. She waited for the riddle.

_"The Twins divulging deep things inside,_

_A part, no doubt of Billionaire one's pride._

_Crucial moments of time or ways to prospects better,_

_Building necessities, extras to what hold your letters."_

Was the riddle.

Zoey held the gifts in one hand and scratched the back of her head with the other. She thought long and hard for the answer. Several times she was about to answer but stopped herself knowing if she got it wrong she would have to wait for someone to come and get it right. That's how she'll learn. The truth was she had no time to learn at the moment. Zoey looked around and tried to find the answer within the objects surrounding her. Minutes passed and Zoey felt like there was no hope. Might as well say what are guess was.

"Windows," Zoey said with uncertainty. She waited a couple of seconds until the statue said: "Nicely answered" and opened up to reveal the Ravenclaw Common Room. Zoey gave a sigh of relief and stepped it. She looked around and noted that Echo was the only one sitting in the Common Room with two boxes and gift wrap at her sides.

"You found gifts for the twins, I suppose?" Echo spoke, while fastening the fold in front of a translucent box and started folding the sides. She looked up at Zoey. "And what kind of wuss would punch a girl such as yourself?" Echo commented, nodding her head to Zoey's black eye.

"Wuss?" Zoey raised an eyebrow and sat by Echo. She, Zoey, placed her gifts on the floor and began to separate them. She placed one quill, notebook and the telescope in one side while she placed another quill, notebook and the book on another side; she then placed the cauldron with the various ink bottles inside in the middle of the two separated gifts.

Echo silently fastened the sides to the front and used some kind of adhesive to make it stick while cross-wrapping them with a black ribbon. Zoey silently watched and wondered vaguely why Echo did not just use magic to wrap the gift. She shook the question out of her head. "What did you get them?" she instead asked.

"Clothing. Dark Green trench coat for George and Ochre Yellow for Fred," Echo spoke before humming to a strange made-up melody.

Zoey made a motion towards the gift wrap. "That's nice. Where'd you find it?" she began to wrap her gifts as well.

"Not in Hogsmeade, obviously. Found them somewhere in London," Echo smirked.

"Obviously," Zoey laughed. She then paused and looked down at her gifts. Fred's was still half wrapped. "Time sure passes by…doesn't it?"

"I don't see time. I only feel it passing by, so yes," Echo went to wrapping George's gift next.

Zoey stayed quiet as she finished Fred's gift and proceeded to George's. "Soon it would be my birthday… I'm starting to feel old," she gave a laugh.

"You mean mature. If you feel old, you would surely hear your own joints crack without forcing them to"

Zoey then moved towards the twins' combined gifts. While she was wrapping it she began to roll her shoulders. She moaned in agony. "You hear that? My joints! I can hear them. It's like those muggle gears. I have to get them oiled or something! The pain!" Zoey then made the sound of a withering old man, "I – cough – can see the light! Double sided rainbow!"

Echo chortled. "And yet Dumbledore seems to be more fit than you"

"Shut it," Zoey threw a throw pillow at her, "He has things to do, places to be, magic to cast. He's always doing something. You can't expect him to be those couch potatoes."

"I haven't asked, but why did you buy the twins school materials?" Echo looked up from wrapping George's gift.

Zoey raised her eyebrow and waved her wand causing ribbons to weave around the gifts and cards being pasted on each of them. She then flicked her wand and neat, cursive writing appeared on the cards wishing the twins a happy birthday. Zoey would have written it herself but she had no quill with her. She then blinked her eyes.

"Well… these aren't for school since obviously they won't use it. This is for their Joke Shop dream thing. You know, write down ideas, getting ideas and inspiration. Making potions and experimentations etcetera," Zoey made a hand motion indicating 'etcetera'.

"What's with the telescope?" Echo mused.

"I – err – found it interesting and well…," Zoey paused and her eyes widened, though the injured one throbbed at the action, "I think I've got an idea for one of their products!"

"I shouldn't have asked," Echo laughed.

Zoey joined in and quickly took the gifts in her hands and stood up. "I'm sorry, Echo, but I must be going now," she made her way to the door, "I'll see you tomorrow for the twins' birthday. Bye!"

And she was out the door.

* * *

"Happy Birthday!" Zoey greeted as she handed Fred and George their presents. They were near the Black Lake and were once again seated under the beach tree. Fred and George happily accepted their gifts while wearing their new trench coats courtesy of Echo. Fred and George opened their separate presents in unison but opened their combined gift together. George had an excited look on his face when he found the telescope and immediately looked through it. He placed the notebook and quill at his side. Fred, on the other hand, looked at the book curiously.

"I found it interesting," Zoey blushed, "It had a bunch of spells that did a whole lot of interesting things like making people grow antlers out of their heads and what not… I just thought you'd like it…"

Fred opened the book and flipped through the pages. With every flip his lips seemed to form into a bigger and more mischievous smile than before. Zoey just merely smiled at the sight. At least he liked it. Fred then placed the book near his notebook and quill and looked into the cauldron pulling out the ink bottles. George looked at it as well.

"You wanted to own a Joke Shop right? So, you can use the notebooks to store your ideas and the different ink colors so you know… your plans are more colorful? Cauldron for experimenting and what not," Zoey explained each gift.

"Wow, you seem way ahead of us, Zoe," Fred breathed out.

"Thanks a bunch," George added.

"No problem," Zoey grinned but then covered her black eye and winced.

"And no 'thank you' to the vela who gave you those coats?" Echo pouted, but it soon turned on to a smile.

The twins playfully stuck their tongue out at her but George gave her a one-armed hug and thanked her. Zoey softly laughed. Echo had an elated look on her face while the twins laughed as well. Soon, after a few minutes, the laughter died and George released Echo from the hug. He then looked at Zoey.

"Blimey," he breathed out, "What happened to your eye?"

Zoey raised an eyebrow and her eyes widened with realization. She then quickly covered her eye but it was to no use. They already saw it. Fred reached over to her and pulled back her arm and took a good look at her black eye. Zoey's eyes kept shifting and did not want to look at any body.

"Who am I cursing?" Fred instantly asked.

"W – What?" Zoey gasped.

"Who did this to you?" George asked with a serious face.

"We're going to show him a piece of our mind," Fred continued.

"You two are overreacting. Just like every time you find something out of place from Zwei and I," Echo sighed

Fred looked slightly outraged, "Overreacting? Why wouldn't we overreact about that?" he pointed at Zoey's eye, "It's a freaking black for crying out loud!"

"For all we could have known, it must've been an accident," Echo grunted.

George looked at Zoey, "What did happen?"

Zoey blushed at her own embarrassment and bit her lip. "Let's head back to the castle… Lee and the other Gryffindor's must be waiting for you guys to come back. You know have their own chance to give you're their presents," she slowly began to stand up but Fred pulled her back down.

"That can wait," Fred said not removing his hold on her, "What happened?"

"It looks like someone punched you in the eye," George said.

"Telescope," Zoey muttered.

"_Poked _her in the eye, then," Echo crossed her legs on the ground and leaned her back on a smooth slab of rock that was sitting behind her.

The twins stayed silent for a while but then they both wore grins and quickly grabbed hold of their new notebooks, quills and ink bottles. The pried their notebooks open, dabbed their quills and began to write and sketch out their plans on the notebooks. Zoey watched with slight curiosity and knowing when George pulled out the telescope she gave him. The twins began to talk in a fast manner and began to flip through the past pages and looked at their ready made plans they just jotted down not more than two minutes ago.

"Instead of the poking telescope," George quickly said to Fred.

"But the _punching _telescope," Fred said with a grin, "It's brilliant"

"And with a bruise that won't be able to be removed," George added.

"Unless with a special cream," Fred continued.

"Do we even need to put a cream?" George sniggered, "Imagine all those poor blokes walking around with permanent black eyes"

Fred laughed. "It's a laugh but we might get sued. Might as well put in the cream," he paused, "But if they lose it it's their problem"

"Brilliant. Bloody brilliant," George said.

"Poor telescope," Echo muffled a laugh, "It isn't meant to be brutal"

Zoey nodded in amused agreement.

* * *

It was night time and Zoey wandered the halls away from Gryffindor Tower. She had just escaped the party the Gryffindors held for the twins, a party she, a Hufflepuff, was invited to, and walked the halls in hope to get some fresh air. She would be lying if she said she did not have fun, she had the most fun in years but it overwhelmed her. She was not used to being in a room filled with happy-go-lucky people, people who actually knew her and wanted to be friends with her. It was a new feeling for Zoey and odd as it is she would rather be outside than in a room with them. It was not like she did not appreciate it, it was just that she was about to be suffocated by the group of people who wanted her to dance. In fact, her escape was a narrow one.

Zoey looked out from one of the many windows and gave small sigh and wrapped her arms around herself. She watched the stars twinkle in the sky and counted how long she had till she would be locked back in her house, never to see her friends again. She felt a painful pang in her heart. Her friends, the people in the very room she just left. How long did she have to be with them? Zoey felt guilty. She should run back to them. Spend as much time as she can with them until it was all gone. She quickly turned around but ended up ramming her face into a rather soft surface.

She rubbed her nose and looked up. It was Fred.

"Hey," she smiled, "Happy Birthday"

Fred laughed, "Thanks". He then looked out the same window Zoey was looking out of a few seconds ago. "Anything eye-catching out there?" he asked.

Zoey laughed, "None that I know off," she paused, "You should be back at the Gryffindor Common Room"

"So should you"

"You're a Gryffindor," she paused again, "And it's _your _birthday. Hence, you are required to be there"

"Well if it is my birthday I order you to come back to the part then," Fred grinned and grabbed hold of Zoey's hand. He began to drag her back to Gryffindor Tower.

When they reached the Fat Lady's portrait she didn't seem to see them. The Fat Lady was busy chatting with her friend, Violet, and in her hand seemed to be a glass of wine. Zoey looked down at the portrait and saw that there were several bottles of wine, some empty and some yet to drink. She looked back at the Fat Lady and noted that she was most likely drunk.

"Let's not disturb her yet," Fred said as he grabbed hold of Zoey's hand once more and pulled her to another direction.

"Since when did you not want to disturb anybody?" Zoey joked but complied in following Fred.

"Since I wanted to ask you something in peace and quiet," Fred grinned at her before walking towards a random direction. It seemed that he had no definite destination. He just wanted to walk.

When Zoey finally got to match her pace with his she asked, "So what was your question?"

Fred pursed his lips as bit and brought her towards the stairs. He waited for them to stop moving before continuing towards a random direction once more. "What do you want for your birthday?"

"Hey, hey, her, you're not allowed to ask that," Zoey laughed, "You can't ask that during your own birthday. That's against the rules."

"What rules?" Fred gave her an amused look.

"The rules I made up just now," she then paused, "I don't want anything"

"Come on, Zoe, everyone says that. Can't you make my job a little easier?" Fred whined.

"You didn't make mine easier," Zoey said.

Fred raised an eyebrow. "Yes, I did. I just said anything from Zonko's or Honeydukes would be fine and for your information I received nothing for both," he joked.

Zoey swatted his arm. "I think my gift were better than anything from those places"

"Better than Zonko's and Honeydukes?" Fred gasped and acted as if he were offended by that mere statement. That earned him another swat on the arm. "But you're right," Fred laughed and rubbed his arm, "I like your gifts much better"

"Thank you," Zoey paused, "Or is it you're welcome? Whichever," She laughed.

Fred gave a laugh as well and made a turn at a corner and it revealed a bench. He took a seat and Zoey followed. They sat in silence for a while and Zoey's eyes began to drop. She leaned her head on his shoulder and noted that their hands were still entwined. She listened to the quiet sounds of crickets and breathing and said not words to ruin the moment. She closed her eyes. How long will this moment last? How long did she have left? Would she truly never see Fred or her other friends again? Would she be taken away before telling him how she really felt? Zoey did not want to think about but could not help it. She wondered if they would have more moments like this, moments that she would remember when she was locked in, away from the rest of the world. Zoey felt her eyes moistened from under her lids and prayed that they would not fall when she opened her eyes.

She felt Fred squeeze her hand.

"Thanks," he said in a soft tone.

Zoey made a small questioning hum.

"For everything," he continued, "I'm not good at these sort of things… but… err… thanks for everything."

Zoey looked up at him and blushed to see his face so close to hers. "You're welcome," she breathed out.

"You know… there's such a thing as a birthday wish," Fred said with a twinkle in his eyes.

"I know," Zoey whispered.

"You know what mine is?" he paused and continued when Zoey made a small indication of 'no', "I wish for a birthday kiss."

Zoey felt her blush intensify and the beat of her heart become rapid. Was this really happening? Was she dreaming? If this was a dream it was a sick joke. She bit her lip hard and decided it was not a dream. This was really happening. Zoey made a small gulp and tried to take control of her heart beat. "Okay," she said in a quiet tone.

"Okay?" Fred asked as he pulled away from her.

"It's okay," Zoey paused, "I'll grant your wish"

Fred gave a smile and leaned down to her while Zoey straightened up a bit. Fred moved his other hand to the back her neck and guided her towards him. He then paused for a couple of seconds before slowly catching her lips with his own. Zoey could not believe this was happening to her. Fred was kissing her and she knew for a fact that she was slowly kissing him back.

His lips were soft and tasted sweet. Zoey thought that he had eaten a chocolate frog before coming out of the party to talk with her. Her blush deepened, if it were possible, when she wondered how long it's been. She then decided she did not care about time.

It was just him and her.

That was it.

Nothing else mattered.

Everything felt right.

Everything just is right during moments like these.

* * *

**Happy Birthday (though now belated) Fred and George!**

**And here we have a ZED moment!**

**If this event actually happened during the timeline of Crossroads and not just a special chapter... that's a secret :P**

**Sorry if the kissing scene wasn't that good... I don't know the first thing about kissing and frankly I have no experience what so ever so yeah...**

**Hope it was good enough.**

**Thanks HayleyParadox for helping me out.**

**Thank you all for your reviews and the like and your congratulations on my graduation!**

**Oh and for those of you who wanted to see what happened with Bridgit and Echo during their little "episode" in the Forbidden Forest please be patient.**

**I won't leave that out of the story because I know it is needed. I would put it in the story when I feel it is right so please don't think I would leave it out.**

**I take all your suggestions into account and some of you wanted to know what happened and I will show you when I can fit it inside the story.**

**I'm sorry that my updating wasn't as frequent as before. Though it is now my summer i find myself rather busy so please be patient with me. I'm a very scatter-brained girl.**

**Get better soon wHaT's In A pEn-NaMe! :D**

**Don't forget to review and the like! **

**I only own what I own!  
**


	51. Chapter 49: When things go down hill

_Beauty is only skin deep, ugly goes to the bone_

**Chapter 49: When things go down hill**

**_Dear Bridgit,_**

**_I know Echo has been telling me that you are in a bad mood and it is not wise for me to contact you but I decided that I must. This "bad mood" of yours has been going on long enough and if it is still going on I feel like it's time you tell us, or me, what it is about. What caused it and why has it been going on this long? I know, I'm not one to talk about sharing personal stuff but you got to trust me on this. I mean, since I know what it feels like to keep things hidden I know it's best to share it with people close to you. Sure, I'm being a hypocrite but please tell me why you are in this so called "bad mood"._**

**_And don't use the excuse that it is "that time of month" because that what Fred had said and I doubt that it would last that long. It's been about two weeks into summer and soon I will be leaving Echo summer house. Yep, I thought you would be here as well but turns out you aren't so… yeah…_**

**_Well, I got my point through in this letter. I just wanted you to know that I want to help you with your little "bad mood" Now; all I want to do is fill you up on how the summer has been going on so far. That's what friends write to other friends… right? That's what Fred and George told me… then again… I haven't really written them anything even though I said I would… did I actually say I would? I can't remember… Anyhow, I'll just tell you how life's been here in the Bermuda Triangle. _******

**_I've heard Muggle stories about disappearances around these parts and well… they worried me but apparently they were just repelled by the spells Echo's family placed so that they would not be found out. What happened to the muggles after they encountered the spell… I don't know… Echo won't tell me._**

**_Going to a different topic so I won't get freaked out trying to figure out what did happen to them, Are you going to go to the Quidditch World Cup? Echo, Harry, Hermione, the Weasleys and I are. I was just thinking since you like Quidditch and all you would be there. Please tell me you would, I would need someone to explain it to me and maybe not be too wrapped up in the game. _**

**_Oh… I think Echo's looking for me now… I'll mail you again!_**

**_Oh, and don't be too frightened (thought I doubt you would) by Eos my first and probably only owl!_**

**_Guess who gave her? Really, you would not believe it _****_J_**

**_Hope to see you in the Quidditch World Cup,_**

**_Zoey._**

Zoey placed down her quill and re-read the letter. When she was satisfied with what she wrote she folded the parchment and placed it in an envelope and sealed it with a lick. She made a face when she tasted the paper and wrote Bridgit's name and address at the back of the envelope. She even made a small sketch of a flower as a design before giving the envelope to Eos. The bird gratefully took it for it was excited for another delivery. So far it had only made a total of five mail deliveries and each one she enjoyed. She couldn't wait to make another one.

She, Zoey, then took Eos to the window and opened it wide open. She breathed in a strange and familiar scent of the outside and let Eos take flight. She watched as her black and white owl flew high and glided past the leaves that blew by. Zoey continued to watch until Eos was out of sight; she then closed the window and retied her hair into a sloppy bun. She then approached the desk and took a book that was just lazily perched on it. Though there were many things to do in the Bermuda Triangle Beaumont Summer House Zoey still found it refreshing to read a book by the fireplace. It just felt right.

Zoey opened the door and left her room. The summer house was extraordinarily big and Zoey could still picture what it looked like from both the inside and the outside. It was just one of those places where you can't seem to forget what it looks like and it just seems like there's still more to it. The Beaumont Summer House was filled with fun and scary mysteries to it.

The house was of ornate style and was painted with the colors of white and ebony brown. The balcony that was just above the porch where the door was located had some wrought iron railing and was just beside a bay window. There were several windows which had a serious amount of trimmings and as they got in the place seemed like a picture from one of those rococo books, for everything seemed to be of value even if they weren't. The foyer, although small, was enough to picture a snooty pureblood standing in the dead smack center of it.

There were two archways, one directly ahead, leading to a wall of bookshelves that consisted of the upper half and the dining area that dominated the lower half. The archway to the right hand side led to what seemed to be a sitting room. It only _seemed _to lead to the sitting room.

Zoey stopped her daydreaming when she reached the most dreaded hall in the entire house. Sadly for her, there was more than one of it. This particular hall seemed to be in every hall of the magnificent place. This hall seemed to go on forever and its walls was not decorated with portraits of the current and past family members. No, this hall contained doors. Not just any doors. No, these doors did not lead to bedrooms or bathrooms. These doors led to places you could never imagine. Each door looked the same as the other and was only separated from its neighbor by what seemed to be only five inches. When you opened any door you would be greeted by what seemed to be a starry night sky and you would only know what was truly beyond the door if you stepped through it. Sometimes it _did _lead you to a bedroom but other times it just led you to a place that really boggled your mind.

"This place needs a map," Zoey muttered to herself.

"Zoey! I'm going to get chocolate nougat! Wanna come with? You'll know the ways of the house!" Echo's voice shouted in a far distance, but nonetheless, Zoey could hear her crystal clear.

"I guess," Zoey said in a loud voice hoping that Echo could hear her just as clear as she heard Echo, "Where are you?"

"In front of a door!" Echo shouted like she had the first time

Zoey raised an eyebrow though Echo would not be able to see it. She looked down the hallway which seemed to end in a black shadow but Zoey knew it went further. "What – Which door?"

"The brown one!" Echo shouted.

"Which brown – oh never mind! I'll find you myself!" Zoey furrowed her eyebrows, "Describe the room you're staying in! Is it a kitchen, the dining room… what?"

"In my bedroom!"

Zoey pinched the bridge of her nose. "Like that clears up anything," Zoey muttered to herself. She has never once been in Echo's room. They were always either in her room or camping out at a random room that looked like it could keep the entire Hogwarts in it and still have room for two Forbidden Forests. She readjusted the book in her hand and went down the hall. Zoey stayed on the left side of the hall and began to count the doors she passed.

"One… two…," she mumbled to herself and continued to do so until she reached the twelfth door. She placed her hand on the door knob and gave a sigh. Might as well. She turned the knob and opened the door to be greeted by the velvet sky decorated with sparking starts. Zoey took one foot forward and fell into the room.

Her eyes were closed and she could feel her body twisting and turning as she was being brought to a random room she wished was Echo's. Zoey felt herself nearing the destination and began to hear sounds. The sounds were not of clinking utensils or chirping birds like the many sounds she heard before, no, these sounds were of moaning, groaning and banging on the wall. She felt her feet meet the ground and she wobbled a bit before opening her eyes. She was in a room she's never been in before, what else is new?

The room's walls were white but were sprayed upon by what seemed to be a lot of muggle spray paint. The walls had some small dents in them like someone was roughly banged against it and the tables and desks looked like they were pushed out of line and the objects that lay on them were either toppled over or fell to the ground. Zoey wondered what happened in the room. The sounds of moaning, groaning and banging grew louder and Zoey noted there was an odd smell to the room. She covered her nose and went further into the room.

When Zoey reached to what seemed to be the heart of the room she stopped walking and her eyes widened in shock. There was a four-poster bed that seemed to be the one making the banging sounds for it moved and the wall behind it had some cracks on it. The footboard showed etchings like those of a prisoner etching the lines symbolizing the amount of days he had spent in jail. Only, the lines seemed to have a different meaning to Zoey for on the bed atop the messy sheets was no prisoner. No, it almost seemed to be much worse.

The scene that Zoey had seen was to traumatizing for her to even describe. There was a man and a woman on the bed, both sweat and unclothed. Zoey could not do more description for the two had caught sight of her presence and angrily told her to get out. Zoey did not need to be told twice. She awkwardly said an apology before dashing out of the room and slamming the door shut. She was once again welcomed by the night sky before reappearing in the hallway. She took in deep breaths and fell to the floor. Her cheeks were warm and her eyes were wide. She felt like she would be mentally scarred forever.

"You missed the train ride to the Kitchen," Echo spoke as she was eating a pastille on one hand and holding a box of chocolate nougat on the other.

Zoey shakily looked up at her. "I thought you were in your bedroom," she managed to say but immediately went silent when the image went back in her head. "I want to boil my eyes out," she muttered.

"And why would you do such a stupid thing?" Echo arched an eyebrow.

"You would too if you saw what I saw," Zoey shook her head as she jabbed her thumb towards the door behind her.

Echo dramatically swallowed her pastille and dropped the box to the floor. "Aunt Kassandra?" Echo breathed out and suddenly said in an angered tone, "SHE'S HERE!"

"Aunt who?" Zoey said as she slowly got back to her feet with the box in her hand. She vaguely remembered her Aunt Damiana. She had been laying low for some time. Zoey felt like she was finally free from her but a knowing voice at the back of her head told her she would never be free from such a person. She would always be trapped, forever to be with Damiana. To endure the abuse for who knows how long she would be able to take it. Zoey shook the thought away. She did not want to think about it. Her time was running out.

Zoey noted that Echo was not going to say anything anytime soon. "So who is this 'Aunt Kassandra' – I mean… why does she – err –" Zoey blushed. She could not say the word.

"She shags a lot of men," Echo simply stated, though anger was evident on her voice.

"Why –" but Zoey could not get her words out for the door behind her opened revealing Aunt Kassandra and the latest 'shagged' man. Zoey gulped and took a good look at Kassandra.

Without a doubt Kassandra was a Veela and not a half on like Echo, no, she was a pure Veela. Her eyes were a beautiful blue and her hair was a long wavy blonde that was slightly messed up from her latest 'activity', her body was tall, slim and tan. All in all she was beautiful. She smiled at Echo and Zoey as she held the hand of the man beside her. The man, who was not introduced, had a stocky build and his hair was of the color brown. It was too, messy. He looked at Kassandra with a mesmerized look on his green eyes, like he could see nothing else but her. He was hypnotized.

"Why on the Triangle's Bermuda would you be here for? I thought you and the rest are somewhere farther off, shagging men, clinging to their arms –"

"Belt up, will you, Acheflour?" Kassandra only sighed, holding hands with her latest victim.

"Do not, on this green earth, will you dare call me that name," Echo seethed.

"We just wanted to apologize!" Kassandra looked sincere, " 'T was your friend who came in unexpectedly" She eyes Zoey.

"'We'?" Echo scoffed.

Zoey blushed. "Lighten up, Echo," she said in a timid voice as she pushed up her glasses, "I _did _interrupt their… moment"

Echo breathed in and out for what seemed like an hour before she spoke, "They didn't tell you?" Sorrow was crystal clear in her golden eyes.

"Who's 'they'? Tell me what?" Kassandra suddenly took notice to her niece's attitude. It was almost rare to see Echo in a state of heart-breaking sorrow.

"Mum and dad. I – I told them – wrote them to tell the family," she looked downward, "I guess they really do know that I'm just a waste in their lives"

Zoey's eyebrows knitted in worry. She had no idea what Echo was talking about but it seemed, it _was, _really bothering her. She looked to Kassandra. "You never received a message from Echo's parents?"

"Nope," Kassandra began to worry, "What is it about anyway?"

"I got O's on my OWLs. In the highest possibility. Told mum and dad to inform the whole family…," Echo coughed, "They really don't care about me anymore" She heaved a pained sigh.

Zoey scrunched up her face. They haven't even received their OWL results yet. "Maybe they didn't receive the letter yet," she offered.

"Doubt it. Iolanthe is a clever owl," Echo simply stated, though her eyes still had a glint of melancholy.

When no one said anything else, Echo gave a dry laugh and spat, "Forget it". She then eyed Zoey and told her in a tone of voice that Zoey had never heard her use, "You. Pack up. I'm taking you home"

Zoey did not expect this. Sure, there was still a few more days till the two weeks were up but she did not expect Echo to react in such a way. She did not know what to do. She almost always swerved herself out of conditions like this but it seemed that this time she was not in charge of her own will. Zoey's feet took off to her room, the guestroom, and flung herself in it and did as Echo told her: Pack up.

After moments of fumbling and throwing stuff inside her trunk, Zoey forcibly clasped it close. She was just about to leave the room but remembered Eos. She went to the window and almost as if her owl heard her thought, Eos was flying back to the window. Zoey wordlessly opened the window and let Eos land on her arm. The owl looked around the room with curiosity before looking back at its owner.

"We're leaving earlier than expected," Zoey said in a quiet tone and took the letter from Eos and stuffed it in her pocket before placing Eos in her cage. Zoey then took a firm grip on Eos cage and her trunk before leaving the room and miraculously finding her way to the third floor landing. Echo was standing their silently and took her wrist and led her under the different archways. Kassandra and her man were long gone back into the room to do their business.

Echo led Zoey through numerous stairs and doors before they were finally outside the large house. She, Echo, immediately stomped off the porch and out to the sands of the shore. Zoey struggled to keep up with her heavy luggage and fretting owl. They both rounded the house until they found a badly burnt Christmas tree. Echo kept a straight face when she positioned herself nearer to the tree. Zoey imitated her actions, not wanting to question Echo in moments like these.

"On three," was the first thing Echo said in such a long term of silence, "One…two… three"

Both Zoey and Echo took hold of the tree and were on their way.

No more than two seconds they found themselves in Echo's house. It was nearly as messy as Zoey's. Heck, there was even some blood splatters on the floor. Zoey kept quiet at the sight and wondered what had happened. She looked back at Eos and made sure she was alright before she headed to the fireplace. Zoey took a handful of the Floo Powder Echo was offering and gave her one last look before exclaiming.

"Emeraude Home: Lucy Alena!"

And she disappeared into the flames.

* * *

Weeks passed since Zoey left from the Bermuda Triangle and she had not heard from Echo since. That fact was worrisome and it was just half of what was going on through Zoey's mind, the little chaos Zoey felt within when she thought about her friends. The other half, the other known contributor to Zoey's inner chaotic-worrisome mind, was Bridgit. In Zoey's hand was Bridgit's reply to her letter and Zoey squeezed it. Her heart was beating against her chest and she thought about what the letter had said. It wasn't long and it looked like Bridgit had a hard time writing it. There were several erasures and ink blots but in the end Bridgit was able to get her message through. Zoey was going to have a talk with her before school started. Whether it would be during the Quidditch World Cup or on the train ride to Hogwarts, Zoey did not know, all she knew was that she had to talk to Bridgit if she wanted to know what was going on and, also, Echo, Fred and George were not to know about Zoey's meeting with Bridgit.

Zoey sighed and placed her head in her hands. She was patiently seated in front of the fireplace with her suitcase as a chair. Eos was perched on the table beside the fireplace with her head tucked under her wing, she was asleep. Zoey wished she could sleep too. She wanted to rest her bounding head but she knew she could not for the Weasleys could pop out of the fireplace at anytime. After all, they were going to bring her to the Quidditch World Cup. Zoey did not know why they did not just let her go to their house on her own. It would have saved a lot of time but, no, they wanted to see what her house looked like. She warned them it wasn't a sight to see but they, the twins, were stubborn and insisted.

Zoey's head shot up and her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. There was a giggle. It sounded almost child-like yet it had some sort of elegance to it. She swiftly turned around to see the window in the living room wall open with a girl standing on the opposite side. Zoey bit her lip and stood up from her suitcase, taking a step back. The girl giggled again and smiled at Zoey. The girl looked to be just the same age as her but had this mature air to her. She had long wavy blonde hair that fell over her shoulders since she was leaning forward. Her eyes were a sparkling blue and she had long, dark eyelashes that seemed to have their own curl to them. Her complexion was light and her cheeks were rosy while her lips were full and red. Her face was hear-shaped and she was slim with all the right curves. She was rather tall and her legs were very long. Zoey knew this because the girl expertly climbed through the window and stood in front of her. She gave another giggle.

Zoey's head shot up and her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. There was a giggle. It sounded almost child-like yet it had some sort of elegance to it. She swiftly turned around to see the window in the living room wall open with a girl standing on the opposite side. Zoey bit her lip and stood up from her suitcase, taking a step back. The girl giggled again and smiled at Zoey. The girl looked to be just the same age as her but had this mature air to her. She had long wavy blonde hair that fell over her shoulders since she was leaning forward. Her eyes were a sparkling blue and she had long, dark eyelashes that seemed to have their own curl to them. Her complexion was light and her cheeks were rosy while her lips were full and red. Her face was heart-shaped and she was slim with all the right curves. She was rather tall and her legs were very long. Zoey knew this because the girl expertly climbed through the window and stood in front of her. She gave another giggle.

"Hello there," the girl spoke with smile. Zoey could see her pearly whites and noted that it was natural and she did not need those things muggles use on their teeth. Her voice was also very soothing. Like music.

Zoey did not say anything. This girl was a stranger. She has never seen her before and she did not know if she would do any harm. Zoey looked at the girl with suspicion and fright. The girl was absolutely beautiful, but did not seem to have the qualities of a Veela. No, this girl, though beautiful, did not have that hypnotizing beauty the Veela's had. The girl could be an Emeraude. Yes, why else would she be here in the Emeraude Suburb? She could be a relative as well. After all, the Emeraudes had many. So many that it seemed like they were related to everyone in the Wizarding world. Yes, this girl could be one. She _was _beautiful. The kind of beauty the Emeraudes held. Zoey mentally shook her head and looked away from the girl. This girl was the absolute proof that someone could reach _perfection. _She seemed to be the younger version of someone dreadful in Zoey's life.

"Excuse me?" the girl's voice brought Zoey back to the real world, "But aren't you going to introduce yourself?"

The girl was cute when her smile turned into a confused look. Almost like a puppy. She was very adorable and innocent looking; perfect look of an Emeraude. Zoey still remained silent.

The girl tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and then spoke. "I'm sorry. I should have introduced myself first. Oh! And I just intruded into your home, I'm so sorry that was rude of me!" the girl blushed and bit her lip. The cute and beautiful mixture of her face just suited her. She looked like a porcelain doll.

"My name is Mary Sue Smith," the girl introduced herself and held out her hand.

Zoey merely looked down at her hand. Her nails were of a reasonable length, unlike Zoey's rather short fingernails, and were painted in what looked like French tips. Her fingers were long and she wore a gold band with a diamond decorating it on her left middle finger. Zoey still did not shake her hand.

Mary Sue dropped her hand to her side. "That's a pretty necklace," she said as she looked at the area above Zoey's chest. Zoey immediately brought her hand to hold the pendant away from sight. Mary Sue pouted her lips. "I was just admiring it," she said in a tone which a child would use if she were scolded.

Zoey continued to remain silent and felt a painful feeling in her chest. She began to feel jealousy. She did not know why she was feeling such a thing and at this time too. She did not even know why she was jealous. Mary Sue had all the qualities Zoey hated. Number one quality: Perfection. Zoey squinted her eyes and averted them away from Mary Sue. She felt like if she continued to look at perfection in human form she might break her. She did not want to harm Mary Sue. She, Zoey, would get in trouble.

Suddenly, there was a call in the distance. Mary Sue looked back at the window and back at Zoey. She gave her an apologetic look. "I best be off now," she said and climbed back out of the window, "I'll see you around?"

Zoey remained silent.

"Okay then… bye!" Mary Sue smiled her perfect smile and left. Zoey could see her hair flying behind her like a silvery cape.

When Mary Sue was finally out of sight, Zoey felt like she could breathe again. She rubbed her eyes and kept her glasses on top of her head keeping a good chunk of her bangs away from her eyes. Zoey walked towards Eos and saw that the owl was awake and was quietly observing her. Eos tilted her head to the side and her wide eyes seemed to look into Zoey's soul. It seemed that Eos knew that Zoey was feeling uncomfortable. The way Eos looked at her seemed to be her way of asking. "What's wrong?"

"A complete stranger came into my house," Zoey spoke for the first time that day, "Her name was Mary Sue… she was absolutely beautiful. She seemed like the type to stand out in a good way… like a celebrity. She seemed like she could do no wrong. She was perfect. Absolutely perfect."

Eos began to hoot repeatedly and flapped her wings. Zoey raised an eyebrow at her owls behavior and looked down at her hand. It was in a fist. She slowly opened her hand, her palm facing upwards, and her eyes widened. She had not realized how much pressure and strength she was putting and her hand was slightly bleeding. She looked at her finger tips and saw that there were small traces of blood in them. Zoey slowly placed her hand down.

"Things could only get worse," she whispered. Eos began to squawk with fright.

"It sure has"

Zoey gasped and swiftly stood up and turned around. At the sight, she felt her entire body freeze. She felt a cold sweat form at her brow and she could here Eos panicked sounds and flapping wings. In front of Zoey was a woman she wished she wouldn't be seeing right now. Damiana.

Damiana wore a tight fitting outfit under her robes. Her hair was twirled in to a bun and her makeup had glitter in it. Her eyes seemed almost cat like and she glared at Zoey. In her hand was her wand.

"Miss me?" Damiana asked with an evil grin and opened her arms as if she were expecting a hug. Zoey stayed where she was and did not say anything. She was just as silent as she was when Mary Sue had "visited" not more than five minutes ago. Damiana, expecting no hug and Zoey's feared silence, began to walk towards her. She did not look around the house for she knew it was still in the same ungodly mess as it was not too long ago. Her glare became fiercer when she caught sight of Eos.

"And what is that?" Damiana asked with pure disgust tainting each and every word she said.

"A – an owl," Zoey stuttered out and was pushed to the ground by Damiana's slap. Zoey placed a hand on her stinging cheeks and felt blood. Damiana's nails were far too long and far too sharp.

"I'm not stupid," Damiana seethed, "I know it's an owl"

Zoey placed her hand down and let her cheek bleed, "You asked," she said.

"I meant to ask was 'how did it come here'? And don't you dare say it 'flew' here," Damiana glared and sent offending sparks out of her wand.

"S – She was g – given to me," Zoey struggled with her words for her attention was focused on Damiana's wand. She was afraid of the pain it would cause her. It had already given her so much damaged both mentally and physically, what more harm could it do? A lot.

Damiana raised her eyebrow. She was drop dead gorgeous. Even in her scariest of expressions and at her times of pure evil she looked beautiful. She was attractive to everyone who saw her, everyone except Zoey. The only thing Zoey could see was the ugly face of the devil when she saw Damiana. Zoey felt herself being roughly brought back to her feat with a flick of Damiana's wand.

"I hear your father is still on the run," Damiana said casually as she twirled her hair around her finger, "Have you heard from him recently?"

Zoey gasped and felt an invisible bind wrap around her. She felt like a snake was coiling around her, suffocating her. "W – Why would I?" Zoey's voice was strained. She couldn't breathe.

"Oh, I don't know… you _are _his daughter. I just thought…," Damiana trailed off. She looked at Zoey's chest with wide eyes. On her chest was a necklace. The chain was of shimmering silver while the pendant was of a crystal pink heart. The heart was small, just about bigger than a thumb's nail but it was very clear in Damiana's eyes. Inside the heart looked like small wisps of smoke, decorated with glitter. It moved innocently inside the heart but that's not what Damiana cared about. She did not care about the smoke or what the heart was made of. She cared about _who _owned the necklace.

"That necklace," Damiana spoke, "Where'd you get that?"

Zoey made an unintelligible sound. She could not think, breath, speak. She began to see stars and she felt her face turning blue. Damiana glared at the suffocating girl and released the spell. Before Zoey could even catch her breath after being released Damiana grabbed hold of her neck and shoved her against the wall. Zoey yelled in pain.

"Now, where did you get this pretty necklace?" Damiana asked as she used her other hand to hold the pendant. She wrapped her fingers around it and felt warmth from it. This did not surprise her; after all that's what it did before.

"I – It was given to me," Zoey tried to fight her way out of Damiana's iron grip but Damiana only held onto her stronger. She pulled out her wand and casted another spell at Zoey. She then removed her hold and Zoey found herself five inches above the ground being held against the wall with an invisible grip around her neck. Zoey's hand shot up towards the invisible grip trying, and failing, to pry it off of her.

"Lies," Damiana said with loathing as she grabbed onto the pendant and violently tugged it causing the chain to break and the necklace to fall into her hands. Zoey screamed from the pain and felt the back of her neck sting.

"This wasn't given to you," Damiana showed the pendant to Zoey, she ignored Zoey's pained scream, "You found this"

"So what if I did?" Zoey winced as she spoke.

Zoey's eyes widened. How did she know? Zoey had taken it from her mother's jewelry box, the box within her mother's box. _The _box Zoey's been hiding from her Aunt for all these years. "I – it's not," Zoey lied and even she didn't believe herself.

Damiana waved her wand at Zoey and Zoey felt her skull being pierced by thousands of white hot knives. She let out a scream.

"Stop lying to me," Damiana lifted the curse and left Zoey in pants and tears, "I _know _that this necklace was your mothers," she paused and glared at Zoey, "That father of yours gave it to her"

"I - I didn't know," Zoey gasped from the pain.

"Of course you didn't. You got this from her jewelry box," Damiana paused again, "You have it. The box. You have it. Give it"

Zoey struggled with the invisible grip. It seemed to have gotten tighter.

"Tell me where it is," Damiana threw the necklace at Zoey and it hit her on the forehead before dropping to the floor. It remained in one piece. "I don't give a rats arse on the stupid necklace. It was from your father. What I want are your mother's things inside that box, things that weren't given to her by that filthy criminal."

"I – I'll never tell you," Zoey glared.

Damiana glared back and lifted her wand and pointed it at Zoey. "_Crucio,_" she said and Zoey once again felt the thousands of knives stabbing her skull. She screwed her eyes shut and began to scream at the top of her lungs. She had experienced the spell before but she never had it twice in one day, especially with the gap for her resting so short.

Zoey was blinded and deafened with pain that she did not realize that several red headed people had emerged from her fireplace. These red heads were none other than the Weasleys. Each Weasley left the fireplace with an excited face only to have their smiles turn into looks of surprise at the sight of the house. They were shocked at its destroyed state. Their shock turned into anger when they caught sight of Zoey and Damiana. They looked back in forth from the screaming Zoey towards Damiana who was holding the wand at the girl. Each Weasley, though some underage, brought out their wands and pointed it at Damiana.

"I would advise you to let her go," Mr. Weasley said with a serious face and a hard glare. His sons' glares matched his own.

Damiana, though knowing that these were just a bunch of blood traitors, lowered her wand and lifted the curse and spell that she had inflicted on Zoey. Zoey's screaming ceased and she fell to the floor the same way a puppet would when its strings were cut. Zoey did not move. She looked dead though the small rise and fall her body made with each pained breath told them otherwise.

"Bill, check on Zoey," Mr. Weasley said to his oldest son. Bill was just about to approach the fallen girl but was stopped by another Weasley.

"Fred –" Bill began but stopped at the look his younger brother gave him. Fred said nothing and just approached the fallen girl and laid her down on the floor. His twin followed him and picked up the broken necklace. Bill was shocked at the twins' serious nature, though this time was hardly a time to be a joker, and then turned his attention to Damiana and held his wand towards her.

"We'll be taking you to the Ministry of Magic," Mr. Weasley spoke with authority, "Using the Cruciatus Curse on an innocent child. You'll be sent to Azkaban for life!"

Damiana gave a cackle. "And do you actually think I'll listen to a blood traitor like yourself?" she sneered, "Don't make me laugh. You're a joke, Weasley"

Mr. Weasley's face grew red. From embarrassment or anger no one could tell. The only thing everyone knew and could feel the same way to was the fact that they hated Damiana.

"Charlie," Mr. Weasley said to the second eldest. Charlie nodded his head and waved his wand prepared to send a Body-Binding Curse towards Damiana. Damiana, however, saw this coming and quickly dodged it. She then sent a curse towards Charlie. Charlie deflected it and Bill and Mr. Weasley sent curses and jinxes her way. Damiana avoided each and everyone and even the surprise attack coming from Percy. When Damiana figured she could not fight all of them she quickly disappeared, at the same time avoiding a Body-Binding Curse sent her way.

"This isn't the last you'll see of me," her voice echoed through the house.

* * *

**AND CHAPTER DONE!**

**My gush! This is the LONGEST chapter I've written so far (including the Author's note)! I wonder if I'll ever be able to beat this! It's so long!  
**

**I hope this makes up for the days I've been absent.**

**I thought I would have the summer free but turns out I find myself being out of the house more than once D:**

**Anyway, A reviewer gave me the idea of the Weasleys seeing Damiana but sadly I can't remember who reviewer D:**

**Whoever you are dear reviewer I thank you! Without you the last part of the chapter would not exist!**

**If you, reviewer who suggested the idea all those weeks/months ago, are reading this and know it is you please tell me and I will credit you in the next chapter :) **

**I would like the thank HayleyParadox for helping me out.**

**I would also like the thank everyone who reviewed and the like! I love you all!**

**Anyway, hopefully I would be able to update more regularly like I have before. D: I really do love typing this story and I will never abandon it. Heck, I already have plans for the sequel which won't be appearing on till I'm done with Crossroads! **

**So... Hmm... I felt like I had more to say but now it seems like I'm rather speechless...**

**Oh! Please be alerted that this coming May I will be gone for a few days because I'll be going to Singapore!**

**So, hopefully I would be able to update a great load of chapters before then :)**

**The quote that was above the chapter (garsh I miss putting quotes D: )is a quote I had on my body bag when I was in the fifth grade. I don't know who said it but just to tell you I DID NOT make that quote. Someone else did obviously.**

**Sorry also about the first half of this chapter... it's rather... "green" if you know what I mean...  
**

**Oh, and here we see a new OCs! :D  
**

**Okay, I'm shutting up now.**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Sorry about any typos  
**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter**

**and**

**I only own what I own  
**


	52. Chapter 50: Cause and Effect

**Chapter 50: Cause and Effect**

_"Aww," a beautiful red-headed woman cooed as she held a slumbering baby in her arms, "Isn't she the most beautiful baby you've ever seen, James?"_

_The man beside her, James, wore a grin as he poked the baby's forehead. The baby squirmed a bit before falling back to a quiet sleep. James looked behind him and saw his shabby looking friend and a auburn haired woman standing next to him watching the scene from a far. _

_"Come on, Moony, Nat, little Zoey isn't going to bite," James joked beckoning his friends over, "How can you fulfill your rights as godparents if you can't even be five feet away from the girl?"_

_Remus and Natalie laughed and approached the two. Lily handed Zoey over to Natalie who gently cradled baby Zoey in her arm while Remus lightly touched the little brown hair that grew on Zoey's head. Zoey gave a small squirm and opened her eyes. She looked at the new faces and pouted. She gave a small cry._

_"W – what am I suppose to do?" Natalie gave a small panic and quickly gave Zoey to Remus. Remus struggled to carry Zoey but was able to support her like what Lily did. He looked uneasily at Zoey while she returned the look. Her eyebrows knitted in confusion and gave another cry._

_"Take her, Prongs," Remus then gave baby Zoey to James who carried her and bounced her a bit in his arms. _

_Zoey gave a small giggle and waved her arms around before Lily took her in hers. Lily gave small kisses on Zoey's chubby cheeks and foreheads causing her to giggle._

_Natalie gave a mocked fearful sigh. "This, my friends, is why I hate children," she laughed._

_"How could you hate her?" Lily said in a baby voice, "she's so adorable!"_

_"To you and James," Natalie folded her arms across her chest, "she wasn't so sweet when Remus and I held her."_

_Lily readjusted Zoey in her arms and said, "That's because your faces are new to her and it doesn't help that you both looked so scared when holding her."_

_Natalie stuck her tongue out at her friend while Remus sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck while James patted his back. "You'll get used to it mate," James said comfortingly though with a laugh._

_"I hope so," a new voice came. The four friends turned around to see Lucy at the door. Lucy's hair was tied in a messy braid that hung over her shoulder. Her face looked tired but her smile made them think otherwise. By her side was her husband, Sirius. "You both are her godparents after all. I would hate to know that you can't even carry her let alone take care of her," Lucy joked as she approached her friends._

_Sirius made a bee line towards James and Remus and childishly ruffled Remus' hair. "She's right you ol' coot. What are Luce and I supposed to do when we pass on and know that you think Zoey here is a ticking bomb!"_

_"One," Natalie swatted Sirius hand away from Remus, "You wouldn't even know what a bomb was until I told you. Two, we don't think she's a ticking bomb. She just seems like it when she cries in our presence –"_

_"Who wouldn't cry in your presence?" Sirius muttered rubbing his hand only to receive a whack at his head._

_"No violence in front of the baby," Lucy scolded, though she wore a smile, and took Zoey away from Lily. Zoey, knowing that the brunette was her mother, gave a cheerful cry and drooled on her mother's sleeve. "Lovely," Lucy laughed and accepted the rag that James gave Lily to give to her._

_"And three," Natalie continued as if she was not interrupted, "Who says something will happen to you and Lucy that would cause Zoey to come to us?"_

_"She's right, Padfoot," James then put Sirius in a headlock, "You two are pretty strong. I doubt anything would push you down"_

_Sirius broke free from James and then trapped him in a headlock and began to give him a noogie. James began to squirm, "Gerrof!" his voice was muffled._

_"You too never grew up did you?" Lily sighed._

_"Nope, they did not," Remus laughed beside her._

_Lucy, who decided not to take part in helping to pry of her husband away from James, ducked her head low and gave a kiss on her daughter's forehead. Zoey looked at her with big questioning eyes. _

_"I know this isn't a type to say this and I know you won't remember this when you grow up but I must tell you this," Lucy then gave a cautious look at her peers. They were now joking around, not knowing what Lucy was doing, "Terrible things would happen and devastating events will occur… you'll be experiencing the worst pain in your life but," Lucy took a deep breath while Zoey looked at her mother oddly, "I want you to know that you are a strong girl. You should be, you have your father's blood and mine as well. I don't know how to say this, your still so young but please be strong. Tell those who can help you your deepest troubles. Let them in, don't lock them out. Learn how to depend on others and," Lucy paused once more, "Know that I'll always love you and I'll always be with you," she then kissed Zoey on the forehead._

_"Hey, Luce," Sirius then walked over to his wife. Lucy looked up at him with a smile that hid the fact that she told Zoey things that her father must not know. She noted that their friends have already left to the next room, "Prongs was complaining that he was hungry and wanted something to feast on. We decided to have a celebratory dinner"_

_Lucy laughed. "Are you sure it was James who was hungry?" she raised an amused eyebrow at her husband._

_"Maybe it was Remus," Sirius said with a thoughtful look, "Wait – no – I'm pretty sure it was Natalie. You know how that woman can eat"_

_"Uhuh," Lucy handed Zoey over to Sirius, "Please watch over Zoey while I help Lily prepare dinner for you"_

_"And James, Remus and Natalie!" Sirius called over since Lucy was already out the door._

_"Mostly you!" his wife called back._

_"We could always eat out!"_

_"But I thought you love my cooking?"_

_"I do!" Sirius laughed and looked back at his daughter while he listened to his wife's retreating steps. Zoey blew spit bubbles and giggled. Sirius gave a low chuckle and readjusted his daughter in his arms and then kissed her forehead. _

_"Whoever said Lucy and I made the wrong decision to be parents early was lying," he said to his daughter, "I say we did a pretty good job. Don't you agree?"_

_Zoey laughed and clapped her hands._

Zoey inwardly winced as she felt her head pounding. Everywhere she looked all she could see was darkness and everything she felt was a numbing pain. She felt her temples throb and her vision blurred though all she could see was black, she knew something was going wrong with her eyes. Zoey's head pained like she had been hit by a Bludger or worse. She winced again. What could feel worse than being hit in the head by a Bludger? Oh, loads.

Zoey, though at the moment unconscious, knew that she was slowly recovering from her Aunt's beating. She knew that though her body was asleep her mind was awake and was fighting off the pain the Cruciatus curse inflicted on her. The numbing pain that felt like being hit by a Bludger felt much better now that she compared it to the pain she felt when her aunt crucio-ed her.

_Crucio. _That was the last thing Zoey heard before she was blinded and deafened with pain. What happened after that? Did her aunt find the box or did she just disappear? Zoey did not know. She wondered if she was still pinned against the wall or if she was slumping against the wall as she sat on the ground. How long was the curse used on her? Was she in St. Mungo's at the moment? Zoey knew that if the curse was used on an individual long enough he/she would succumb to insanity. Was Zoey insane right now? Had she lost her mind?

She did not know.

A soft groan came from Zoey mouth as she forced herself to wake up. She did not know how long it has been since she passed out and frankly she did not want to waste anymore time. Her body objected to the idea of coming out of rest but Zoey ignored it. Her limbs were stiff but she forced them to move, her head throbbed but she tried to focus on what she was doing, her vision blurred yet she just blinked her eyes multiple times till it cleared up a bit. Zoey furrowed her brows as she sat up and used her arms as support when she looked around the room. It was familiar to her. She's been here before. It was Ginny's room.

Ginny. Zoey's eyes widened even though it caused her head to buzz and make her see black spots. She closed her eyes and opened them again to remove the spots from her vision. If she was in Ginny's room that meant she was in the Burrow and that caused Zoey to come to the conclusion that the Weasleys came to her house to pick her up. Zoey's head throbbed when she thought about what events occurred that caused her to be at the Burrow. If the Weasleys came to pick her up, and succeeded in bringing her to their home, that meant that they saw the mess she was in. They most likely saw Zoey passed out by the wall. Did that also mean they saw Damiana? Did they force her to leave Zoey in peace? Did they capture her? Throw her in Azkaban? Was Zoey finally free?

A moan of pain came from Zoey. She was over thinking things. Of course she was not free. Her Aunt probably escaped and even if she _was _captured she has connections to keep her away from Azkaban. After all she was "buddy-buddy" with Malfoy who was in exceptionally good terms with the Minister of Magic.

Zoey began to see more black spots and she felt a painful buzz in her head causing her to sway a bit. Her head felt heavy and she felt herself crash back onto the pillow. She screwed her eyes shut and tried her best to force the pain away. Zoey took an iron grip on the bed sheets and let out an uncomfortable sound and squirmed. Her head pounded and the buzzing became more painful by every passing second. Zoey wondered if this was the side effects of the Cruciatus curse. Was it finally taking a toll on her mind? Was this pain a sign of her mind slowly deteriorating? Zoey tried to open her eyes but it only came so far as a squint for all she could see was the black spots and even then her vision blurred.

"Zoey," came a soothing voice. It was soft and filled with concern. It belonged to a woman Zoey felt a firm grip on her left shoulder and another one at her back. The girl was slowly helping Zoey up. Zoey did not object the help even if her head ended up lolling to the side because for whatever reason the headache made her head feel heavier, like she could not support it. She just let the woman do whatever she was doing because in truth Zoey could not even move her arms and legs. She felt like a doll.

"Ginny," the woman said, "Please support Zoey's head – yeah, like that. Now please get the pillow and place it on the wall so I can help Zoey up – thank you dear now get the wash cloth, she's sweating."

So if Ginny was helping the woman then the woman was Mrs. Weasley. Zoey thought to herself as she felt a nice cool cloth on her forehead. She felt her entire body relax and she was able to open her eyes. She felt like she had just woken up from a restless sleep and when she caught sight of Mrs. Weasley and Ginny they wore relieved looks on their faces. Ginny placed a hand on her heart and gave Zoey a smile while Mrs. Weasley continued to wipe Zoey's forehead.

"Hey," Zoey weakly greeted. Ginny gave a small laugh.

"How are you feeling?" Mrs. Weasley asked as she placed the cloth into the basin of water. Zoey winced a bit when she bent a forward a bit as to get away from the pillow behind her. Her neck was already stiff and she wanted to get the feeling out as soon as possible.

"Better," Zoey muttered and placed a hand on her neck carefully rubbing it. Her hand felt tingly, it was numb as well.

"Better as in you feel like total crap?" Ginny raised an eyebrow, "Come of it. You look like you just been out drinking"

"Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley scolded.

"It's true, mum! Look at her, she looks like she has a hangover," Ginny pointed at Zoey.

Zoey gave a small laugh. She guessed she looked horrible. She didn't even want to look at a mirror at the moment. After all, she already knew what her 'hangover' look looked like. "Inside voice, please," she said.

"She even acts like she has a hangover," Ginny muttered under her breath.

Mrs. Weasley chose to ignore Ginny's comment and sent her out to get Mr. Weasley. Ginny agreed with no argument and Zoey listened to Ginny's fading footsteps as she descended down the steps in search for the Weasley father.

"Why does she need to get Mr. Weasley?" Zoey asked when she could no longer hear Ginny's footsteps.

"He wanted to talk to you," Mrs. Weasley took out the cloth, wrung it and wiped Zoey's forehead once more, "I told him to wait so you could rest some more but he insisted he speaks to you the moment you get up," Mrs. Weasley sighed, "Honestly, that man"

Zoey felt the soothing feeling past through her body once more and thought that it was not regular water Mrs. Weasley was applying on her forehead. She closed her eyes to enjoy the cool feeling before looking back at Mrs. Weasley.

"Why does he want to speak with me?" Zoey asked.

Mrs. Weasley opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted when she heard fast, stomping feet going up the stairs. She pinched the bridge of her nose before leaving the room. Zoey bit her lip as she listened to Mrs. Weasley's scolding voice.

"I told Ginny to get your father and your father _only,_" Mrs. Weasley said with a stern voice, "No Fred, George, Ron you _cannot _see her right now. She needs her rest and frankly seeing all of you would be overwhelming for her. Don't deny it. Now let your father through!"

Zoey held in a laugh when she heard the grumbling of the under-aged Weasley boys and listened to their descending steps. She then straightened up when she heard a knock at the door.

"Come in," Zoey said slightly awkward.

Mr. Weasley softly opened the door and came into the room with a smile. Zoey noted that he looked slightly stressed and had small dark circles under his eyes. She suddenly felt a pang of guilt.

"How are you feeling?" Mr. Weasley repeated his wife's question.

"I'm fine," Zoey replied and gestured towards the edge of her bed for Mr. Weasley to sit on seeing as there were no chairs in sight, "How about you?"

Mr. Weasley gave a chuckle, "Fine, just a little tired but I'll live," he paused and his face turned serious, "I don't want to make you uncomfortable but I need to know, Zoey. How long has your aunt been treating you that way?"

"What way, Mr. Weasley?" Zoey replied out of instinct. It was obvious that Mr. Weasley was talking about her aunt's use of the Cruciatus curse and nearly suffocating her but Zoey avoided the question.

"Fred said you'd avoid answering me," Mr. Weasley gave a crooked smile as Zoey blushed.

Zoey apologized.

"No worries," Mr. Weasley held up his hand, "But you must see that I have to know. What your aunt was doing is illegal and I must know how long this has been going," he paused, "This is child abuse, both physically and mentally, Zoey"

"I know," Zoey ducked her head low. She blinked her eyes and thought tears would fall but no tears came. Her eyes were dry and Zoey only felt a lump in her throat. Her secret was out. She could no longer hide such things. She could no longer keep her life hidden from those she cared about. The fact that she was being abused was revealed to the Weasleys and she knew that they would stop at nothing to get every ounce of information out of her. Either by her telling them or them leaving her alone to wallow in her guilt, they would know what has been happening. Zoey figured it was easier to tell him now rather than later when she felt guilty about keeping it inside.

"It has been going on for as long as I can remember," Zoey said after a long pause. This was it. "I – I moved to the house when I was about nine and she came one day and began to call me tons of offensive names. She even insulted my family… I guess that's where it began."

"Why did you have to move in? Where are your parents?" Mr. Weasley asked.

Zoey gulped, "My mother's dead and my father…he's well… Sirius Black…"

Mr. Weasley's eyes widened and did not say a word. Zoey took his shock silence as a chance to continue. The sooner she finished telling him her sob story the better.

"I don't remember when the abuse began. I hardly remember anything anymore. All I could remember was the pain she inflicted on me with several curses. The abuse I got was both from magic and physical beating. She wasn't the only one who 'bullied' me… no there were other… Sorry, Mr. Weasley… I can't mention their names. I fear that if I reveal who they are something bad will happen," Zoey paused,

"The abuse began to worsen when she found out I had something she wanted. At first I didn't know what she was talking about but then…when I did she did numerous things. She did loads of things just to get the answer out of me. I was splinched when she apparated us to a tower that was even taller than the ones back at Hogwarts, almost thrown me off the said tower, threw me against the wall… caused me to bleed in several places," Zoey took in a shaky breath,

"She just did a lot of things that caused me to have the scars I have now and when she didn't feel like causing me physical pain to get the answer she used the… curse…"

"The Cruciatus Curse," Mr. Weasley offered, "I've – We've seen it."

"Mr. Weasley… who else saw what happened?" Zoey asked

"All of us except for Ron, Ginny and Molly," Mr. Weasley said, "We'll talk about that later. So is that everything she has done?"

Zoey nodded. It was the general pain she has caused.

"What was the thing she wanted from you?"

"A box," Zoey said in a soft voice, "It was a box that belonged to my mother."

"What's inside the box?" Mr. Weasley asked.

Zoey licked her lips. "There's loads of things. Everything belonged to my mother. I'm guessing there's an undetectable extension charm on the box because… it seemed almost endless to me and I can swear that if I jumped into the box I would still have room to jump around. It's very deep and there's things that I have yet to find inside… so far I've found a jewelry box, photo album and some Emeraude books and the like"

Mr. Weasley nodded his head. "Last question, was your aunt the one who destroyed your house? The turned furniture broken glass, was she the one who broke them? Did she throw them at you?"

"No," Zoey shook her head, "I was the one who broke them. I… when I first came to the house everything was clean and orderly and I don't know… I snapped and next thing I knew it was like that. Well not exactly. To be honest it's in the worst state possible. Nothing could be fixed by the looks of it."

"I see," Mr. Weasley said, "Well, thank you for your time Zoey, I would ask Ginny to send your tray up so you can eat," Mr. Weasley stood up and headed for the door. He was just about to leave but Zoey stopped him.

"Please, Mr. Weasley, I would like to come down to eat. I don't want to disturb Ginny," Zoey said.

"Ginny won't mind –" Mr. Weasley began

"No, please, I need to stretch my legs anyway," Zoey smiled and slowly got of her bed. She wobbled a bit when she tried to walk, "See? I can't have this now, can I?"

Mr. Weasley smiled. "I'll tell Molly to prepare lunch, then"

* * *

**Mr. Weasley knows! How about the rest of the Weasleys?**

**Sorry if this chapter is WAY short compared to the last. It's the middle of the night and I wanted to update it and dedicate most of the next chapter to a ZED moment.**

**Special thanks to:**

**wHaT's In A pEn-NaMe**

**for the idea for the last bit in the previous chapter!**

**You are TOTALLY AWESOME!**

**I also want to thank those of you who reviewed and the like :D**

**Uberly much appreciated :P  
**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and for those who are wondering about Bridgit please be patient. All will be revealed in due time.**

**Same with Echo. IN DUE TIME!  
**

**Oh~ And I added little Miss Perfect, Mary Sue to the story because she is needed for the plot of this year!**

**No, she is not a sudden Idea. I've had her character in mind LONG before this chapter as in when I was still typing up the first... TEN chapters of this story so you can see she's been in my idea box for quite some time now.**

**Another OH! the "Natalie" girl from the little flash back at the beginning of the chapter is Zoey's "Aunt Maria" also known as her godmother.**

**Natalie's full name is "Maria Natalie Hunter"**

**You know, just in case some of you forgot. She was mentioned a few chapters back :)**

**ZoomSkater14 = I'll message you when I need you okay? That will be very soon I hope :P**

**Hmm... what else do I have to say?**

**Right, there isn't much reaction from the Weasleys yet because Zoey's is still recovering and they wanted to keep things "mellow" for a bit. You know, don't scare a sick person kind of thing... yeah...**

**I walked a lot today! :D**

**Sorry, just wanted to keep the conversation (?) going...**

**OKAY! Imma shut up now.**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter**

**Sorry for any typos or grammatical errors**

**and**

**I only own what I own!  
**


	53. Chapter 51: How love works

**Chapter 51: How love works**

_"Sirius!" Lucy squealed when Sirius wrapped his arms around her and lifted her over his shoulder. Lucy let out a puff of hair when she felt her stomach make contact with his shoulder and gave a small laugh when Sirius began to walk. The soft up and down feeling she felt was the same with a horse. She let out a sigh and watched the hall of Hogwarts go by her from Sirius's back._

_"Care to tell me where we are going?" Lucy asked after some time has passed and she and Sirius were out of the Hogwarts castle and now on the grassy grounds, "and why I couldn't use my own feet to get there?"_

_"Come one Luce, where's the fun in that?" Sirius spoke for the first time and laughed. His shoulders shook with his laugh and Lucy felt the vibrations in her stomach. She laughed too._

_They were both in their sixth year in Hogwarts and everything seemed to be going well. They were together and no one could come between them. No parents and no love rivals. They were just them. Everyone left them alone and those who didn't supported them. They have already been through up and downs together and were able to hold strong. Sure, there were times when everything seemed to go downhill and Lucy felt like there was no such thing as hope, happiness and love but whenever those feelings came Sirius was there to make her see sense. Lucy smiled softly when she saw the Quidditch Pitch pass by. Sirius was always there. Why did it take her so long to realize it?_

_He was there for her through and through._

_Even when she threw bratty tantrums or got over stressed and broke down._

_He was there._

_"Almost there," Sirius said when he walked by the Quidditch Pitch. Lucy wore a confused look that he could not see._

_"Is it just me or are we going in a circle?" she asked_

_"It's just you - ow!" came Sirius reply. He received a kick in the stomach, curtesy of his girlfriend. He stumbled a bit and made her jump on his shoulder. Lucy let in a surprised gasp._

_Lucy furrowed her eyebrows and awkwardly tried to look behind her to see where Sirius was going. "What was that for?" she asked referring to the uncomfortable jump on his shoulder._

_"That, my little Lucy bear was payback for kicking me," Sirius said with a lofty tone, "Which, for your information, you shouldn't do since if you kicked hard enough I would crumple on the ground making you fall to your painful death"_

_Lucy punched his back, though it had little effect on him. "That's a lie," she blew her bangs away from her face, "I could not die from falling of your shoulder. You're not that tall"_

_She then let out a surprised scream when she slid of Sirius shoulder. She was just about to make contact with the ground but Sirius caught her in time. Her eyes were wide with shock and her cheeks red from embarrassment, her mouth was still gaping from the scream she let out. Sirius laughed at her expression. SHe made a whack at his chest._

_"That," she hit him again, "was" another hit, "not" hit, "funny!" two hits._

_Sirius continued the laugh. Lucy's hits made little effect on him. She was not that strong. He continued to laugh as he walked towards his destination with a pouting Lucy in his arms. Sirius walked and walked, often making turns and passing by things twice but in time he finally reached the Black Lake. He placed Lucy down under a beach tree and sat down beside her. He remained silent as he looked at the lake and admired the sparkle it had because of the sun. Lucy; however, did not look at the lake. No, she just sent Sirius a questioning look that he chose to ignore._

_"Sirius?" she began. Sirius hummed in response. "If you were just going to take me to the Black Lake why did you have to carry me? No, why did you have to pass the Quidditch pitch four times? Wait, why did you have to keep making those twists and turns if we were just going to end up here?"_

_Sirius did not look at her. He continued to look at the distance. "Why indeed?" he then looked at her with a goofy grin, "I just wanted to confuse you"_

_Lucy gently whacked his head. "Git," she said with laughter in her voice, "How can you confuse me? We've been here numerous times!"_

_"But you didn't know we were going here in the first place now did you?" Sirius raised and eyebrow. Lucy looked at him, dumbfounded. "Exactly," he then said with a nod of accomplishment._

_"But why did you want to bring me here?" Lucy said blinking herself back to reality._

_Sirius tucked a hair behind her ear and gave her a soft kiss on the lips before drawing back. Lucy just looked at him with wide eyes and flushed cheeks. The expression she always got whenever he kissed her unexpectedly. Sirius chuckled._

_"W - Wha?" Lucy said in a daze making Sirius give out a bark of laughter._

_"I brought you here," Sirius began after he calmed down. He took something out of his pocket. "Because I wanted to give you something"_

_"What did you want to - Holy mama!" Lucy exclaimed with wide eyes making Sirius laugh again. This girl was too much for him._

_In Sirius' hand was a necklace with a pink crystal heart pendant. The heart was small but beautiful. Lucy looked closely at it and could swear that there was a sparkling mist swirling around inside the heart. She took it from Sirius' hand and noted that it felt warm in hers. She looked back at Sirius with wide eyes. "How?" she began, "How did you get the mist inside?"_

_Sirius palm made contact with his forehead. "Among all things... you ask how the mist is inside," he took the necklace from Lucy and scooted a bit so it was easier for him to put it on her. Lucy blushed and touched the pendant again. She felt the warmth._

_"It's a very curious thing," she reasoned, "And why is it warm?"_

_"It just is," Sirius said curtly and let his hand linger on her hair a bit as he placed it over the chain, hiding it. He ran his hand through it a bit before turning Lucy's head towards him and kissing her on the lips once more. Lucy returned it._

_When they finally stopped for air Sirius pointed at the necklace, Lucy looked down at it and gasped._

_It was glowing a bright pink._

_Lucy opened her mouth to speak but Sirius spoke first._

_"It glows when the person who places the necklace on you loves you," he said in a soft voice, "I love you"_

_Lucy bit her lips and brought her face close to his. "I love you too," she breathed_

Zoey quietly passed by the kitchen and saw Mr. Weasley talking to his three eldest sons, Bill, Charlie and Percy, in a quiet and serious tone. Zoey observed that the air around them was rather tense and she could not help but believe that they were talking about her and her "situation". She felt glad that there were people who cared about her but she could not help but feel guilty. She did not want them to worry, waste their time trying to help her. Zoey did not like the fact that they were going rather deep into her situation. She was scared that if _she _found out that there were more people who knew what she was doing, she would do something to hurt them. Zoey felt another pan g of guilt in her heart. A couple of days had passed since she was in the Burrow and in a few hours Ron, Mr. Weasley, Fred and George would be picking up Harry. Zoey hoped that the idea of Harry being in the house will take their minds of her. She could only hope.

Zoey gave a sigh when she knew that she could do nothing to stop the Weasley in worrying about her. She was just about to enter the kitchen in hopes that her presence would disrupt their meeting but she was stopped when a hand took hold of her shoulder. Zoey felt the hairs at the back of her neck stand up and she bit in a scream. She stiffly turned around with wide eyes.

"I never really took you for the type to eavesdrop, Zoe," Fred said with a grin as he brought his hand back to his pocket. Zoey swatted his arm.

"Don't scare me like that!" Zoey flushed. Fred laughed. "And I was not eavesdropping!" she added.

"So pressing your ear to the door while my dad, Bill, Charlie and Percy are talking isn't eavesdropping?" Fred raised an eyebrow.

Zoey's blush deepened. She did not even know she was pressing her ear to the door. "I – I was?"

Fred's smirked. "Yep," he popped the 'p', "You looked pretty intent on knowing what they were talking about too," he paused, "But listing through the door would do you no good. Try placing a glass on the door," Fred then turned and began to walk towards the door leading to the backyard. Zoey followed.

"A glass? What good would that do?" she asked him as they stepped foot on the grassy ground.

"Loads, according to dad. He said that's what muggles do," Fred said with a shrug.

"I still don't follow," Zoey paused, "They should invent something that would make eavesdropping easier…"

Fred looked at her with an amused raised eyebrow. Zoey blushed.

"I – I – I'm not saying eavesdropping is _good. _All I'm saying is that there are certain conversations that should be heard and well – Stop giving me that look!" Zoey childishly stomped her foot and puffed her cheeks.

"What look?" Fred sniggered and held up his hands in defense.

"That look you were giving me earlier!" Zoey said, "So what if I want to listen to some things I'm not supposed to hear? I can't be good _all _the time."

Fred placed both his hands on Zoey's shoulders and lightly shook her to stop her from talking. "Gee, calm down, Zoe. I wasn't saying anything."

"Your look was _implying _something," Zoey muttered.

"The only thing the look was implying was that you just gave me an idea," Fred grinned and Zoey sent him a questioning look. She shrugged his hands off of her shoulders.

"I don't like where this is going," Zoey said slowly though she broke into a smile.

Fred stuck his tongue out at her and took her hand in his and began to walk. Since he was taller than Zoey, Fred glanced down and tried to see if there were any signs of Zoey letting go of his hand. So far so good. Fred had decided that he should just see if there were any signs that Zoey may possibly like him back. Sure, it was cowardly and at the moment he was a poor excuse for a Gryffindor but hey, it was pretty courageous of him to hold her hand!

No

It wasn't

He's done that before.

Fred was just fooling with himself.

"Cowardly git," Fred muttered, directing the insult to himself.

Zoey looked at him with raised eyebrows and quickly let go of his hand.

"No, I wasn't calling you a git," Fred quickly said, his cheeks turning red.

"Then who?" Zoey asked with her heart thumping against her chest.

Fred smacked his forehead causing Zoey to flinch a bit. "Are you okay?" Zoey cautiously asked, "It looks like you're beating yourself up"

Fred groaned in response, his hand still covering his face.

Zoey smiled softly at him and gently removed his hand from his face. She looked into his eyes and she felt her cheeks warm up. She felt a buzzing in her head. It wasn't the painful buzzing she felt before, no, this was pleasant. Almost soothing. The buzzing seemed to disappear from her head and move to her heart. Her heart thumped faster and faster and she almost felt a swelling feeling in them. She held on to Fred's hand and grinned at him sheepishly. For some reason, she did not feel entirely embarrassed. She slightly felt like a new person. _Slightly._

She wondered vaguely if this was what people felt when they got a huge weight off of their shoulders. She wondered if everyone felt light hearted and cheery when they told someone about their troubles. When they let people into their lives. Zoey pushed the thoughts away. This must be the feeling she's been missing out. She wondered if the feeling would last long.

"Tell me about that idea of yours," Zoey smiled at him.

Fred looked down at her and grinned. "It isn't that look of an explanation. The idea is pretty simple in itself."

"Doesn't matter," Zoey began walking, "I want to hear it"

"It's just ears," Fred said

"Ears?" Zoey interrupted

"Yes, ears that you could extend to great lengths to be able to listen in on any conversation. You know, like maybe an ear on a string or something like that," Fred paused and thought a bit, "Something that you can stick in one ear and place the under end under – I don't know – a door maybe and you could hear every single voice and sound like it was a mere foot away,"

"That's a brilliant idea!" Zoey beamed.

"It was yours," Fred smirked.

"But you actually thought about what it can do and stuff like that. You added awesome to my idea," said Zoey.

"Added awesome?"

"It's a term," Zoey stuck her tongue out

"You're right, I am awesome," Fred mused and earned a smack from Zoey, "But what to call the product?" Fred continued.

Zoey raised an eyebrow. "Extendable Ears?" she said and earned a grin from Fred.

The Burrow lived at the outskirts of Ottery St. Catchpole and was so well hidden that Zoey doubted that a postman would know where it was. Zoey looked at the Weasley house with a smile. It looked like it was once a pigpen and had several crooked stories attached to it. Five chimneys dotted the roof and the entire house looked like it was held up by magic for its crazy construction. Zoey looked at the area around the Burrow she saw the garage where Mr. Weasley used to keep his flying car together with his Muggle Artifacts and Zoey could see a stone outhouse in the distance where the Weasley kids kept their brooms. If Zoey where to explore some more she would find the kitchen coop and much, much more.

Zoey felt free. She loved the Burrow and everything surrounding it. It was simple and fun and she knew that none of the Weasley kids felt trap. There was so much room to run around and have fun. Zoey felt her gaze soften. There was a gnome that popped out from a bush.

"I thought you were supposed to get rid of those," Zoey whispered to Fred as to not frighten the gnome.

"We did," Fred whispered back, "But they keep coming back. You know dad, he's soft on them. Thinks their funny."

The gnome saw Zoey and Fred looking at him and said a foul word that made Zoey blush.

"I didn't find anything funny with what he said," she muttered.

"You don't find swearing funny in general," Fred laughed

"Cause it's not," Zoey stuck her tongue out, a habit she developed.

Fred laughed and ruffled her hair. It was easier this way, spending time with her, chatting with her. It was easier when he ignored his feelings, when he pushed back thoughts of confessing. It was less troublesome. If telling Zoey how he really felt would ruin their moments like this then he rather keep it in himself. It was not cowardly because it takes a strong person to hold on to strong feelings. It takes a selfless person to put others before them. Fred was putting Zoey before his own feelings.

Zoey looked up at Fred and smiled.

Fred felt his heart skip a beat. It was talking all of his self control not to take her in his arms and kiss her. Yes, though he said he would keep his feelings hidden from her it was easier said than done. Most things in love was like that. Some are all talk and hardly any feeling. Fred tried to control his beating heart by distracting himself with burying his hand in his pocket. When his fingers grazed a smooth surface his eyes widened. He wrapped his fingers around the object and pulled it out of his pocket. He opened his hand and saw the crystal heart necklace George picked up from the floor when they came to Zoey's aid.

"Fred?" Zoey asked with a tilt of her head. She could not see the necklace from the angle she was standing in. Fred shook his head and smiled at her. He then let the necklace dangle in front of Zoey's eyes. Zoey wore a shocked expression. ""Is that my...?"

"Your necklace?" Fred offered and walked behind Zoey with the pendant already laying on top of her chest, "Why, yes it is"

Zoey touched the pendant on her neck, it was warm at her touch, and felt Fred wrap the necklace around her and lock it in place. She felt his hand graze her neck while he took her hair in his hand and let it flow above the chain and down her back. It was one of those rare days when Zoey wore her hair down. Fred placed his hand on her shoulders once more. It was hard not to touch her. Even if it wasn't a hug or a kiss, just being this close to her made him feel like things were right. Fred found it harder and harder for him not to say something. He needed a distraction.

"I'm glad that you finally got tell tell us about your past," Fred said in a soft tone. The topic wasn't the ideal distraction but it worked. He felt Zoey stiffen before letting out a sigh. She had retold her story to the entire Weasley family at lunch. She had to repeat her words and she had to answer their questions. Numerous times she had to pause because she had a flashback and she placed her hand on her scar whenever she reached the part when she told them how she got splinched. The whole process of telling was more painful than telling Mr. Weasley alone because this time she could see more than one sad expression. More than one face showing pity. It killed her inside. It especially hurt when she saw how Fred looked at her. Zoey flinched when she remembered his face.

Zoey had told everyone Weasley her sob story and either answered their questions truthfully or chose not to answer at all.

Through the whole night Zoey felt like she told them everything.

Everything except for her wings.

That was a tale for another day.

"I'm glad too," Zoey said softly, "I feel so much lighter after telling you guys"

"We'll always be there for you, you know that right?" Fred asked.

Zoey smiled away from his view. "I know," she said.

A breeze passed them.

"You know," Fred said after a long pause of silence, "That as pretty unique necklace. It's warm in your hand and seems to have a mist trapped inside it"

"It was my mother's," Zoey said with a small smile and turned around to face Fred. She gave him a smile and thanked him.

"No pro - whoa," Fred breathed out. His eyes wide with surprise as he stared at the pendant. Zoey looked at him curiously and looked at the pendant herself. Her eyes widened as well. She took the pendant and held it up. She turned it a bit and cupped it in her hand to make sure it was not a trick of the sun. After several tests Zoey gave up.

The necklace was glowing a bright pink.

Fred looked at Zoey. "Has it always been able to do that?" he asked.

"Just now," Zoey said with a deep red on her cheeks

* * *

"F - Fred!" Zoey said with anger as she held in a burp, "G - George! Fix this rig - right now!" she yelled in between burps.

Fred and George were clutching their sides with laughter while Zoey stood in front of them with a hard glare on her face. In truth, she would have appeared frightening if she wouldn't burp every two seconds. Zoey burped again.

"I think - ahaha! - I think you should listen to her - pfft - Fred!" George said with laughter.

"Ahaha - W - Why should I?" Fred replied with glee, "I - ahaha - never got to see Zoey this angry before - and - aha- and let me tell you - it's hilarious!"

The twins words were drowned with laughter.

Zoey hoped they died from lack of breath

Zoey's glare deepened. She was the only non-Weasley in the Burrow at the moment and Fred and George took this opportunity to play a prank on her. Echo was not to come until tomorrow and the Weasleys were to pick up Harry in a few minutes times. Zoey would have accompanied them but she was preoccupied with her burps. She and Fred had returned to the Burrow not long ago and she had, unknowingly, accepted a Butterscotch candy from George. The moment the sugary treat dissolved in her mouth she began her uncontrollable burps. According to a laughing George she had just ate their newest candy "Burping Butterscotch"

"I - I - I hope!" Zoey burped again, "You both die from laughter!" She burped again. The twins laughed harder. Zoey huffed in irritation and stomped her foot before angrily turning around and walked to the kitchen. Mr. Weasley, Bill, Charlie and Percy left ages ago, where they were now, Zoey did not care, all she cared about was getting as far away from the twins as possible. She angrily sat down on one of the chairs, folded her arms across her chest and burped.

"Hey, Zoey," Ron greeted as he entered the kitchen. He would be helping in fetching Harry any time now.

Zoey burped instead of greeting him.

Ron's eyes widened at her response and tried his best to hold back a laugh. "You drank anything fizzy lately?" he asked with suppressed laughter in his voice.

"D - Don't pu - push it," Zoey said holding down her burps.

"I wasn't going to say anything," Ron said holding up his hands in defense and took a seat beside Zoey. He wore a laughing grin on his face.

After a while, Zoey gave up. She folded her arms on the table and ducked her head. She let out another burp and said: "G - Go on. You - errp - you can laugh," she said with an embarassed moan.

Ron did let out a laugh.

"Nice to see the world - errp - cares," Zoey said.

The kitchen door opened revealing Fred, George and Ginny. Zoey let out another burp and Ginny broke into a laugh.

"Y - You're su - suppose to be o - on my - errp - side!" Zoey cried.

"Sorry, Zoey," Ginny laughed, "But you got t admit. This is funny"

Zoey held down another burp, "Easy for you to say," she burped, "It isn't you"

Ginny grinned and stuck her tongue out at Zoey. Zoey returned the gesture.

Fred chuckled and placed a hand on Zoey's shoulder. Zoey glared at him and pouted. She faced the opposite direction.

"Come on, Zoey," George laughed.

"You'll never be cured unless you face us," Fred continued.

Zoey contemplated on the idea before finally looking at the twins.

"That a girl," Fred and George said in unison. Zoey burped.

"Come on guys, just give her the antidote," Ginny grinned.

Zoey watched as George passed Fred another candy. Fred held out the candy to her but Zoey just looked at it warily. She swallowed her next burp.

"You just got to eat it, Zoe," said Fred, "It will make all the burpies go away!"

"Fine," Zoey snatched the candy after much contemplation and swiftly placed it in her mouth. She chewed on it for a bit before letting the rest dissolve in her mouth. She waited several seconds before smiling. The burps were gone.

"Lovely," Ron said with a clap.

"Never," Zoey said, "I repeat, never use me as your guinea pig ever again!"

"Lighten up, Zoey," George said.

"It could be worse," Fred grinned, "We could have given you the Ton-Tongue Toffe"

Ginny laughed, "Now _that_ I would love to see!"

Zoey opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted when the kitchen door opened revealing Mr. Weasley wearing a smile. The stress and dark circles were gone from his face and he looked as chipper as ever. "Hullo, Weasleys!" Mr. Weasley greeted.

"Hi, dad!" the Weasley children chorused.

"Zoey," Mr. Weasley nodded.

"Mr. Weasley," Zoey laughed.

"Are we going to get Harry now, dad?" Ron asked, standing up from his chair.

Mr. Weasley nodded. "That's the plan," he said, "You boys ready"

"We were born ready," Fred said.

"You'd think they were going into battle," Ginny whispered in Zoey's ear and let out a laugh.

"Very well then," Mr. Weasley pushed open the kitchen door ushering his children out, "No time to waste! As the muggles say: 'Time is bronze'!"

And with that the Weasley boys left the kitchen.

Zoey looked at Ginny with confusion. "I thought it was 'Time is gold'?"

Ginny shrugged, "It's time. Why should it have a price?"

* * *

**And you have a ZED MOMENT!**

**Also a little flashback to Lucy and Sirius' time :P**

**I got the idea of the necklace from a "Wizards of Waverly Place" episode I saw a few weeks back. I found it cute and well, I wanted to use it.**

**Please don't sue me.**

**Anyway, me wants to thank all of you who reviewed and the like. You guys are truly awesome.**

**Gosh, I'm hungry,**

**Today's been a rather lazy day for me.**

**Hardly did anything.**

**Tomorrow I'm going to be getting my report card...**

**GAH!**

**Anyway, I decided to just mention Zoey telling the rest of the Weasleys rather than type up the entire scene because frankly Zoey's story will just be the same one I types up in the previous chapter and I don't want to bore you with it...**

**Sorry in advance for any typos and the like!**

**I typed up this chapter using a different computer, I'm not used to the keyboard D:**

**Now, for some "conversation" (lack for better word) with my reviewers!**

**"TheAnnoyingOne97": Please don't die :P**

**"OddSakura": Please don't starve XD**

**"Kimboolinaa": Please don't poke my brains out, I need them XP**

**"wHaT's In A pEn-NaMe": I hope I updated fast enough :D**

**"beba78" , "YukiKyoMomiji" and "HogwartsCreations": Thank you :)**

**and also thanks to all of you who reviewed as well!**

**I love you all!**

**Anyway... I don't think I have that much to say now so...**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**and**

**I only own what I own!**


	54. Chapter 52: Hey Harry

**Chapter 52: Hey Harry**

_"Oh my Merlin!" Lucy moaned in despair, "What am I going to do, Lily?"_

_It was Lucy and Lily's fifth year in Hogwarts and Lucy was bothering her best friend over her little "heart problems". Lily hardly paid any mind to her friends misery because, frankly, she was putting her OWL studying before her friend. Lily gave a sigh and bookmarked her page before closing the book and looking at Lucy. Lucy, whose hair was sticking out in different ends from her repeatedly messing it up, looked like she just woke up from a bad hangover. She grabbed hold of Lily's forearm and repeatedly shook it._

_Lily swatted her. "What are you going to do on what?" she raised an eyebrow._

_"On Sirius!" Lucy cried, "Whenever I'm near him I feel like I'm going to throw up!"_

_"Who doesn't?" Natalie snickered as she approached her friends and took a seat beside Lily._

_"She doesn't mean it like that, Natalie," Lily sighed and brought her hand to pinch the bridge of her nose, "Lucy, 'throw up' is the wrong term to use in your dilemma."_

_Lucy sniffed, "Then what should I use?"_

_Lily looked at Natalie who shrugged. She didn't really know what word to use. She's read all the books that described the feelings Lucy was having but she couldn't really put them in her own words. She couldn't even describe it from her own experience seeing as she had none. Lily sighed and ran a hand through her long fiery red hair. "Any idea?" she looked at Natalie._

_Natalie held up her hands. "Whoa, there honey, you're asking the wrong person here."_

_"What makes you say that?" Lucy asked._

_"That fact that I'm me is enough proof that I'm the wrong person to ask," Natalie simply said._

_"But –"_

_"Lucy, face it. When has Natalie ever, I mean EVER shown signs of liking a guy?" Lily emphasized._

_Lucy furrowed her eyebrows. "I was pretty sure she fancied Remus," she said thoughtfully._

_Natalie blushed. "You're off your rockers," she then laughed. _

_"You got a point," Lily smirked and ignored Natalie's objections, "Let me rephrase it then. When did Natalie ever shown signs that she actually liked Sirius?"_

_"Yep, we despise each other," Natalie nodded._

_"I thought it was just one of those friendly-hate thingy you and Sirius had?" Lucy asked._

_"Okay! We aren't getting anywhere with this. The point is that Natalie isn't the best one to ask with your Sirius problem," Lily offered a sympathetic smile._

_Natalie snorted, "It sounded like you said 'serious problem'"_

_Lily rolled her eyes, "Very mature," she then faced Lucy, "Tell me what you feel when you're around him"_

_"I told you before I fe –"_

_"Upup, remember 'throwing up' isn't the right word to use," Lily scratched her head, "In fact, it's rather offensive"_

_Lucy bit her lip and looked down. How did she feel when she was around him? She remembered the days when she would just hang out with him, have their laughs, play pranks, tease each other. Those days where everything just felt simple and carefree but now it just seemed to get complicate for Lucy. She could not think straight when she was with him. Her heart that used to beat rapidly because she often ran away from him so she wouldn't be his next victim for a prank was now beating when she just saw him pass by. The laughs she had with him were still there but now it seemed that a blush accompanied them, she even found herself giggling at his antics from afar rather than joining him so she could be part of the fun. Teasing and pranking were main problems for her, rather than fighting back she found herself feeling bashful and shy. Lucy hated it. These changes, though at times weren't noticeable, made her uncomfortable._

_She shared these thoughts with her friends._

_After Lucy said what she felt Natalie and Lily remained silent. Lily pursed her lips in thoughts while Natalie twirled her finger in her hair, a habit she developed when she was thinking. Natalie was the first to speak. "Well, obviously you fancy him," she said bluntly._

_Lucy chocked on her own breath. Lily automatically got to her feet and went to her friend's aid. She rubbed Lucy's back and waited for her to catch her breath. Lucy took in a gulp of air and looked up at Lily. "Can you please translate the rubbish Natalie is saying?" her cheeks flushed._

_"It isn't rubbish!" Natalie argued, "It's the truth! Accept it!" she made a gesture as if she were throwing the truth right at Lucy. Lucy dodged the 'truth'._

_Lily furrowed her eyebrows in concentration. "What Natalie is trying to say is – No, yeah, you fancy him," Lily ended with a nod._

_"That can't be," Lucy breathed out, "That's completely illogical"_

_"Honey, you live in a magical world. Anything illogical is logical to us," Natalie said with a smile._

Zoey pursed her lips and dug deeper into her mother's box. She had pulled out several more books, clothes and photo albums but she still hasn't found what she was looking for. The books were helpful in understanding the Emeraudes but Zoey did not need to read it yet, the clothes were nice and Zoey liked them but she has no use for them at the moment, the photo albums were always Zoey's favorite things to find and was glad her mother had so many of them yet that wasn't what she was looking for. She began to pull more hats and shirts from the box and she didn't even know how deep she was going. More than half her body has disappeared into the box. Zoey went deeper and deeper and yet no matter how deep she got she could still see what she was picking up.

Yes, the inside of the box was dark, pitch black even yet the necklace that dangled from Zoey's neck emitted a gentle pink that seemed to brighten up the box, Zoey picked up a stripped sock and tossed it out. The necklace didn't glow often; in fact the glow instantly disappeared when Fred and Zoey went back to the Burrow. The glow seemed to only come back when Zoey was alone or with Fred, sure, it wasn't as strong as before but it was still there, she didn't mind though, it came in handy at times like these.

If anyone were to enter Ginny's room at this time they would find it very peculiar to see someone's bottom sticking out of a box with feet on their tiptoes. The image was odd, almost comical yet true. That was what Fred thought when he opened the door to his sister's room. He and George were finally released by their mother after she practically tried to bite their heads off in anger. She was furious at them, together with their father though he wasn't as angry as her, for pulling a prank on Harry's cousin and even mentioned how low their OWLs scores were. It appeared so that their results came in while they were away.

Fred, before entering the room, had knocked on the door several times. Each time he heard no reply. Sometimes he thought he heard something dropping on the floor but dismissed it as a trick of hearing. After two minutes of waiting and knocking he decided to simply barge in. Fred expected to see either the room empty or Zoey asleep but what he didn't expect to see random objects piled on top of each other on the floor with a box wide open and a bottom and legs sticking out of it. The sight was strange and Fred almost thought he was imagining things but he came to the conclusion that what he was seeing was true when he saw a sock being tossed outside from inside the box.

"Zoe?" he asked as he closed the door and stepped closer the odd sight. There was no reply, only a jacket being tossed outside of the box and landing on Fred's head. Fred scrunched up his face and threw the jacket on the pile of random objects. Zoey, or what he figured was Zoey, had a good arm if she was able to toss the thing from deep within a box and it was able to land on his head, he _was _very tall after all.

The feet began to push further and the bottom disappeared into the box as well. One of the legs lifted and the other one, which was tiptoeing on the ground, began to shake with the stress that was placed on it.

"Zo – oh!" Fred exclaimed and quickly grabbed hold of the leg. He struggled a bit and tried to tighten his hold. Zoey, he finally concluded it was her, pushed too far and lost her footing. If he hadn't grabbed hold of her she would have disappeared into the box. He heard a surprise squeal from inside the box. "Zoe, are you alright?" Fred struggled with his words as he readjusted his hold.

"Fred?" Zoey's voice echoed from inside the box, "When did you get here?"

"Is that really what you're concerned about right now? You almost fell into oblivion!" Fred said in a strained voice.

"Oblivion? You mean the box – Ow!" There was an echoing bang in the box and a groan from Zoey.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah – oww – I am," Zoey said, "Can you – err – help me out of here?"

"Oh no, grabbing hold of your leg is simply out of pleasure rather than helping you out," Fred said sarcastically but later blushed, "That sounded wrong"

There was a laugh from inside the box. It sounded rather embarrassed but it was a laugh nonetheless. Fred then let go of Zoey leg and quickly bent into the box and grabbed hold of her waist before she could fall further in. Zoey's surprised scream echoed inside the box. Fred tightened his hold on her and looked inside the box. It was dark and the only light he saw was a pink glow. He shook his head and, with all his might, pulled Zoey out of the box. When he finally pulled her out he lost his balance and toppled over to the ground, Zoey landing on him.

They both groaned.

Zoey slowly got up from Fred, with a blush decorating her cheeks, and ran a hand through her hair. "Next time… warn me before you do that," she ran a shaky hand through her hair, "I almost thought you'd drop me in"

Fred sat up as well. "There's going to be a next time?" he joked and raised an eyebrow. Zoey laughed but Fred could see her hands still shaking. She also wore a worried expression. Fred touched her cheek. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah," Zoey lied. When Fred let go of her she remembered the time her aunt let go of her when she was practically dangling from the tower where she got splinched. "So when did you get back? Hermione came a few minutes after you guys left," Zoey changed the subject

"A few minutes ago actually," Fred then gave her a bemused look, "Didn't you hear us come back?"

"No… why?"

"Well, mum was pretty mad about something George and I did and I thought you would have heard her," Fred said with a shrug.

"Define 'pretty mad'," Zoey raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"She was practically a dragon," Fred laughed, "She was yelling about what we did to Harry cousin, our OWL results and about Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Oh, that's –"

"The name of the joke shop you and George plan on making," Zoey smiled, "I helped your mum clean out your room."

"That explains it. So, if you saw the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes then you should have seen our OWL results as well. How did you do on yours, by the way?"

"Three OWLs is pretty good," Zoey offered.

"But not good enough to be in the ministry," Fred ruffled her hair, "Don't matter to us. So how many OWLs did you get?"

"Enough," came Zoey's vague answer. Fred whined. "Fine, fine. I passed all and am able to study the subjects I need to be a Healer"

Fred leaned back and supported his weight with his hands. "In other words. You aren't going to tell me"

"I think it was pretty obvious. Going to a new topic, what _did _you do to Harry's cousin?" Zoey asked, crawling towards the pile she created and began to dump the objects back in the box. The only things that remained were the books.

"He ate a Ton-Tongue Toffee," Fred said with s suppressed laugh.

"What does that do?" Zoey asked.

"Well, it did what we wanted it to do," Fred laughed, "It has an Engorgement Charm on it, makes the consumers tongue grow to an indefinite size. Well, maybe four feet long. That's the length Harry's cousin's tongue grew."

Zoey's eyes widened and her mouth hung agape. "You gave a muggle a candy that made his tongue grow four feet?" she exclaimed.

Fred laughed harder. "I didn't _give _it to him. I dropped it! The poor bloke picked it up and ate it"

"I bet that's what you told your mother," Zoey said with a role of her eyes.

"So what if it was?" Fred grinned and got to his feet. He then lent out a hand helping Zoey up. "So what exactly is that?" he asked pointing at the box.

Zoey looked at the box before looking back at Fred. "It was my mother's," she said simply, "I was looking for something."

"Did you find it?"

"No," Zoey said with a shake of her head.

* * *

Zoey walked out of Ginny's room with Fred but in a blink of an eye Fred zoomed up the stairs to the second floor and she heard the slam of a door. Fred had gone to work with whatever with George. Zoey laughed under her breath before going up the stairs herself. She passed by the twins' bedroom and scrunched up her nose when she got a whiff of gunpowder. She rolled her eyes when she heard a _boom _sound and she proceeded up the stairs. She let her hand glide through the rail and looked down at her pendant. It was still glowing. Zoey bit her lip and continued to climb up the stairs absentmindedly. She only stopped when she felt hands on her shoulders. She looked up.

"Whoa there," Harry said with a grin, behind him were Ron and Hermione.

"Hey," Zoey smiled and brushed her bangs away from her face, "I heard you come in and I wanted to say Hi"

"He came in thirty minutes ag- Ow, Hermione!" Ron rubbed his chest where Hermione had thumped him.

Hermione shook her head and rolled her eyes. She then took hold of Ron's sleeves and dragged him down the steps but not before saying "Honestly, Ronald!" Zoey gave a small laugh and watched the two walk down the stairs. She listened to Ron's confused babbling until he could no longer be heard. She shook her head with a smile before turning back to Harry. "So, was your cousin's tongue returned to normal or you just left him that way as a little 'goodbye for now' present?"

Harry gave a laugh. "Heard about that have you?"

"Yeah," Zoey grinned, "Fred - yeah – Fred told me about it a few minutes ago"

"You seem a little flustered," Harry took a few steps down to be at level with Zoey.

Zoey made a small squeal and enveloped Harry in a tight hug. "I'm sorry, it's just I haven't seen you in so long and – oh my gosh!" She pulled away from Harry, "You grew! You're taller."

"Not as much as Ron though," Harry grinned.

"Well," Zoey tilted her head from side to side, "No one can grow as fast as Ron or can be as tall as him"

"You're taller than him"

"I am?" Zoey beamed before shaking her head again "Well," she tilted her head from side to side again making Harry laugh, "I'm older and I'm a girl. I _should _be taller."

"Okay, let's pretend that makes sense and change the topic," Harry took Zoey's hand and led her down the stairs, "How have you been? You seem much more… what's the word? Happy? Out going? Lively?"

"Oh, sorry for being gloomy, closeted and dead before," Zoey joked.

Harry laughed. "See! This is what I mean? So what happened? Are you finally going out with Fred?"

Zoey stumbled down a few steps in shock. Harry acted out of instinct and caught Zoey. He held on to her arm and struggled to keep himself and her in balance before Zoey finally caught herself at the last step. Harry let go of her hand when he saw that she was firmly back on her feet. Zoey thanked him before ruffling her own hair.

"Fred?" her voice had a squeak, "What makes you think I'm going out with him?"

"Well, I thought since you guys have been getting pretty close and you obviously like him –"

"Obviously?" Zoey panicked.

"Well – not that obvious. I just thought – So wait, do you like him or not?" Harry gave her a confused look.

Zoey bit her lip. She raised her hand but then slapped it down on her leg. She began to drum it as if she were in thought, her lips in a firm line.

"You don't have to tell me," Harry offered, "And please stop that. You remind me of a mum about to scold her son for doing something bad and she can't tell if she should yell or not"

"Sorry, but yeah I – I li – lo – _fancy _him but no we aren't going out. He doesn't even know," Zoey scratched the back of her head.

"Oh," Harry nodded his head, "So…. What makes you giddy now?"

"It's a long story," Zoey paused, "Well not really that long – or maybe it is – no, I'll summarize – Oh it's sad – no – It's complicated"

"We have the rest of the summer," Harry offered.

* * *

Echo hauled her luggage inside her fireplace and looked at the floor-length mirror to study herself. Everything was the same. Same style, same hair, same eye covered by a chunk of bangs. Same. Echo stepped into the hearth and grabbed a fistful of floo powder and spoke the two words clearly: "The Burrow!"

No later than two minutes she arrived inside the Burrow and stumbled out of the fireplace with her luggage in tow. Her lanky arms pushed herself off the floor and dusted some of the powder that clung to her blue-gray cardigan. Echo's ears perked up when she heard voices coming out of the kitchen. She laughed to herself and decided that it must have been "snack time" already. She placed her hand on the kitchen door and pushed it open.

The moment her foot landed in the kitchen she was just in time to see Harry violently stand up from his chair causing it to topple over at the same time exclaiming "I'M GOING TO KILL THAT WOMAN!" Zoey stood up as well and tried to calm Harry. It flummoxed Echo, but she simply shook her head. She eyed Hermione, who had her hands over her mouth, and Echo could very clearly see the slight tears in her eyes. Ron was next to her playing with a fork and Zoey looked up from Harry only to catch sight of her, Echo.

"Echo!" Zoey exclaimed, "You're early!" she walked around a fuming Harry and practically ran towards her, engulfing her in a hug. It was an awkward moment for Echo, who was not used to such things. They stumbled a few steps behind. In her ear, Echo heard Zoey mutter, "Don't eat anything Fred and George give you"

"What on Merlin are you talking about?" Echo raised an eyebrow

"Just trust me," Zoey paused, "Unless you want to have uncontrollable burps or a tongue that reaches four feet then you can go ahead and accept their treats but if you don't then steer clear"

Echo stifled a laugh, "This might be the first time I'll listen to you"

Zoey stepped back, "First?"

"Can't believe you don't know I don't listen to much people," Echo stuck out her tongue.

"And me of all people," Zoey said before turning back to the Golden Trio. She clapped her hands. "Okay! Away with the tension. Mrs. Weasley will be here any moment and will tell us to skootle our bootles out of here and into the backyard to eat."

The people in the room opened their mouth to argue but the kitchen door opened again to reveal Mrs. Weasley. "She's right now shoo," she paused and saw Echo, "Hello, Echo dear. I thought you'd be coming tomorrow?"

"It was getting boring in my house," Echo spoke out before going to sit down at the table and pit her head on it, "I need food"

Mrs. Weasley approached the Beaumont and ushered her off and away from the table. "Well, you're not going to get any food until later. Now be a dear and put your luggage away and head to the yard to help Bill and Charlie set the table. I'm sure Fred and George are out there too"

"I need energy," Echo groaned.

"Well too bad," Mrs. Weasley pushed the girl out of the kitchen, used to her love for food, "Now out you go. Zoey, go check on the twins and the boys unless you want to help Echo"

"Well, I'm going to check up on the twins and – err – the boys," Zoey said walking to the door and waving at the Golden Trio, it seemed that they would stay for a chat first, she then looked at Echo, "Good luck finding Ginny's room. First floor"

"I'll just go," Echo muttered and sloppily got off the table before trudging her way to get her luggage and pulling it to where Ginny's room was situated.

Zoey watched her purple haired friend leave before turning around and heading out to the yard. When she left the Burrow she ducked her head when she saw two tables smash against each other. She heard cheering and looked up to see Bill and Charlie standing opposite to each other with their wands in the air. Zoey covered her eyes when she heard another smash before blindingly making her way to the twins who were cheering.

"What's happening?" she panicky asked then when the tables once again made violent contact, "Don't we need to use those for – I don't know – Eating?"

"Whoa, sarcastic Zoey. Not used to that," George said tearing his eyes away from the tables.

"What took you Zoe?" Fred asked in turn.

"Well, I had to greet Harry and I sort of told him what happened a few days ago… and what's been happening for – erm – years," Zoey said and sat down beside Fred. The twins' face turned serious.

"How'd he take it?" they asked.

Zoey shrugged and tilted her head from side to side. "Well," she said once again, "He wants to kill her now –"

"Like we all do," Fred interrupted.

"– And I probably turned a kid murderous –"

"He's not a kid anymore and that isn't murderous at all," George said.

"–But I think he took it pretty well," Zoey ended, "Well, as well as it can get when you hear the story. You know, like you guys"

The twins nodded before turning their attention back only to have the tables have another violent smash. They cheered.

"So what else kept you?" Fred asked without looking away from the tables.

"Well, Echo's here," Zoey said.

George sat up from his seat. "She is?"

"Well, yeah –"

"Love you guys but I got to go," George quickly said before running back into his house.

Zoey raised her eyebrow and watched the door swing before closing in on a slam. She then looked back at Fred when the Golden Trio emerged from the door, looking curiously behind them before the smashing of tables took their attention.

"Hey, Fred?" Zoey began and took it upon herself to watch the tables as well, "Isn't Mrs. Weasley going to get mad about the tables?"

"Come on, Zoey, they're wizards. One flick and wave of a wand and the tables are as good as new," Fred gave laughed, "Oh, to be of legal age."

"Oh okay. Another question. What's up with George?"

"What's up with George?" Fred looked at her.

"I don't' know. He just ran out like he needed to use to loo," Zoey shrugged.

Fred looked back at the house and his shoulders shook with a small laugh. "I don't know," he said, "He always did that whenever Echo's around"

"Hmm, wonder why," Zoey mused before she heard a window open and Percy's voice requesting them to be quiet. She shook her head with a laugh and watched Crookshanks chase after a gnome.

* * *

**Ah... I've been gone for a long time and this time I don't have an uber long chapter to make up for it... just a regular length chapter... sorry about that...**

**Anyway, I hope you like this chapter and thank you HayleyParadox for helping me out.**

**Truthfully, I get writer's block easily and sadly that's what causes my absence (duh)**

**I've realized it's fun to put little bits and pieces of Lucy and Sirius' time at Hogwarts and beyond at the beginning of every chapter because honestly. I find it sort of cute and easier to write from then on.**

**Yes, I've had ideas of making a story about Zoey's parents but I don't know if I'll be able too (though I REALLY want to) So, just in case I don't have a chance to make A Sirius/Lucy story the least I can give you guys are some memories or chapters of their lives so yeah.**

**Gosh, I want to make more stories about them. Sirius/Lucy, Zoey/Fred etc.**

**Anyway, I hope all of you are satisfied with what I am offering so far and I am very thankful for all your reviews and the like.**

**LOVE you all!**

**My goodness, I never thought I'll make it this far and really, it's thanks to you guys. I love your support!**

**Pretty soon the Quidditch World Cup will come so stay tuned for the next chapter.**

**WOW, I have found a liking to the "F.R.I.E.N.D.S" so if I don't know. Maybe well. Nah, I lost my words :P**

**So I guess this is it for the author's note.**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter **

**and**

**I only own what I own  
**


	55. Chapter 53: Girl Talk

**Chapter 53: Girl Talk**

_Lucy groaned in her sleep when she felt someone poke her side. She swatted the poker and turned in her bed before going back to sleep. She snuggled against her pillow and was just about to return to her dream but another poke at her side disrupted that. She took her blanket and covered her head and inched farther away from the said poker. She was entering her dream until there was a painful jab at her side and a tug of her blanket._

_"Ow!" she exclaimed and got a hand shoved against her mouth muffling her words. She glared at the hand's owner and saw Natalie whose figure was illuminated by the dim moonlight. At her side was Lily._

_"What are you guys doing?" Lucy hissed, climbing out of her bed to sit with her friends. She watched Lily cover her mouth as she yawned._

_"Oh, we were just waking you up," Natalie said with a role of her eyes, "You know the usual routine"_

_Lucy held up her hand, "Whoa, that time of month already?"_

_"Shut it," Natalie said._

_"Okay, make peace not war," Lily said, "We just wanted to know what's up with you and Sirius"_

_"Why do you want to know that? You hate him," Lucy furrowed her eyebrows_

_"No, Natalie hates him," Lily jabbed her finger towards Natalie, "I hate James"_

_"You hate everything Marauder," Lucy said, "Why do you even want to know? Heck, why do you want to know this in the middle of the night?"_

_Natalie pressed her finger to her lips, "Shh, be quiet," she whispered, "I want to know if you guys are together now"_

_"And that's your problem because…?" Lucy trailed off with a circular motion of her hand indicating them to explain_

_"She's being defensive, Lils!" Natalie said in an excited whisper, ignoring Lucy's question, "They're definitely together!"_

_Lucy reacted before Lily could. "No, we aren't"_

_"But he took you out on a date," Lily said with her eyebrows knitted in confusion._

_"Yeah," Lucy paused, "Wait – No. It wasn't a date. It was a simple lunch out"_

_"Alone together," Lily pointed out_

_ "In Hogsmeade," Natalie added_

_Lucy rolled her eyes, "And that makes it a date?"_

_"Yes," the two girls said in unison._

_"Didn't you think it was?" Lily asked._

_Lucy scratched the back of her head and bit her lip. She looked down at the ground and replayed the events in her head. They had gone out to Hogsmeade like they usually did but they were alone, the rest of the Marauders had disappeared from sight. The day was normal except they didn't make the usual visit to Zonko's or Honeydukes, no, they instead passed by different shops and chatted. At the end of the day they went into a nice little restaurant to eat._

_"That was a crappy summary of your day," Natalie said when Lucy told them what she recalled of the day._

_Lily swatted her arm. "But basically that was a date," she said, "Didn't you think so?"_

_"Well I did," Lucy licked her lips, "But I don't think Sirius did"_

_"Why wouldn't he?" Natalie asked._

_"I don't know," Lucy said, "Look, this is to girly for me and I just want to return to bed so if you'll excuse me," she climbed back onto her bed and pulled the covers over her, "Goodnight"_

Zoey gave a large yawn as she searched through the bushes. The Weasleys, Echo, Hermione, Harry and herself had to wake up earlier than they were used to so they could find a Portkey to be able to go the Quidditch world cup. She reached up to her eyes and wiped away the yawn-tears before fixing her glasses and continued to search. She peered through the bushed and behind trees. After having several mini heart attacks from finding startled bunnies and squirrels she gave up and inched towards Echo who was wide awake.

"How could you be wide awake?" Zoey stifled a yawn, "I thought you'd be the hardest to wake up?"

"I just am," Echo sighed, "It's a weird thing I want to get out of"

"You want to get out of waking up early?" Zoey rubbed her eyes and scanned the area. Everyone was still looking for the Portkey.

"Yeah," Echo muttered, sitting down on a rock, you know, I'd like to spend the mornings sleeping and waking up in the afternoon and be wide awake in the evening"

Zoey scratched the back of her head. "You'd be wasting your mornings then…but I know what you mean," she paused, "Do you have any idea what the Portkey might look like? Besides the usual trash that muggles would leave alone and all."

"A broken teacup?" Echo arched an eyebrow.

"I don't think –"

"Over here Arthur! Over here, son, we've got it!"

Zoey turned around at the source of the voice. Two tall figures were trudging towards them. The Weasleys, Harry and Hermione ceased looking and turned to look at the two figures. Zoey felt her lips twitched up when she saw who the two figures were.

"Cedric!" Zoey said, the sleep gone from her voice, she dashed towards her Hufflepuff friend and enveloped him in a hug while Mr. Weasley introduced his dad, Cedric's, dad, Amos Diggory, to everyone.

"- And I think you know his son, Cedric?" Mr. Weasley said. Zoey released Cedric from the hug so he could see everyone. Everyone said Hi back except for the twins. Zoey raised a curious eyebrow.

"I think it's about Quidditch," Echo crossed her arms over her chest, whispering to Zoey.

"Quidditch?" Zoey asked, watching Mr. Weasley and Mr. Diggory having a conversation, "Is this because Hufflepuff beat Gryffindor in the first game last year?"

"Yeah," Echo muttered, snickering, "It's about them losing. I feel for them, losing sucks"

"Oh," Zoey nodded her head, not at all understanding because she wasn't a Quidditch player herself. She placed her hands in her pockets and watched Amos, Cedric and Harry talking. She raised an eyebrow at them and looked at the twins. They wore scowls on their faces.

"- One falls of his broom, one stays on, you don't need to be a genius to know who's the better flier!" Amos said with a proud pat on Cedric's shoulder before going back the Mr. Weasley to talk about something Zoey didn't really care about.

"One too proud, one not really caring, you don't need to be an idiot to figure that out," Echo giggled.

Zoey laughed and rolled her eyes, "Be nice," she looked at Cedric who smiled at her; she turned to the twins who still seemed to be in a bad mood, only Fred looked like he could kill, "Hey, would it be alright if I catch up with Cedric?"

"Ah, I don't mind," Echo spoke, finally managing to pull her hair into a ponytail, "I'll catch up with you later after I mangle the twins?"

"Mangle the twins?" Zoey wore a worried look.

"Might give them something else to think about," Echo smiled, "Like their whole lives flashing before their eyes"

Zoey opened her mouth to speak but then caught sight of Cedric motioning her over. She smiled a bit before looking back at Echo. "Okay then. Don't kill them _yet_ or just don't kill them. We don't have an excuse for Mrs. Weasley and well – I got to go," she made a motion indicating Cedric, "Okay, bye!"

"Meet you later when you're still alive, Emeraude!" Echo called out to Zoey before sprinting to the twins.

"Alright!" Zoey waved before making her way to Cedric. She tapped his shoulder making him look to her. "Hey," she greeted.

"Hey," he replied with a smile, "So you were staying over at the Weasleys?"

"Wow, straightforward," Zoey laughed, pushing her bangs away from her face, "Yeah, I am"

"Why?"

"Oh, you know. Easier to get to the Portkey, hanging around with friends, you know," Zoey said with awkward hand movements trying make her words more sensible.

"Couldn't you go with your parents?" Cedric asked.

"Ah, they aren't – err – Quidditch fans," Zoey licked her lips.

"And you are?" he laughed.

Zoey opened her mouth, closed it and opened it again. "No," she said, "_but_ that doesn't mean I don't enjoy watching. You know with the flying, and the scoring and the – the – Quaffles, Snitches…. Bludgers"

Cedric ruffled Zoey's hair. "One, there's only one snitch and one Quaffle and two, you hate Bludgers"

"Well, I – I grew a liking to them murdering balls of fury," Zoey said with a clap of her hands.

"Right," Cedric took a breath and stretched, "Let's pretend that you actually like the Bludgers and change the topic –"

"Funny that's what Harry said to me the other day," Zoey laughed.

"- Really? Well, what I wanted to say was if you wanted a place to stay with an easy access to a Portkey you could have always stayed with us," Cedric said.

Zoey blushed. "Cedric, that's really generous of you but I couldn't do that."

"Why not? We're friends and we wouldn't mind," Cedric smiled.

"That's sweet," Zoey paused, she didn't know what else to say, she racked her brains for any help she could get from the books she's read, "How about when the next Quidditch World Cup comes I'll stay over?"

Cedric wrapped on arm around her and shook her a bit. "You joker," he said before continuing to follow his dad and Mr. Weasley.

* * *

"'You joker'," Fred said in a poor imitation of Cedric, "Why doesn't he just ask her to marry him right now? Stop beating around the bush and all"

"Someone acts like a girl having PMS," Echo muttered over Fred's shoulder before tiptoeing to George's side. He snorted at her comment.

"Beside, Freddie boy, it would be to awkward for Cedric to propose _now_," he laughed at his brother's expression, "I mean, won't it be more romantic to propose the Quidditch World Cup itself? Right, Echo?"

"It sure does look more romantic with the Irish winning. All green – the color of spring," Echo sang, "I agree, George"

Fred glared. "Oh! Haha, that was so funny I forgot to laugh," he folded his arms across his chest, "Why don't you just propose there George? Seeing as Echo loves the idea"

"Sorry, Fred, having to face two proposals of your friend and your brother is too much for your heart to handle," Echo laughed

Fred was about to retort but was interrupted by his sister. "What's with the talk of proposals?" Ginny asked, "Who's getting married?"

"Zoey and Cedric," Echo side glanced at Fred and stuck her tongue out at him.

Hermione joined in the conversation, her eyes wide as she switched from looking at the Hufflepuffs and back at the people walking at pace with her. "Aren't they a little young?" she paused, "Or are you just pulling Fred's leg"

"You're smarter than you let on, Granger," George said with a friendly role of his eyes, "Of course we're just pulling his leg," he ducked down at the muggle-born's level, "Oh, but don't tell him that," he all but whispered.

"I can hear you," Fred said.

"Because I didn't whisper," George laughed.

"You were meant to hear it," Echo rolled her eyes.

Ginny laughed. "Come on, Fred, they're just joking," she patted his shoulder.

"Yeah, because that isn't obvious," Fred groaned, "This whole thing is getting to my head"

"What whole thing?" Hermione asked.

Fred opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by his father calling them over. "Hurry up kids!" Mr. Weasley said, "The Portkey's going to leave any second now!" They ran towards the manky old boot that everyone was circling around. They each placed their hands on the boot and in a matter of three seconds their navels felt like a hook just jerked forwards and they were gone.

* * *

Zoey sat on the floor of the tent that smelled like cats together with Ginny and Echo. They had all painfully fallen to the ground after being transported by the Portkey and greeted by two wizards that were inexpertly dressed as muggles. They searched the campsite for a perfect spot for their cat smelling tent, several times they passed by fellow Hogwartians but Zoey didn't greet any for she didn't know them that well. Zoey spent the time looking for any signs of Bridgit, when she got none she sulkily entered the tent and fixed her stuff while the Golden Trio went out to get water.

"Have you heard anything from Bridgit lately?" Zoey asked as she smoothed out her muggle jacket, "I love these," she muttered under her breath, "My mum sure does have some muggle style"

"No," Echo shrugged, and pulled out a white pocketbook, "Haven't heard a think from her"

"Oh, you think she's coming to –well – here?" asked Zoey.

"No," Echo spoke, not looking out of her pocketbook.

Zoey slowly nodded and got up from the floor. She dusted of the invisible dirt from her pants and told Echo she would get check up on Mr. Weasley. She left Echo and went to Mr. Weasley and saw that he was still trying to light a match. Fred and George were busy watching them and jumped a bit when the Golden Trio entered.

"You've been ages," George said as a greeting while Zoey took a seat beside him. She looked up at them and smiled.

"See anyone you know?" she asked.

"Yep," Ron answered, "The fire isn't up yet?"

"Dad's having fun with the matches," Fred grinned.

Zoey smiled at him before looking back at Mr. Weasley. She jumped a bit when Mr. Weasley lit a match before dropping it out of surprise. Zoey bit her lip and saw Mr. Weasley bring out another match.

"Why don't you help him, Zoe?" Fred asked, "You're pretty good at this muggle type of things?"

"Oh no no no. Fire not me," Zoey shook her head and watched Hermione offer Mr. Weasley help, "Let Hermione do it," she said lamely.

Fred and George laughed before patting their legs and standing up to stretch at the same time Ginny came in. "Oh, the fire is up," she said before standing up by Zoey's side.

"And with no magic!" Mr. Weasley said, "The muggle way"

"Congratulations, dad," Ginny laughed before grabbing onto Zoey's hands, "Hey, let's have some girl talk"

"Girl talk?" Zoey asked bewildered, "Since when did you want to have girl talk?"

"Since there's more than one girl now," Ginny laughed, "Come on. It isn't like those in the muggle TV. We aren't going to talk about nails or fashion or boys –"

The twins cleared the throats. "Boys?" they chimed.

"You mean - " Fred began

"- Us right?" George ended

"Do you have a degree for mentioning what's obvious?" Echo smirked, coming to join the rest of them, "Because you two are really good at it"

"See, even Echo's game!" Ginny said stopping her brother's from saying anything, "Hermione will join too"

"I guess it will be fun," Hermione said rubbing her hands together.

Zoey shrugged. "So, Girl talk without the usual topics of – err – Girl talk?"

"Pretty much talking with just girls," Ginny said.

Echo brought a palm to her head, "We don't even know what to talk about"

"It will come to us," Hermione smiled, "It gives us a chance to get to know each other better"

"Fine," Zoey gave in and Ginny cheered.

"Oh can we join?" Fred batted his eyelashes.

"We'll be good" George said in a girly voice.

"No," Echo raised her palm to their faces, "Unless, of course, you can prove to be girls"

"Don't you see the batting of eyelashes?" Fred indicated his eyes and batted them again

"And the girly voice?" George said in the once more high pitched voice of his which cracked on several words.

"We _are _girls!" they said in unison

"Oh yeah?" Ginny raised her brow, "Pull down your pants"

The twins stared at her with wide eyes.

"You heard her," Hermione stifled a laugh, "There's only one way to prove it"

"Oh wait," Echo mused before the twins could react to what Hermione said, "Fred acted like a PMSing girl before. Could he pass?"

Ginny shrugged, "Well, why not?"

"Yes," Fred's punched the air before turning back to his sister, "Wait," he paused, "No"

Everyone in the tent, who was listening to the conversation, laughed. Zoey rolled her eyes. "Come on, Fred, if we have girl talk then you and the guys can have… err… boy talk"

"Boy talk?" Ron asked

"Well, sorry for lack of a better word," Zoey laughed.

"Just let them have their girl talk," Mr. Weasley said with a laugh in his voice.

"'Girl Talk' sounds stupid," Echo frowned

"Are we really having this conversation? Fine, call it whatever you like. It's just us girls going to catch up and talk," Ginny sighed

"First thing to talk about: Anyone got any weird hobbies?" Echo raised an eyebrow.

Hermione and Ginny dragged Echo away while saying "Girl talk for a reason. No boys are allowed to hear". Zoey laughed, watching them drag the Ravenclaw away before looking back at the guys. They raised their eyebrows at her. She bit her lip and made a hand motion indicating where the other girls had gone.

"I – I'll just go now," she said, turning back and following the other girls.

* * *

"Okay are we really going to do this?" Zoey asked with a raise of her brow as she set in between Ginny and Hermione. They all sat on the tents floor and were about to begin their talk, "I mean, we've been staying in Ginny's room for the past few hours and known each other for the past few years so I thought we knew each other pretty well by now"

Ginny nodded her head. "I know," she said, "You honestly believed what we said back there?"

"She is pretty dense," Hermione said, "No offense, Zoey," she added.

"I can't believe I pulled _myself_ into this," Echo sat cross-legged, arms crossed over her chest.

"And what exactly has she pulled herself into?" Zoey asked.

"Well," Ginny began, "It isn't _that _bad. It's just Hermione and I were wondering –"

"Wondering about what?" Zoey interrupted.

"If you liked Cedric or Fred," Hermione said straightforwardly.

Zoey chocked on her own breath and she felt a blush rise to her cheeks. "And this is important information?" she asked remembering what Harry said to her the other day. _Is it that obvious?_ She silently wondered, thumping her own chest as a distraction.

"I thought that we aren't going to talk about boys," Echo suddenly jumped in.

"I know, I know. Believe me this isn't my favorite topic either," Ginny said, "But I was really curious. Aren't you?"

"No," Echo scoffed, "I don't have a right to see what other people feel"

"Okay then. Well, Echo's out of the conversation now. But me and Hermione were just wondering seeing as you are one of the elder females here," Ginny struggled with her words.

"But couldn't you ask Mrs. Weasley?" Zoey squeaked out.

"Well, I thought it might be a rather awkward topic," Hermione tilted her head from side to side.

"And this isn't awkward at all?" Zoey asked incredulously

Ginny laughed. "Well, it's awkward to you. Not to us"

"Evil," Zoey muttered, "But I don't think a thirteen year old and a fourteen year old should be asking me for help in that field"

"What field are you talking about?" Hermione asked, "We just wanted to know if you liked Cedric or Fred"

Zoey bit her lip. "Now, I don't know what we are even talking about right now. Fred, Cedric, awkward. Why do you even want to know?"

Ginny sighed and patted Zoey back. "Sorry about that. I knew you would sorta react this way," she said.

"How about we just go back to the initial idea of this? You know, no boys, nails or whatever," Hermione offered.

"So… so random. I can't follow you guys. My mind can't keep up," Zoey rubbed her temples.

"Yes, yes. Rubbing your temples will make everything make sense," Ginny joked.

Echo then asked, "So what do we talk about?"

"Well, do you guys have any weird hobbies?" Hermione asked.

* * *

**Sorry for the short chapter guys.**

**Just wanted a little filler before the part where they you know, Quidditch, yeah.**

**Girl talk: not one of my favorite talks but I just thought, what the hay *shrugs* let's have it!**

**Thank you for all of you who reviewed.**

**And also HayleyParadox.**

**Also, I'm supper glad that Taka's back!**

**I missed you buddy! :P**

**Anyway, hm... what to say? I don't really know. This chapter is short, yes because most of my initial ideas came like when they're in Hogwarts already and also involving Bridgit so yeah, kinda had a tough time typing up this chapter. Sorry about that.**

**I have nothing more to say.**

**Hope you enjoyed**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter**

**and**

**I only own what I own.**

**Oh! PS: This chapter may be short but I have another one coming after so technically it's a double update so I hope it makes up for the shortness of both chapters :D  
**


	56. Chapter 54: Bridgit's Explanation

**Chapter 54: Bridgit's Explanation  
**

Zoey pressed her Omnioculars to her face and tried her best to keep up with the game, she watched as the players zoomed in and out of her sight in slow motions and cheered when a team had scored a goal. She wasn't on any particular team. Be it the Irish or the Bulgarians because frankly she did not even know who they were. That's Zoey, completely Quidditch dumb. Zoey shook her head and decided to look around the stands with her Omnioculars.

She passed by numerous cheering fans with face pain of their teams colors and she even saw someone get hit in the face by the person in front of them who was punching the air in victory, Zoey laughed. She then continued to scan the different people. She found it very entertaining whenever she saw the fans' face turn red when they cheered really hard or when they tend to go into fits of rage when their team loses the Quaffle. Zoey enjoyed watching the fans even more in slow motion, especially if something toppled over. She shook her head when she realized she was facing the opposite direction of the game and decided to go back to it.

"What's happening?" she muttered to herself and her question remained unanswered because it was muted by the cheers of the fans. She turned to the Irish stands and watched as the Keeper, in slow motion, saved a Quaffle from entering. Zoey took this opportunity, but then she could take any time she wanted, to look around the stands once more. She was going on scan mode until she came across a worried looking Irish fan. Her eyes widened.

Zoey zoomed into the girl and saw that she had brown hair covered by and Irish hat and she wore a worried expression.

"Bridgit," Zoey breathed out as she lowered her Omnioculars.

"What was that?" Fred looked down at her.

"I need to go to the restroom," Zoey quickly said with a strained smile, "Can you take care of my Omnioculars for me?"

"Wh –"

"Thanks," she said without letting Fred complete his sentence. She hastily squeezed through the crowd and out of sight.

When Zoey was finally free from the other fans she dashed towards the direction where she had seen Bridgit. She pushed many wizards and witches out of her way and it seemed that they did not care since they were so focused on the game. Zoey figured something really awesome was happening but she could not care less, she was focused on finding her Ravenclaw friend. It felt like hours had passed before Zoey finally reached the side where Bridgit was standing.

_I should have brought the Omnioculars, _Zoey thought, wiping the sweat of her brow _would have been easier to find her_. Zoey took a deep breath and squeezed her way through the people who were blocking Bridgit. She tripped over a fallen Irish scarf and quickly held on to the first thing she could get her hands on, Bridgit's sleeve.

"Watch it," Bridgit said as she felt someone tug her down almost causing her to fall to the floor. She looked to the side and was shocked to find a very familiar person there.

"Zo…Zo…Zoey?" Bridgit asked, shocked to see her there.

"Well, I was just dropping by…," Zoey said trying to make a pun to lighten the situation, "Get it? Dropping by?" Zoey tried again, but Bridgit's expression as still that of shock.

"What are you doing here?" Bridgit now asked, snapping out of her trance.

"Well, I was watching the fame with Echo –" Zoey began but Bridgit cut her off.

"Echo's here?" Bridgit asked, looking around as if not wanting to be seen.

"Yeah," Zoey slowly led Bridgit out of the crowd, "Echo, The Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, Cedric, Mr. Diggory. We're all here"

"But why are you still talking to me?" Bridgit asked her, as if she should hate her.

"Okay, I know Echo said you were in a bad mood but come on. It's been months! Shouldn't it have…. You know…. Stopped?" Zoey raised an eyebrow after her struggle with words.

"Wait, what are you talking about…? Oh…no! No! It's impossible for that to last that long!" Bridgit exclaimed, but the crowd over powered her screams, "And besides, Echo hates me," Bridgit added, looking away from Zoey.

Zoey grabbed Bridgit's hand and dragged her to a place that wasn't as loud as where they were standing before, though they could still here the crowd's cheers. She looked at Bridgit. "Why would she hate you?" she asked.

"Because she knows….," Bridgit said, her answer trailing off.

"She knows…?" Zoey made a hand gesture telling Bridgit to continue

"She knows that… I'm a death eater," Bridgit said, bowing her head and waiting for Zoey's rage and anger.

"Oh, well, that's different. Echo said you were in a bad mood and Fred said you were on your time of – You're a what?" Zoey jumped in shock when Bridgit's words finally settled down. Zoey's eyes were wide and her heart began to beat rapidly as she looked at Bridgit's bowing head.

"I'm a death eater, Zoey," Bridgit repeated once again, not once looking at Zoey.

Zoey ran a hand through her hair and looked at everything but Bridgit. She did not know what to do, how to react. One of her best friend's was a death eater. A follower of you-know-who and she was standing right next to her. She could kill her. Zoey shakily looked back at Bridgit and saw that she was not armed, well, not with any weapon Zoey could see. She gulped.

"A – A death eater… huh?" Zoey stuttered out, reaching for her wand, "And – And – err – how long has this been going?" She did not know what she was doing.

"Zoey, you and I both know you're scared out of your mind and scanning me for weapons, but please let me explain! Please…. Hear me out at least," Bridgit said, not moving an inch. She was now looking at Zoey though.

Zoey licked her lips and took a step back. "Go on then," she tried to stop the stutter, "Explain. It's the least I can do since," she paused, "Since you stuck by me when no one else would hear me out"

"When… When I was a kid, my…uhm…my parents were killed. These men in black cloaks found me and tried to kill me too, but somehow they couldn't because magic protected me," Bridgit started, stopping the tears from falling as she recalled the painful memory.

"Magic?" Zoey asked.

"Well, my powers came early. When I was four, my parents said that when I was a baby I made things move and it would scare them. So when they tried to kill me everything near would move towards them, and hit them," Bridgit explained.

"And how did you become a death eater?" Zoey paused, "_Why_ did you become one?"

"They took me to this dark place. They took me to Voldemort, he…he… told me he would kill me if I didn't become one and I wanted to take revenge on my parents… so I became one, but I got out of the dark mark because my mission was to get inside information from Hogwarts," Bridgit continued.

Zoey felt her knees shake from the information she was getting. "You – You're getting inside information to help…him?" she was scared.

"Wait, please let me explain when I got to Hogwarts I told Dumbledore everything about my mission and he told me to be a double agent… I swear I didn't plan on killing anyone!" Bridgit now said, waiting for Zoey's reaction. She hoped that Zoey would believe her.

"Doub- Double agent," Zoey breathed and swayed a bit. She could not believe her ears. She could not believe her eyes. In front of her was one of you-know-who's followers and yet she was telling her about her mission and that she meant no harm. Zoey licked her lips and felt faint. "D- Does Echo know this?" she shakily asked.

"No, she wouldn't let me explain," Bridgit answered, bowing her head again.

Zoey numbly nodded. She remained silent and listened to a loud cheer that erupted from the crowds that she had left. Someone, Bulgarian or Irish, had scored a point.

"What _did _happen between you guys?" She couldn't help but ask

_Bridgit and Echo were walking through the woods. They came across the Whomping Willow and were surprised to see Harry, Hermione and Ron there, but what shocked them even more was that they were with Snape, Sirius, the mass murderer, Professor Lupin and they were with another man that they did not know. They hid behind the bushes_

_"Remus! Did you take your potion tonight?" They hear Sirius ask, and they both didn't understand what was going on. _

_"Is he sick?" Bridgit asked. Echo merely shrugged as a response._

_"Remus!" Sirius shouted, and the two Ravenclaws continued to watch. They watched as their professor slowly morph into the creatures they've read in their books. Lupin's body changed and grew to a size that ripped of his clothing. He wore a pained expression as his face changed and snout formed and grew. His teeth sharpened and his back hunched over. Hair grew from all places. He was a werewolf._

_"So that's why he's absent most of those days," Echo said as they continued to watch the scene unfold in front of them._

_The two girls saw how Sirius saved Harry, Hermione and Ron and how Snape defended them as well. Just as the mess was going on, the other man present took the wand that fell beside him. He was about to do something with it but stopped when he spotted Bridgit through the bushed._

_Echo stared at Bridgit while Bridgit had nothing but a blank look on her face._

_"You're doing a fine job for such a young death eater," He said._

_He then tapped his forehead with the wand and slowly morphed into a rat. Bridgit was shocked at what the man said. Echo grabbed hold of Bridgit's wrist and stealthily dragged her away from the rest. _

Zoey took in a deep breath as she processed what Bridgit had just told her. She sank to the floor and leaned her back to the wall. She held her head in her hands and tuned out the cheering of the crowd and the thundering crack the Beater's bats made when they hit a Bludger. Everything in Zoey's mind was silent.

"So… that's what happened…," Zoey lamely said, she did not look up at Bridgit.

"You don't believe me do you?" Bridgit asked, bowing her head in shame.

"No. No, it's not that," Zoey paused, "I don't know _what _to believe actually," she took another pause and a breath of air, "Tell me, if I said Sirius Black was an innocent man. That he did no wrong and was framed. Would you believe me?"

"Yes," Bridgit answered, "Because I knew he was," she added.

Zoey looked up to her and stood up. "Really? Well, then, I believe you," she offered a smile.

"You…. You do?" Bridgit asked, now looking at Zoey

"Unless you don't want me to," Zoey said jokingly and Bridgit couldn't help but hug her.

"Thanks, Zee," Bridgit said as she let go of Zoey.

Zoey smiled at her and patted her shoulder but stopped when the worry in Bridgit's face came back. "What's wrong?" Zoey asked.

"I need your help," Bridgit started, "Tonight, the death eaters are going to attack the camping grounds. I need you to make sure they don't find Harry"

Zoey felt her heart skip a beat. "What do you mean they're going to attack?"

"They're going to show that they've returned. Please, Zoey, help me! The death eaters don't know I'm here. I'm only here because I was hoping that Harry wouldn't be anywhere near here, but he is, so please, make sure they won't find Harry," Bridgit said again.

"They've returned?" Zoey asked, "Why would they want to show that?"

"To scare the public. To make a mess and scare the ministry," Bridgit answered.

"But why?" Zoey urged.

"Because they're planning something. I don't know what yet, but they are and it has something to do with the event taking place this year," Bridgit answered.

"What's the event?"

"Ever heard of the Triwizard Tournament," Bridgit asked.

"I don't even know whose team I'm cheering on here," Zoey said, "What is that?"

"It's an event where three schools pick one representative and they fight in a deadly tournament. It's going to be held at Hogwarts this year," Bridgit started, "And how could you not know Bulgaria and Ireland? They're two of the best teams in the league"

"Well, I don't know if you've noticed but I'm not really well informed with Quidditch… Come to think of it… Who's winning?" Zoey looked back at where the crows and the game were going on.

"Judging by the shouts of 'Krum!' Bulgaria," Bridgit said, not sounding very happy about it.

Zoey gave a sympathetic pat on her shoulder. "I'm sure your team would win," Zoey smiled but then jumped with wide eyes, "How long have we been chatting?"

"Uhm… and hour…maybe two? Let me guess, you said you were going to the restroom?" Bridgit said, letting out a chuckle.

"Yeah," Zoey mumbled, "Now Fred's going to think I have some issues with my… err… you know"

"Yeah, you should probably get back, but remember, make sure they don't find Harry," Bridgit said, as she waved her hand and ran back to her seat.

* * *

"Where have you been? You missed practically the whole game!" Fred asked the moment Zoey arrived and got her Omnioculars back.

Zoey raised an eyebrow at him and looked back at the game and watched everything go in slow motion. She then tilted the Omnioculars a bit to catch sight of Bridgit who was cheering. Zoey tilted her head a bit and looked up at Fred. Fred laughed seeing Zoey looking at him with the Omnioculars.

"You look like a bug," Fred chucked as he tipped the Omnioculars down to see Zoey's eyes.

"You're just jelly," she playfully stuck her tongue out at him before bringing the Omnioculars back to her spectacled eyes.

"Jelly?" Fred asked with a chuckle before turning back to the game. He gave a loud cheer. Zoey cheered as well, only she did not really know why. She just figured a team scored and seeing as she did not know which team she was rooting for she chose to be on both.

"So… why are we cheering?" Zoey asked after her throat began to hurt.

"Why are we cheering?" George asked in disbelief, he was standing at the opposite side of Zoey, "Ireland scored!"

"Oh, I knew that," Zoey scoffed and went back to the game trying to see what was happening, "So… what's the score?"

"It's… wait… Zoe, give me that for a sec," Fred said in a sort of daze taking the Omnioculars from Zoey. She gave him an odd look and looked over at George who was squinting to see something at the game. She bent down to look at Harry and saw he was adjusting his Omnioculars to look at the same thing whatever Fred and George was trying to see. Zoey gave a sigh. Everyone, from what she could see, was very intent at seeing what was happening. Something that Zoey had no idea off. She was just about to tap Fred's shoulder to ask but instead she jumped in fright when there was a mixture of cheers and disappointed yells.

"Wha – What happened?" Zoey asked, placing a hand on her chest.

"He's got it! He's (Zoey covered her ears as to not hear Fred's choice of word) got the snitch!" Fred gave Zoey back her Omnioculars.

"Who got it?" she asked.

"Krum!" George said.

"So…. Bulgaria? Wins?" Zoey asked slowly.

"No, that's the thing," Fred said in awe, "Krum got the snitch –"

"But Ireland wins!" George ended.

Zoey gave them both a confused look. "What? But I thought whoever catches the snitch wins one hundred and fifty points and ends the game?" she tried to remember the rules of Quidditch.

"Oh, they won those points alright," George said.

"But it wasn't enough to defeat Ireland!" Fred cheered and hi-fived his brother. Zoey just stood in the middle looking baffled. She then decided that the twins were in too much shock to explain anything to her and she took her Omnioculars and searched for the score board. When she found it she noted that Ireland, indeed, won.

"IRELAND WINS!" she heard Bagman shout and she covered her ears when it made a high frequency echo, "KRUM GETS THE SNITCH – BUT IRELAND WINS – good lord, I don't think any of us were expecting that"

Zoey lowered her Omnioculars and looked at Harry who still pressed his to his face. She kept a straight face as she watched him look at whatever he was looking it. She had to protect him.

* * *

"You were gambling?" Zoey asked in distress as they were finishing up their dinner. She sat in a circle with The Golden Trio, the twins and Ginny while Echo continued to feast, not really caring about what they were doing. The elder Weasleys were off eating on the table discussing their own matters.

"Don't have to take mum's place in yelling at us, Zoey," George groaned rubbing his ear.

"He's right, Zoe, we won anyway," Fred grinned.

Zoey gave them an incredulous look. "Won," she breathed out in disbelief, "What on earth were you betting on?"

"Well, we bet thirty-seven Galleons, fifteen Sickles and three Knuts that Ireland will win but Krum catches the Snitch. Oh, and we also threw in a fake wand," Fred smirked, "And if you did not notice, Zoe, Ireland _did _win and Krum _did _catch the Snitch"

"Don't let your mother catch you boys gambling," Mr. Weasley called from the table.

"Not to worry dad!" George called back with a laugh, "We have big plans with the money"

Zoey snapped her fingers turning the twins' attention back to her, "Who did you even bet with?" she asked.

"Who else?" Ron answered for the twins, "Ludo Bagman"

"Bagman? You know, I won't even bother with you two anymore," Zoey sighed and relaxed her muscles.

The other's laughed at what she said and their group remained silent for awhile. The only sounds heard were the clinking of the elder Weasley's utensils, their talking and the muffled sounds coming from outside the tent. Zoey looked back at Echo and saw her plate discarded at her side, replaced by a new pocket book.

"I still think that Ireland may have good chasers but if they can't catch a snitch they're still a useless team," Ron said making Zoey turn back to the group with interest.

"You take that back!" Fred exclaimed, pointing at Ron.

"The Irish team is amazing! Besides, everyone knows no one can beat Krum when it comes to the snitch! So they knew they could only win through the points using the Quaffle," George added, defending his brother and the Irish team.

"But you admit that Krum is the best seeker, and that Bulgaria would kick their butt if this was a battle to catch the snitch," Harry chimed in making the twins glare at them too.

"No! The Irish team is better when it comes to everything. And if it was chasing the Snitch, it wouldn't be the team sport," Fred countered making Ron shake his head.

"Bulgaria has a better team. Ireland just has more cheats up their sleeve," Ron suddenly said, making Hermione join the debate.

"Ron, I can't believe you just called the Irish cheaters! First of all, they are our neighboring country, and second they have a much better team building than Bulgaria," Hermione said, and Fred and George smirked. It was nice to have Hermione on their side for once.

"Team building? Have you seen how buff the Bulgarians are?" Harry asked making Hermione palm her forehead.

"Not that kind, idiot! I mean how they trust each other unlike Bulgaria who just relies on Krum!" Hermione retorted, and Fred and George's smirks grew.

"Because you can rely on Krum to win the game alone, unlike the Irish," Ron yelled back.

"It's a team sport, Ron! Not a solo game," George said, knowing that Ron was running out of retorts.

"Zoey's on my side, aren't you Zoey?" Ron panicked and turned to the Emeraude. Zoey raised her eyebrow at him and to the rest of the group. She also turned to Ginny who shrugged at her and to Echo who was not minding them at all. She turned back to Ron.

"Honestly, Ron, I don't know what on earth you all are talking about," she said with a shrug.

Ron gave her a disbelieving look. "How can you say that? You were cheering for Bulgaria not to long ago!"

"Do you have hearing problems?" Fred argued, "She was obviously cheering for Ireland, weren't you Zoe?"

"Well, I was," Zoey began

"Ha!" George smirked at Ron together with Fred.

"But," Zoey continued, "I was also cheering for Bulgaria"

"So which team are you on?" Hermione asked.

Zoey bit her lip. "It's either Team Both or Team Neither," Zoey gave a sheepish smile.

"How can you do that?" Harry asked, "It's obvious that you picked the wrong team"

"What on earth are you talking about, Harry?" Zoey laughed, "If I was on both or neither either way I win and lose nothing so it doesn't really matter. Actually, it wouldn't really matter if I even picked a team. I won't know what's going on anyway"

Everyone looked at her for a moment before going back to their debate. Zoey laughed and turned to Ginny. "You aren't going to join in all this?"

"I rather watch," Ginny smirked, "and see Ron lose"

"Mean," Zoey laughed again. She turned to Echo to say something but there was a loud explosion that came from the outside. Zoey jumped in shook when the explosion was followed by others and mixed with the terrified and surprised screams of the people outside.

"What's going on?" she heard someone ask.

* * *

**Hey! Second chapter of the double update here!**

**First of all I want to thank ZoomSkater14 for helping me out! Thanks you, you awesome person, you! XD**

**And second of all I want to say:**

**YEY!**

**Bridgit comes back!**

**I hope the explanation and flashback fills up your wanting tummy's!**

**Lol, yeah, awkward**

**Third of all I want to thank all of you who reviewed and the like! Awesome people you are!**

**EVERYBODY'S AWESOME!  
**

**Dang, I had a lot to say in my head but now It's gone again so dang.**

**Anywho, not much to say now other than**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter**

**Stay tuned for the next one**

**and**

**I only own what I own  
**


	57. Chapter 55: Sweet Fred

**Chapter 55: Sweet Fred  
**

When Zoey and the rest fled outside the tent the sight in front of her was truly shocking: tents were burning and people were running around in fear trying to find a safe place. Tall hooded figured with masks walked down with their wands held out and their drunken laughter distinguished over the terrified screams and yells of different witched and wizards. Zoey felt her stomach churn when she heard a panicked witch screaming for her child. Zoey felt herself jump when she heard sounds like gunfire and more tents catching fire. She quickly brought her hand to her mouth and nose in order to not breathe in the smoke. The hooded figured multiplied and waved their wands in the air once more. Zoey's eyes widened in horror when she saw the scared witches and wizards float to the air and spin. The hooded figures roar of laughter echoed once more while they lifted more innocent people to the sky for their own entertainment.

Zoey felt herself frozen with fear when she saw the masks covering the faces of the hooded figures. Another tent was blasted out of the way. She shook her head and looked towards her peers; they were all staring at the scene. "That's sick," she heard Ron say to Harry and she could not help but agree.

"You lot – head to the woods and _stick _together. I'll come fetch you when this is over," Mr. Weasley shouted over the noise before joining the elder Weasleys in helping everyone out.

When Mr. Weasley gave his order everyone seemed to come to their senses. "C'mon," Fred said as he grabbed hold onto Ginny while George took Echo's hand. Fred looked back at her but a crowd of screaming witches and wizards came between them. When they were finally gone Fred and the others were already taken by another crowd and were heading to the woods. Zoey felt her heart thump against her chest. It was impossible to stick together in the chaos. There was another gunfire sound that echoes through the night sky.

_This is what Bridgit warned me,_ She worriedly thought to herself, _Why didn't I warn Mr. Weasley? I'm so stupid!_

"Zoey!" Hermione's scared tone woke Zoey from her thought and she felt a tug on her arm, it was Ron.

"We have to get out of here," Harry's voice came from beside her.

Zoey looked at him and nodded her head. She grabbed hold of his hand and she saw Ron take Hermione's as well. They began to make their way to the woods in hopes to find the others. Zoey held her breath and ran with the others to the woods. Several times they bumped into other panicked witches and wizards but it didn't seem all too bad, considering the circumstances, since they didn't lose hand but one particularly large wizard had ran by them and pushed Zoey so hard she fell back and lost her hold with Ron. She fell to the ground with Harry and groaned in pain when she hit her head.

"Ow," Zoey groaned in pain and saw stars together with flames dancing before her eyes. The sounds of screams seemed to amplify with every passing second. The echo of hers and Harry's name drifted with the wind making Zoey shoot up and look around. Ron and Hermione were gone too. It was just her and Harry. She looked down at the Boy-who-lived and shook him.

"Harry, please wake up," she begged when he didn't stir after the first few seconds of shaking him, "Harry!" she tried with a firmer tone, "Wake up!"

"Zoey?" Harry said groggily. He blinked a couple of times before shooting up and looking around, "Where are Ron and Hermione?"

"I don't know, Harry. I'm guessing they're in the forest by now and listen, we have to get there too," She got to her feet and took Harry up. "Let's go!"

Harry nodded his head and grabbed hold of Zoey and they began to run to the woods. There weren't that many witches and wizards running around anymore. Most of them were in the woods or in another safe place while some of them were still floating in the sky begging for help from the Ministry wizards like Mr. Weasley and Mr. Diggory or from the other wizards who are risking their lives to help. This was both good and bad. Good because Harry and Zoey could now move freely, bad because they were in clear sight to any of the hooded figures who were still lurking around.

"Hurry yup," Harry told Zoey in a quiet yet urgent tone and began to pull her towards the woods.

They were just about a few more feet, or a hundred, away from the woods until something exploded in front of them blocking their way. "Over here!" Zoey called over to Harry and dragged him to another direction, which was a bad idea because they ended up coming across one of the hooded figures. Zoey pushed Harry down and they hid behind one of the tents that were still in one piece. Blaming their curiosity, they took a look at the hooded figure and saw that he was not alone. He was talking to someone.

Zoey's eye widened.

"Is that Bridgit?" Harry whispered to Zoey. Zoey quickly pressed her fingers to her lips to tell Harry to be quiet. The hooded figure looked around and Zoey held her breath in hopes that he won't find them. The hooded figure looked back at Bridgit sensing that no one was watching, though it was not true, and caressed her cheek. Zoey saw the disgusted look in Bridgit's eyes.

"So what's a young death eater like you doing here?" the hooded figure, now revealed as a Death Eater, asked with a hoarse tone before slapping Bridgit's face with little force but still made a sound.

Zoey winced and looked at Harry.

"What's a Death Eater?" Harry asked her. Zoey took his hand and dragged him away from the scene

"A Death Eater?" Zoey nervously asked as she tried her best to lead Harry to the Forest. She stumbled over a stone but caught her balance.

Harry nodded and avoided the stone Zoey stumbled on. "That man called Bridgit one," he paused, "Why's Bridgit even associated with him?" he stopped walking, "We should help her! That man is dangerous!"

"No, she'll be fine. Let's go find the others," Zoey pulled Harry.

"What's a Death Eater then?" Harry asked.

"A Death Eater…well," Zoey paused and avoided a tree, they were finally in the woods all that's left is to find their friends, "A Death Eater is a follower of… Voldemort – Ah!" she lost her balance a bit when Harry stopped walking. She held on to his hand and looked back at him. He, in turn, stared at her with wide eyes.

"A follower…. A follower of Voldemort?" Harry asked, his tone rising.

"Harry, please, inside voice," Zoey took a step back and fell to the ground.

"We aren't even inside!" Harry bellowed, "So she's a follower of him?"

"Harry –"

"She's been in cahoots with him all along?" Harry asked with anger in his voice. He opened his mouth to continue but stopped when he heard voices calling his name. He and Zoey swiftly turned to the source of the voices and saw Hermione and Ron making their way towards them. At the sight, Hermione ran to hug Harry while Ron helped Zoey to her feet, Hermione hugged her as well.

"We were so worried!" She said, releasing Zoey from the hug. Zoey stumbled a bit and Ron caught her.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"No, I think I sprained my ankle," Zoey said, "I've been tripping a lot over these stones and my own two feet"

"Come on then," Hermione tugged Harry's sleeve while Ron supported Zoey, "the other's are on the other side."

Zoey nodded her head and urged Hermione to lead the way. The steps they took were bumpy and Zoey was glad that even though she was taller than Ron, she was also lighter so it was easier for him to support her that and Harry decide to put aside his anger and help her. As they were walking Zoey's ankle began to throb once more. She yelped in pain.

"Okay, this isn't going to work," Ron said stopping and placing Zoey down on a smooth rock. Zoey apologized and rubbed her sore ankle.

"Why don't we get the others and bring them here?" Hermione suggested.

"That'll be a good idea," Zoey said with a nod of her head, "I'll just stay here"

"Would you want anyone to stay with you?" Harry asked

Zoey shook her head. "Nope, it's fine just –"

"Zoey?"

The Golden Trio and the Emeraude looked towards the source of the voice and saw Cedric approach them. His face was slightly dirty, most likely from the smoke and fire, but he still looked recognizable. He approached them and knelt down to check on Zoey.

"Are you alright?" he asked

"See, Cedric will keep me company," Zoey said with a smile trying to lighten up the mood, "Just go, I'll be fine"

The Golden Trio didn't look convince but agreed to her wishes. They each gave her a comforting pat before going further into the woods. Zoey mutely watch them leave until they were out of sight. When they were finally gone she turned back to Cedric and saw that he was looking her over. "You're injured," he pointed out the obvious.

Zoey nodded her head, "Yeah, it's my ankle. It's either twisted or broken. Maybe even strained," she said.

"I thought you wanted to be a Healer? Shouldn't you know the difference?" Cedric joked, bringing out his wand.

"Well, I'm still in training and I'll be healing other people and – Whoa! What are you doing?" Zoey looked at Cedric with wide eyes.

"I'm going to heal your ankle," Cedric raised an eyebrow, "You know, so it won't hurt?"

"I know what it an injured body part feels like after it's been healed but you can't do that!" Zoey furrowed her eyebrows.

Cedric sighed. "And why not? It's perfectly simple if you know what to do"

"I know that, but you're going to get in trouble! No under aged magic –"

"I'm not under age, Zoey," Cedric chuckled.

"Really?" Zoey looked dumbfounded, "Did you fail a grade?"

Cedric laughed. "No, I was just – look, now is not the right time to explain these things. Would you just let me heal your ankle? I promise, if I get a letter from the Ministry mentioning under age magic I'll buy you anything you want on our first Hogsmeade trip"

Zoey pouted a bit and considered his offer. After a minute or two she complied. "Fine," she said, "but I can get _anything _I want"

"Anything," Cedric nodded and brought his wand to her ankle

"Oh, I can't watch," Zoey covered her eyes and waited for a sign of her healed ankle. She waited about five seconds until she heard a soft crack and a soothing feeling in her ankle. She peaked through her fingers and peered down. She moved her foot in circles and slowly stood up and hopped a bit. She then looked at Cedric and smiled.

"Thanks, Cedric," she hugged him. At that moment there were footsteps that suddenly stopped.

"Oh, seems like I'm interrupting something," she heard a familiar voice say.

Zoey released Cedric and saw Fred standing a few feet away from her, he was glaring. She stepped back a bit, surprised by his look and looked at Cedric who kept a neutral expression as he looked at Fred. Zoey bit her lip, not sure as to what to say. She decided that Fred and Cedric should not be together right now and tugged Cedric's sleeve. "Hey," she began, "Thanks for the help, but I have to get back with the Weasleys"

Cedric looked down at Zoey and smiled, "Sure, no problem," he gave her a once armed hug before pushing her gently towards Fred. Zoey gave him a small wave before running up to Fred.

Fred's glare looked like it was permanently on his face but it soon disappeared the moment Zoey touched his arm. He looked down at her and offered a smile which she returned.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Hey," she returned. She looked around, "Where are the others?"

"On the other side," Fred jabbed his thumb behind him before holding on to Zoey's hand, "We should go or they'll get worried"

Zoey smiled and nodded her head. They walked without talking to each other, just painfully listening to the aftermath of the attack. Zoey bit her lip as she listened to the relieved cries of family and friends when they were finally able to reunite. She listened to wizards and witches shouting spell after spell trying to save those who were still out there and also trying to put out fires and return everything to its once safe place. It had seemed like the death eaters had left but there was a frightening explosion that made Zoey feel like there was still one or two more out there. She felt Fred squeeze her hand and she looked up at him. He; however, was not looking at her. Fred was looking up at the sky.

Zoey looked up at the sky as well and she felt her eyes widening in fear. Up in the sky was a gigantic skull that looked like it was made out of green stars. Its mouth was open and it had a snake slithering out like a tongue. Zoey felt her heart stop.

"Oh my," she breathed out and felt Fred tug on her arm.

"Let's go to the others," he said, "quick!"

* * *

It was once again early morning and Zoey and the others were completely exhausted. Not too long ago they had taken the Portkey back to Ottery St. Catchpole and were now making their way to the Burrow. She listened to the numerous yawns coming from her peers and she watched as Echo's head began to bob a bit from trying to fight of sleep. She struggled to keep her eyes wide open as to not trip, fall and in doubt fall asleep on the slightly damp ground. Zoey was tired but she would not be happy waking up with bugs and worms crawling over her body.

When the Burrow was coming into view, Zoey felt her stomach rumble with excitement because even though she was sleep deprived and stressed she was also hungry. There was a cry that echoed along the lane.

Zoey squinted her eyes a bit, her glasses were astray on her face, and saw Mrs. Weasley who was still wearing her bedroom slippers running towards them. She was white in the face, stressed, worried and had a rolled up _Daily Prophet _news paper in her hand.

"Oh thank goodness!" Mrs. Weasley said the moment she reached them. She wrapped her arms around her husband, "Oh, Arthur, I've been so worried!" She dropped the newspaper to the floor and Zoey saw Harry look down at it. She looked back at Mrs. Weasley and saw that she had released Mr. Weasley and hugged the twins next. Zoey's eyes widened in slight surprise and amusement. The twin's heads banged together from the strength of the hug. At this, Zoey let out a small laugh. It was just like the first time she saw them.

"_Ouch, _Mum – you're strangling us –"

Zoey wore a soft smile as she listened to Mrs. Weasley rant about how worried she was; telling them how terrible she felt that the last thing she said to them was how disappointed she was with their OWL results. How she would never forgive herself if You-Know-Who got to them and that was their last memory of her. Zoey's smile began to falter. What was her last memory of her mum? What washer mum's last memory of her? What was the last thing her mum told her and vice versa? She couldn't remember. It was all very vague and blurry now. Zoey felt her already stressed out self get mixed up with a slight depression.

She shook her head a bit and watched as Mr. Weasley soothingly pried his wife of the twins and ushered her to the house. She looked back and saw Bill pick up the newspaper before following his parents. Zoey fixed her position a bit and trudged towards the house as well.

The moment she entered the Burrow she did not remember getting a bite of Breakfast or even changing out of her clothes. All she could remember was dropping her things at the foot of the spare bed in Ginny's room and collapsing on it and closing her eyes. The next thing she knew she was opening it to see Echo, Ginny and Hermione asleep on their own beds, their clothes fresh and their hair and skin clean from any dirt they got from yesterday. Zoey looked down at herself and the bed and made a face. She quickly got off the bed, got a new set of clothes and tiptoed out of the room.

"Hey"

Zoey felt herself jump a bit and conceal a scream. She stiffly looked towards the source of the voice and calmed down a bit when she saw that it was only Fred. She greeted him back.

"So, you okay? You didn't have breakfast," Fred said, approaching her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just pretty tired as all and I smell of – err – burnt tent," Zoey said sheepishly.

Fred gave a chuckle, "Come on, you don't smell _that _bad"

Zoe rolled her eyes. "Getting off the topic of my current scent – no, Fred, off the topic – I just wanted to thank you for coming to get me, you know from the woods."

"It's no problem. I mean, I only spent a few hours or so but I got to explore a bit," Fred rubbed the back of his neck

"A few hours?" Zoey asked with wide eyes, "Harry and the others only left a few minutes before you came."

"What are you talking about?" Fred raised an eyebrow.

"Harry, Hermione and Ron. Didn't they tell you where I was?" Zoey asked.

"No, they were in the woods. No one came to us. It was just George, Echo, Ginny and I," Fred slowly said.

Zoey blinked several times before asking: "So, how did you find me?"

"Well, it wasn't easy. The woods are so big, you see. The moment we settled down at a spot I just told them I'll look for you and the other and in an hour or two, I found you with Diggory," Fred explained, not looking at her.

Zoey felt a blush crawl on her cheeks. Fred had been looking for her from the beginning. She swallowed a bit and walked closer to him. She touched his cheek, making him look at her and kissed his cheek. She smiled sheepishly at him. "Thanks, Fred," her blush deepened, "That's really sweet of you"

She bit her lip and turned to enter the bathroom. She awkwardly waved at him before closing the door with a click. She heard a muffled cheer and a drum against a wall before skipping footsteps.

* * *

"Oh, good morning Zoey dear," Mrs. Weasley greeted the Emeraude as she entered the kitchen. Zoey let the towel hang on her shoulders as to not get her clothes wet from her hair. She sat down on one of the chairs and smiled.

"Is it still morning, Mrs. Weasley?" Zoey chuckled and watched Mrs. Weasley point her wand at one of the pans making it flip the food in it.

Mrs. Weasley gave a laugh. "No, it's almost lunch time," she paused to wave her wand at some pots, "but doesn't it feel nice to hear a 'Good Morning' after you wake up?"

"Well, I have to agree with you there," Zoey grinned.

Mrs. Weasley smiled in return and placed her wand on the table. Zoey gave her a curious look and felt Mrs. Weasley's hands on her bringing her up from the chair. "Come along dear," she said to her and brought her out from the kitchen and into the living room. There, she told Zoey to sit down and went away to fetch something. Mrs. Weasley came back with her arms filled with books and a rather large box. Zoey's eyes widened when she laid them out on the table.

"Well, while you and the others were gone I took it upon myself to shop for your school things," Mrs. Weasley said once all the things were fixed on the table. Zoey picked up one of her school books.

"That's sp nice of you, Mrs. Weasley, thank you," Zoey said with a smile a daughter would give to her own mother.

"Oh, it's nothing, dear. I was happy to do it," Mrs. Weasley smiled, "But what I was excited about is this one right here," she patted the box.

Zoey raised an eyebrow, "What's in there?"

"Well, it was requested in your Hogwarts letter," Mrs. Weasley said and began to open the box, "I already showed Ginny's, Echo's and Hermione's this morning and they loved it. So now, it's just yours to show"

"Show? What exactly is – whoa," Zoey's eyes widened at the sight.

"Do you like it? I thought it would go amazing with your height, eyes, hair everything. Also, it's your house's color," Mrs. Weasley smiled fondly and refolded it and carefully placed it back in the box.

"It's so beautiful," Zoey said as she looked at the box.

"It is, isn't it? The shoes are the only problem but you have enough time to think about it," Mrs. Weasley tidied up the school things, "Now, let's get back to the kitchen ad fill that stomach of yours."

Zoey shook herself out of her daze. "It's okay, Mrs. Weasley. I'll wait for lunch and the others"

"Oh no you don't," Mrs. Weasley gave her a stern look, "You missed breakfast and you're skinny enough as it is. Come on, I made your favorites"

"Are there tomatoes?" Zoey felt herself giving in.

"Of course there is," Mrs. Weasley smiled.

"I guess I _am _a little hungry, come to think of it," Zoey grinned and followed Mrs. Weasley back to the kitchen.

* * *

**And we have another update!**

**yey!**

**Sorry if it's rather short. But I had to sum everything up before the train back to Hogwarts so please bear with me.**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter **

**and I like to thank you all for your reviews and the like they are all much appreciated.**

**Also, well just a thought. I don't know if you all do it but I find it enjoyable to read stories when the page is 1/2. It's just me since it makes them look longer but it's all up to you :P**

**Anyway, hmm... once again I find that my thoughts are coming to a blank. What was I going to say? Hmm...**

**Luxord's Xigbar: Yes, I do like Naruto :) The Anime, well nothing wrong with Naruto himself... err.. Okay, I know Naruto and I enjoy watching it. A little more info on it my favorite Male character is Gaara while Female is Hinata :P How about you?**

**Razbash: Hello, I'm sorry but when you said "The George/Zoey moment in the previous chapter was actually what I was going to ask about. " Can you please explain that to me cause I don't really understand it. Thank you :)**

**And now for my final words**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter**

**Stay tuned for the next one**

**and**

**I only own what i own  
**


	58. Chapter 56: Pages of the Calendar

**Chapter 56: Pages of the Calendar  
**

It was six o'clock on the thirtieth of October and Zoey found herself standing at the front of the school in the cold with the rest of the Hogwarts population. She gave a small breath of air and looked around trying to find any signs of the coming schools. Months have passed since the first day of school and by then everyone knew about the Triwizard Tournament, a tournament that Charlie and Bill vaguely told her and the rest before boarding the Hogwarts Express.

_Zoey stood with the rest of the Weasleys, saying her goodbyes to them like the Weasley kids. She had just hugged and thanked Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and then approached the elder Weasleys, Charlie and Bill. By the time she reached them, Charlie had pulled Ginny into a hug._

_"I might be seeing all of you sooner than you think," Charlie said as he released Ginny from his hug and gave them all a grin._

_"Why?" Fred keenly asked._

_"You'll see. Oh, but don't tell Percy I told you. This is classified Ministry information," Charlie then turned to Zoey._

_"If it's classified," Zoey held out her hand, "Then wouldn't you get in trouble for telling us?"_

_"I didn't exactly tell you, now did I? And come on, Zoey. You should know by now that Weasleys give hugs not handshakes," Charlie enveloped her in a bear hug that was so strong that Zoey had to gasp for breath._

_Fred patted his brother's shoulder; "You can let go of her now. I would rather have her pale skinned than blue," Fred joked._

_Charlie released Zoey and ruffled her hair. "And Weasleys like to mess up others hair as well," Zoey said lightly and gave the Dragon tamer a smile. She then turned to Bill who was looking thoughtfully at the train._

_"I sort of wish I was back at Hogwarts this year now," Bill said, "You lot are lucky," he paused, "I don't what to miss any of this, come to think of it. I might just visit to watch."_

_"Watch what?" George grew impatient at his brother's vagueness._

_Billy placed his hands in his pockets and looked away mysteriously. "Never you mind"_

_"What's up with you?" Ron raised an eyebrow._

Zoey smiled at the memory and rubbed her hands up and down her arms, praying for Beauxbatons and Durmstrang to hurry up. She bit her lip and looked around, spotting Bridgit in the distance. She remembered the Quidditch World Cup. Bridgit had known about the Triwizard Tournament in advance. She had probably heard it from the Death Eaters. Zoey's eyes widened. If the Death Eaters knew about the tournament, were they planning to do something? She quickly searched for Harry. Would he be in harm's way?

"Are you okay, Zoey?"Cedric asked from beside her. Zoey looked up and gave him a smile.

"Just a little cold. I can survive," she said. Cedric smiled in return.

"You'd just have to wait a bit longer," he then removed his scarf, "Here." He wrapped it around Zoey. She blushed and thanked him. She then looked back at where everyone was guessing where the other schools will come.

"So, you're entering the tournament?" Zoey quietly asked him as if it were a secret though almost everyone knew. Cedric nodded.

"I'm seventeen," he said ruffling her hair, an activity that everyone seemed to be fond of doing to her, "I'm allowed."

Zoey sighed in relief. _That's right, _she thought to herself, _The tournament can't harm Harry. He's not even seventeen. I'm just being paranoid. _She returned to looking around and listened to the students murmurs on guessing how the other schools will arrive. She was guessing that the students were getting a bit reckless seeing as it was getting colder, later and there were still no signs of anything approaching. Zoey listened to their guesses and found them frankly entertaining especially when some guessed Apparation.

Zoey felt herself getting reckless as well and had the need to move. She looked around and looked behind her to see the teachers and Dumbledore waiting as well. Her eyes looked suspiciously at her new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Mad-Eye Moody. He was an ex-Auror and was told to be one of the best. Despite that, Zoey still felt the need to favor her Uncle, after all her Uncle didn't have and electric blue eye that swirled a lot and was told that can see through objects. Mad-Eye gave a cough and Zoey swiftly turned away.

She placed a hand over her heart and tried to steady her breathing. Mad-Eye could see almost everything and she would not doubt the fact that he probably knew she was looking at him. She was scared in an uncomfortable way. It was not like she did not hate the man, no, in fact the only thing she felt against him was fear. He was a good teacher, yes and he really knows what's out there but ever since he taught the class about the Unforgivable Curses then well, seeing as Zoey was a victim of one, it did not do her any good.

"Aha!" Dumbledore called from the back row, "Unless I am mistaken. I do believe that Beauxbatons is approaching!"

The students' murmurs became louder as they looked around trying to find where the Beauxbatons were coming from. Zoey looked at Cedric and saw that he had no idea what they were looking for. What did Dumbledore see that they couldn't seem to find. All of a sudden a loud voice said: "_There!_" Zoey saw many heads turn to the direction of the Forbidden Forest and looked there as well.

Her eyes widened at the sight. A large carriage had flown through the air, its bottom grazing the top of the trees. It was being driven by a large horse with wings. Zoey felt the ground shake, though it was just her imagination, when the horse and carriage had landed in front of them. She watched as the horses shook their heads and the carriage door opened, revealing a handsome woman who looked as if she were half-giant. Zoey shook her head; no doubt she _was _a half giant.

Zoey quietly watched as Dumbledore kissed the woman's hand before she took her place beside him. She looked back at the carriage and saw that students were beginning to exit. There was no doubt about it, each and every student that exited the carriage was beautiful. Their uniforms were made of light blue silk and they walked elegantly to their place. Zoey raised an eyebrow to them when she saw a particular woman with silvery blonde hair walk with her head held high. She seemed to stand out. She was beautiful but not a beauty that the others could compare too. No, hers was special, unique.

She looked away from the silvery blonde and scanned the rest of the students. All of them seemed to be normal until her eyes landed on another blonde. This blonde was attractive as well but that's not what caught Zoey's eye. No, she knew this student. It was Mary Sue. Zoey felt her heart stop and fear whelm in her body. The girl who had entered her home without permission, who roamed the Emeraude Suburb even though she wasn't and Emeraude herself, the girl who was perfect in every way possible was in Hogwarts. She was closer to Zoey and Zoey did not like that.

"Are you alright?" Cedric asked her, "You've gone all stiff"

Zoey shook her head, "It's nothing. I just thought I saw something," she tilted her head towards the direction of the Beauxbatons students. Cedric looked towards them and raised his eyebrow.

"They look rather cold don't they," he told her.

"They do?" Zoey looked back at them and saw that they were shivering, "Oh, you're right. I don't think the silk helps either. They don't even have cloaks. I feel cold just looking at them"

Cedric gave a laugh when Zoey forced a shiver. He rubbed her back. Zoey gave him an appreciative smile before looking around like the rest of the Hogwarts students. Beauxbatons had arrived now all they had to do was to wait for Durmstrang. Zoey saw that most of the students were looking at the sky, hoping that Durmstrang would enter the same way, but Zoey couldn't help but doubt them.

It was getting later and colder and Zoey found herself moving slightly closer to Cedric in hopes that she would get warmer. She looked up at him and saw that he didn't even seem that cold. She knitted her brows in worry and offered him his scarf back but he politely declined, claiming that he was used to the cold.

"Liar," Zoey said to him.

Before Cedric could retort there was a sound that came from the darkness. Zoey raised a curious eyebrow and turned towards the source. The sound was loud and eerie. It was like a muffled rumbling and sucking sound. It came from the Black Lake. Zoey heard Lee shout where the sound was coming from but she was already ahead of him. The once smooth surface of the lake seemed to be disturbed and out came a ship from _under _the water. Zoey brought her hands to her mouth in shook as the ship glistened under the moonlight.

"Way to make an entrance, huh?" Cedric breathed out.

"Yeah," Zoey found herself whispering though she didn't really have a reason as to why.

There was a _splashing _sound and Zoey guessed that they had dropped the anchor. She watched as people began to get off the ship and make their way towards them. At first glance they looked like they had the same built as the Slytherin's Crabbe and Goyle but the closer they got Zoey saw that their bulkiness was due to their coats that were made out of some kind of fur. She felt her stomach churn.

"Poor, now bald, animals," she muttered under her breath causing Cedric to give her an amused look before turning his attention back to the Durmstrangs. Zoey shook her head and watched as their Headmaster approached Dumbledore and greeted him. At this, Zoey had disconnected her attention from everything and just prayed all will be over soon so she could warm up in the castle

* * *

It was now Saturday and even for a weekend Zoey had found herself awake at a rather early hour. She stood in the area near the Goblet of Fire and watched as other students, age and underage, gawk at the cup and cheering whenever someone had passed through the age line to place their name into the cup. Late at night, she figured, the Durmstrangs had already entered their names yet she had caught sight of a few who entered their names earlier that day. No one from Hogwarts had entered yet.

"They're planning to do what?" Zoey said in a loud panicked voice as she sat down beside Echo, "are they off their rockers?"

"I thought they were off their rockers from before," Echo shoved her book into her messenger bag.

"But this is completely mental. An Aging Potion? Like that would fool the age line! They could get in trouble," Zoey said in a worried tone.

"Merlin's beard to Zoey," Echo waved a hand in front on Zoey's face, "Do you even know the Weasley Twins?"

Before Zoey could respond there was a yell. She looked back and saw Fred, George and Lee running into the room all looking extremely excited. Zoey feeling extremely suspicious.

"We did it!" Fred announced.

"Cooked it up just this morning!" George added.

Zoey looked at their hands and saw that they each clutched onto what looked like a test tube. They stopped in front of the Golden Trio.

"Cooked what?" Ron asked.

"An Aging Potion," Fred said and removed the cork from his test tube.

"We only need to be a few months older," George followed in suit and popped open his.

"It's not going to work," Hermione told them before they could drink the potion.

Fred and George looked at her. "Really?" Fred asked.

"And why's that Granger?" George raised an eyebrow.

Hermione scoffed and bookmarked her page before closing her book and placing it beside her. She then pointed her finger at the age line. "Dumbledore drew it himself and I'm sure he made it so that an idea incredibly dimwitted as an Aging Potion won't work," she told them.

Fred and George ignored her and drank their Potion. Zoey curiously watched them as they finished their potion, threw the test tubes away, grabbed hold of their piece of parchment with their name on it and jumped into the area within the age line. She watched in silence, as did everyone else, and only reacted when the twins made a yell in triumph. She saw them throw their names into the Goblet and listened to them give another yell of triumph.

"They think that it's so dimwitted, Dumbledore wouldn't have to worry because no one underestimates him," Echo said from beside Zoey, "Except maybe those dimwits"

Zoey looked back at the twins. "I don't know Echo it looks – Oops, I'm wrong"

It almost seemed like the twins' idea had worked until there was a loud sizzling noise and a second later Fred and George were hurled out of the circle the age line made and landed painfully on the cold hard floor at the other end of the room. Out of reflex, Zoey had ran towards them in worry and half a mind to lecture them like their mother but the half a mind idea soon disappeared when she saw that the twins began to grow identical long white beards. She began to laugh along with everyone else in the room.

"I thought you two could do better," Echo muttered loud enough for Zoey to hear and began laughing like everyone else.

"I did warn you," Dumbledore had now entered the room and looked at the bearded twins with amusement, "Now, I suggest that you both head to Madam Pomfrey who is treating two others who thought that an Aging Potion would do…but before you go," he stopped the twins from leaving, "I must say that your beards look very fine," he looked at Zoey, "I have to say, Ms. Emeraude, that I must trouble you to accompany the twins. I think Madam Pomfrey could use an extra hand"

"Right away, Sir," Zoey smiled and looked back at Echo, "I'll just catch up with you okay?"

"Hope you survive," Echo called out to Zoey before walking off to another direction.

Zoey decided not to reply anymore and patted George on the arm. "Come on Father Christmas let's go, oh and bring your clone with you," Zoey looked at Fred and began to walk towards the direction of the hospital wing.

* * *

"I'm hurt that you actually think _I'm _the clone" Fred said as he plopped down on one of the Hospital beds, George taking a seat beside him while Lee, who tagged along, took a seat on a chair. Zoey uncorked the antidote seeing as Madam Pomfrey was treating other students. She poured the potion into two goblets and handed it to the twins.

"I don't know, mate," Lee snickered, "You do look awfully phony. I mean Georgie here is the real deal"

Fred playfully smacked Lee's head while George just laughed. Zoey rolled her eyes at them. "Enough rough housing and drink your medicine"

"Whatever you say, mum," George rolled his eyes and took a whiff of the potion. He hastily gave it back to Zoey. "I'm not drinking that"

"What? Why?" Zoey gave the goblet back to him.

"Why? It smells like shi –"

"Don't finish that word," Zoey glared and looked at Fred, "Go on then. Drink it"

Fred looked down at the potion and made a face. "Yeah, I rather pass"

"It can't be _that _bad," Lee took his goblet and sniffed it. He almost dropped it when he inhaled its scent. "Yeah, it can't be that bad. It's worse!"

Zoey looked at them pleadingly. "But if you don't drink it you'll be bearded forever!"

"I doubt it," Fred said

"We can just have a clean shave and it's gone! No need for that swamp water," George grinned, though the smile was slightly hidden by the beard.

"Yeah, I have a pair of scissors," Lee pulled them out of his pockets, "If I can chop of their beards then they can shave it off"

Zoey raised a brow and made a gesture telling him to go on. She watched as he reached over to Fred, took his beard in his hand and chopped off a large chunk. He did the same with George and sat down with a grin on his face as if saying 'See! Told ya!' Zoey gave him a look and pointed at Fred and George. Lee looked back at the twins and his mouth hung open in disbelief. The beards were rapidly growing back but only longer.

"Now, that we've established that that didn't work," she folded her arms, "Can you please just drink the potion"

"What if we like having the beards?" Fred asked.

"Yeah, we think it makes us look mature," George added.

"Looks, George, looks. It doesn't actually make you mature," she pinched the bridge of her nose, "In fact you both are acting like two year olds. Please, just drink it as a sorry for dirtying the floor with your maturity."

Fred and George looked at each other before looking back at their potion and at Zoey. They gave a sigh, pinched their noses and drank the potion. Zoey smiled in victory before turning to look at Lee. The potion took a watery appearance but in reality was actually really thick and would take some time till the twins downed it all.

"So anyone else besides these two who entered their name in the goblet?" she asked him.

Lee scratched his head in thought. "Well, there's Angelina. She had her birthday last week. What about your house?"

"Well, there's Cedric," Zoey grinned, "I heard that some guys in our house would throw him into the circle if he backed out at last minute but I doubt it."

"Oh?" Lee wiggled his eyebrows, "Do you like him?"

Zoey blushed and Fred seemed to have chocked on his potion. She quickly headed to his aid and patted his back. He looked both surprised and sick, surprised from Lee's question and sick because he lost his concentration on drinking the potion and had the vile taste in his mouth. He covered his mouth with his hand and Zoey's eyes widened.

"Uh oh," she said and rubbed Fred's back, "Please don't throw up. Please, if you do you're going to have to take another potion and I don't think you'll like that"

Fred's eyes widened and Zoey watched as he painfully swallowed. His eyes were slightly watery and Zoey rubbed his back some more until he looked fine. He quickly brought the goblet back to his mouth in hopes that he could get it over and done with. Zoey looked back at Lee and saw that he was trying to hold in his laughter, she looked at George and saw that he was struggling to do the same.

"So, do you?" Lee asked after she got a hold of himself.

Zoey made a wave of her wand and got rid of the hair on the floor before looking back at Lee. "As a friend, yes, in any other way, no," she told him, "What would make you think I did?"

"Nothing," Lee shrugged, "Just thought you did. You two are rather close and in the same house so I figured maybe something was going on between you guys"

"Well there's none. What about you? Do you like Angelina?"

Zoey then heard a scoff. She looked back at the twins and saw that George had already finished his potion. He made a face at it before turning his attention back at them. "Like? Likes is an understatement. He's hopelessly in love with her"

"He's like a lost puppy," Fred finished his potion as well.

Lee looked slightly embarrassed at what his friends were saying. "Like you guys are one to talk!" he said, "Seeing as you're both in love with your best fri –" he didn't get to continue for Fred and George both shot up from the bed and tackled Lee to the floor, each covering his mouth with their hands. Lee tried to fight against them but they were too heavy. He tried to yell but what came out were muffled words. Zoey was confused.

"What –"

"It's nothing, Zoe!" Fred quickly said

"He's just talking nonsense!" George continued

"I think the fumes of the potion got to his head," Fred continued

"And is messing with his brain," George said after him

"He doesn't know what he's talking about," they ended in unison.

Zoey looked at them worriedly. Not sure what to make out of what just happened. She slowly nodded her head and took the goblets off the table and held them in her hand. Fred and George slowly pried themselves off Lee and touched their faces. The beards were slowly disappearing. In a matter of minutes it would be all gone and their skin will go back to its smooth and freckled appearance.

"Well," Zoey changed the subject, "I see the potion's working. It just looked like you have five o'clock shadow or whatever you call it. I'm just going to take these back to Madam Pomfrey"

She turned around and left the Gryffindor Boys.

* * *

Zoey felt like her entire world has ended. She felt like nothing could make sense anymore. Like everything would no longer go right, only worse. She was beginning to doubt humanity and faith. She was beginning to doubt reality. She was believing that everything that had just happened was a dream. A bad dream. A nightmare. A sick joke and who ever played the joke should be sent to Azkaban to rot. She was silent, dead silent. She felt like she could no longer speak again or breathe. She wasn't the only one who was shocked with what she heard, everyone was.

It was already the time to pick out the names of the contestants for the Triwizard Tournament, actually the choosing had already began and seemingly ended but no, the Goblet didn't think so. No, the Goblet was just pure evil and wanted to mess with an innocent boy's life.

The Goblet was standing on the teacher's table in front of Dumbledore's chair its flame already calm for it had already given out the last person to join the tournament. The goblet had already done its job. It had chosen Victor Krum for Durmstrang, Fleur Delacour for Beauxbatons and Cedric Diggory for Hogwarts but no, the Goblet had chosen another person. Another competitor to join the Triwizard Tournament and ruin its namesake by having four people join.

Zoey felt the pit of her stomach churn once more when Dumbledore recited the name on the burnt piece of parchment, the name of the fourth competitor.

_"Harry Potter"_

* * *

**Okay, I know you all saw it coming but meh I enjoyed typing it out.**

**Odd thing actually was that I had extreme writer's block for this chapter.**

**I really didn't know how to begin it and just decided to do a time skip.**

**I took out the part during their ride to Hogwarts and just inserted a little flashback of before boarding the train.**

**As you can see, this story is on October and I skipped an entire month that end I did a lot of time skips but I doubt it would make much of a difference.**

**I decided on this because I didn't have much use for the events taking place before the arrival, I hope you aren't mad.**

**Gosh, my head really hurts right now. I need to take a break.**

**I want to thank all my reviewers and HayleyPradox for helping me out.**

**I want to apologize if many or some of you did not understand what Molly had shown Zoey in the previous chapter.**

**She had shown her a dress. And not just a yellow one. More of black and yellow but no, it isn't a bumblebee style but I can see how some of you might think that.**

**You have to excuse my choice of dress. I've lived about 3 years of my life in Black and White and frankly I've lost all sense in style when it comes to colors now. That and I wasn't really -err - "fashionable" (sorry for lack of word) to begin with.**

**What else? Oh, advance apologies for any typos you may or may not see.**

**Now, hmm... what else to say? I'm not really sure. I know I want to say something and I have a feeling I'll remember when I upload this chapter and I can't do anything to change it now so yea. Sorry also for the shortness of the chapter.**

**Now, for chitchat with my lovely reviewers~**

**Luxord's Xigbar : Oh okay. I'll check it out. I like SasuSaku as a pairing :)**

**wHaT's In A pEn-NaMe: I like long reviews :D Actually, I really enjoy reading yours and many other long reviews. i just like reading reviews in general :P **

**ZoomSkater14: What do you mean about mad? Do you mean like they're rather jealous that Harry has joined the tournament?**

**Razbash: I'll check out Facetaker's Story soon. **

**Sorry, what does "Que Paso" mean? **

**Zorge, Goey. Whichever works for you. **

**I am still in the middle of thinking how I'll make a Bridgit/Fred/George moment and you'll just have to wait and see so please be patient with me.**

**beba78: Hints...hints... hmmm... :P And don't we all wish for guys like that XP**

**Now, that's about it and my final words are**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter **

**and **

**I only own what I own.**


	59. Chapter 57: Join the team

**Chapter 57: Join the team**

_"Are you serious? – No, don't reply to that. It's getting old," Lucy groaned, "You must be out of your mind! I can't do that! Look for somebody else"_

_Sirius rubbed her back and gave a laugh. "I don't really need to look. It's a tryout. People who want to join the team would come."_

_"Then why are you asking me?" Lucy asked with wide eyes._

_"I just thought you'd do a good job," Sirius said with a shrug of his shoulders, "You may be dense at times but you really have a good eye. Come on, go to the Seeker tryouts!"_

_Lucy furrowed her eyebrows at Sirius and bit her lip in thought. Why would he want her to join the team? He was a Beater while James was a Chaser and Captain. The team was already good with the both of them and was way better with their team. Why add an inexperienced player to the mix? She would just ruin their games wouldn't she? Sure, she had a good eye but that wasn't the only thing a Seeker required. A Seeker should also be a good flier, one of the best fliers. _

_"But why?" Lucy asked._

_"Why not?" Sirius asked in turn, "Like I said. You have a really good eye and you're rather small in size –"_

_"Wow," Lucy interrupted with a roll of her eyes_

_" – You're small in size and it's easier for you to fly and dodge and basically it's harder for anyone to attack you while you go after the snitch," Sirius ended, ignoring her interruption._

_Lucy licked her lip as she began to consider what he was saying. "Okay, I'll give you that but what about flying? You have to be a pretty good flier"_

_"You are one," Sirius paused, "Fine, I'll teach you every day and night before the tryouts. How about that?"_

_"I don't want you to waste your time," Lucy blushed_

_Sirius grinned. "I wouldn't call it wasting. I'd love to see how well you do on the broom"_

_"Okay, three down. I have another concern," Lucy said, "What about all the Bludgers and the like. Being a Seeker I'm sure they'd do everything in their will power to throw me off so I wouldn't catch the Snitch"_

_"Do you honestly think I'll let them do that?" Sirius raised a brow, "Like hell I'll let them lay a bloody finger on you"_

_Lucy's blush deepened, "Alright then. Let's begin those flying lessons now"_

"No, no. I will not wear that. I'm sorry but I'm not picking any side," Zoey said to one of her fellow Hufflepuffs who was trying to persuade her into accepting one of the 'Support Cedric Diggory – The Real Hogwarts Champion' badges.

Naturally, Zoey would have been shy at first and would have accepted the badge the moment the Hufflepuff began to pester her but this was the final straw. She was already stressed out over the fact one of her closest friends was joining now her god brother had entered as well and now she's expected to pick a side, who she would root for added to the fact that the game was already known for its many deaths she was not in a shy mood at all.

"He's your housemate, show some support,"

Zoey furrowed her eyebrows. She didn't even know who this boy was and she was a hundred percent sure he didn't know who she was as well. She guessed the only thing they knew about each other was that they were both in Hufflepuff house. Zoey was wondering how she even got into this conversation. It was a lovely night and she didn't want to spend it cooped up in her Common Room so she decided to walk around the halls and such before dinner but before she could even place her hand on the handle this boy had cut in front of her and began to push the badge towards her.

"I'll support him in my own way," Zoey squinted at the badge, "And I don't want to wear something that will bash the Gryffindor contestant"

"This isn't bashing anyone," the boy said.

Zoey raised her brow at the badge as it changed its face and now read 'Potter Stinks'.

"I'm sorry, but I rather not," Zoey pushed the boy slightly to the side and left the Common Room in a rush. Ever since Harry's name came out of the Goblet the Hufflepuffs had turned rather sour towards the Gryffindors for in their eyes they have taken away their 'glory'. When Cedric was chosen the Hufflepuff house had gotten glory, something they don't get very often, but when Potter's name was chosen as well, well that glory was short lived. The good relationship the two houses once shared was on the brink of becoming one that Slytherin shared with Gryffindor.

This glory-fest and support-fest, Zoey did not take part in seeing as majority of her friends were in Gryffindor and that she thought the whole feud was stupid. Both Harry and Cedric were in Hogwarts so why not support them both? She shook her head, it was useless. It was better for not to pick any side like in the Quidditch World Cup. She was not on Team Cedric or Team Harry she was on Team Either or Team Both or Team Neither.

Zoey took a breath of fresh air and thanked the heavens that no Hufflepuff or Gryffindor was in sight. She could not deal with it. She licked her lips and decided to take a visit to the Hospital Wing. She had been spending a lot of her free time in the room assisting Madam Pomfrey and the like. It was her training and many assumed it was hard and complicated but, though true, Zoey found it fun and enjoyed every moment of it.

"Ah, here we are," Zoey said to herself as she stopped in front of the Hospital Wing's doors and pushed them open. She inhaled the scent of medical potions with the small hint of someone sick and entered the room. She let the doors close behind her and she walked down the room looking left and right to see if she knew anyone on the sick beds. To her surprise, she did.

"Hermione?" Zoey asked the moment she caught sight of the brightest girl of her age sitting on the bed, "What are you doing here?"

Hermione's head shot up and looked at Zoey with wide eyes. Zoey's eyes widened in return when she caught sight of Hermione's teeth. "Blimey, Hermione," Zoey breathed out and sat beside the Gryffindor, "what did you do to your teeth?"

"Rude," Hermione laughed, moving a bit farther from the gawking Hufflepuff. Zoey blushed, laughed and apologized when she realized her actions. "Anyway. Madam Pomfrey had to shrink my teeth back to its normal size but I let her shrink it a little bit more," Hermione gave a rather mischievous grin, "No more bucktooth Granger or Beaver Granger. It's now just Hermione Granger"

Zoey smiled at the fourth year. "That's good. No more teasing on that bit but why on earth did she have to shrink them in the first place?" she couldn't help asking.

"Well, long story short," Hermione gave a sigh, "Harry and Malfoy got into a little disagreement and fired a spell at each other but, honestly, they have horrible aim and one of them hit me causing my teeth to grow to an enormous size"

"Those two," Zoey groaned a bit, "Nothing is _little _when it comes to their 'disagreements'," she paused, "So how long do you have to stay here?"

"Oh, just for the night," Hermione said.

Zoey nodded her head in response and began to swing her legs in silence. Things weren't looking to good on Harry's part. It was almost as if it was his second year all over again, only it seemed much worse than before. The similarities with the situation included people not believing him when he spoke the truth, students shunning him and him being in great peril. Why do bad things keep coming to him? Zoey wondered in despair.

" – So, I'll just return the books tomorrow, okay?"

"Pardon?" Zoey looked at Hermione and just realized that she was talking to her. She apologized.

"The books," Hermione said, "I borrowed a few of your books before school began. Remember?"

Zoey bit her lip and tried to remember. After a few seconds of scanning her memory she finally got what Hermione was saying. "Yeah, alright. Did you find them interesting?"

"As a matter of fact, I did. Your family is very interesting. I can't believe you have books on their history and such. It's very fascinating. I mean, did you know that each Emeraude is born with what they call the 'Emeraude voice' and an 'Emeraude Power'? I can't believe that your family is that powerful. It's unbelievable," Hermione spoke with interest. It appeared that she memorized all the Emeraude books that she had borrowed.

"It's called the 'Emeraude Power'? I thought it was gift?" Zoey asked.

"It has different names but it's the same concept. Every Emeraude is born with a special power or, in your words, gift that no wizard can imagine to have. Like speaking to those who passed or seeing the accurate future. Powers that are almost like the Imperius Curse and the like! It's amazing really," Hermione paused, "But, obviously you must know all this already"

Zoey scratched the back of her head. "Err – not really. I've never read the books"

"You haven't?" Hermione asked with wide eyes, "Why not? Don't you want to know more about your family?" she gasped, "You could have the voice and the gift! You should have them! Which do you have?"

"Well, about knowing more about the family. I don't really know how to answer that," Zoey paused, "The Emeraudes are incredibly powerful, I know that but it's very frightening. Powers that no wizard could imagine. They're practically indestructible if no one knows how to defeat them," she took a breath,

"Also, there are some Emeraudes who are incredibly frightened by their power. They don't know how to control it or what to do with it. It's very scary to have one of those powers. They get so scared that they tend to hide themselves from the public, afraid that they might either harm them or be of use to them. Emeraudes don't like being tools for they don't know their limits," she licked her lips,

"I rather not know about my family in fear I might become more like them. They are incredibly perfect regardless of those who lock themselves away. As for my power… I don't know what it's called"

Hermione stayed quiet as she took what Zoey had said in. Sure, what she said was discussed briefly in the books but she never knew that an Emeraude would be at ease in discussing it, proving that what the books had said was true and it was in the minds of all Emeraudes.

"So, which do you have?" Hermione's curiosity got to best of her, "Describe it to me. I might now what it is"

Zoey blinked her eyes several times as she tried to think of a description. She didn't know why she was even sharing this with Hermione. Not a lot of people knew about her. Echo, Bridgit and the rest of the Weasley's didn't know. She had a faint inkling Harry knew but he didn't say anything about it. She looked Hermione in the eye and saw that the brunette was simply curious and would not judge her. Zoey gave a sigh and began to use awkward hand gestures to get her description straight.

"I don't really know where to begin. I guess I should begin when it began. It started around my fourth year. I just felt this enormous pain in my backside that caused me to collapse on the floor. A mist began to surround me and it scared the bejeebers out of me – don't laugh, Hermione, I'm being serious – anyway, when the mist disappeared I looked at the mirror and turned around to see feathers sprouting out of me! I plucked of one of them and well, mist surrounded me once more and before I knew it the wings were gone," Zoey took a breath,

"I thought I was dreaming when I woke up the next day but every now and again the mist came back and I felt the same pain and the feather – err – wings coming back…. After a while I got used to them and found out I could even fly… That's about it… well, the 'summary' of it all…. Don't see how it's much of a power seeing as regular wizards could fly with a broom and all," Zoey sighed.

She looked back to Hermione and raised a brow at the shock look the girl had given her. At the sight, Zoey figured Hermione knew what her power was and it seemed to be very surprising for her. Something she wasn't expecting. This made Zoey uncomfortable. Was her power something that was unstoppable or was it something that will cause her to lock herself in and push others away from her. Zoey did not know and she was debating if she wanted to know or not. On the plus side if she knew she would know what to do with it but on the downside if she knew then she might seclude herself. On the plus side if she did not know then she had nothing to fear on the downside if she did not know then curiosity might eat her away. Zoey gave furrowed her eyebrows.

"Hermione?" she asked, "Are you feeling alright?"

"What? Oh… yeah," Hermione came out of her trance, "Zoey, err – you don't realize how dangerous this gift of yours is," she paused, "it could kill you"

Zoey gulped. "Way to be blunt, Hermione," she tried to lighten to mood, "No, seeing as I don't even know what my power is, I don't realize how dangerous it is but since it can kill me I'm guessing it is very dangerous," she paused and she felt her lip quiver in fright. Did she really want to know this life threatening power of hers? "What is it?"

Hermione shook her head. "I think it's better if you didn't know"

"I'm going to end up being like those who lock themselves away from the world aren't I?" Zoey asked.

Hermione bit her lip. "Please, Zoey. You've got to understand. There has been records on those books. It said those who had that power have been frightened into seclusion. Gone mad even! It said that those who thought that they could handle it have ended up dead for they tried to save more than one innocent life!"

"Save an innocent life?" Zoey asked, frightened at the information she was receiving, "Hermione, now it's _you _who has to understand. Bit by bit I'm getting more information on this and even if you stop now, I'm going to find out soon and I think I rather hear it from you."

"Angel's Soul," Hermione said after about five minutes of silent debate, "That's what it's called"

"Angel's So –"

"Please don't interrupt," Hermione pleaded, "I want to get all the information out. Angel's Soul is the name and it is a power that is looked down upon most Emeraudes. It is very powerful but very dangerous. Those with it tend to seclude themselves for they fear that they might use their power while those who don't and use their power tend to die after using it since they don't know their limits," Hermione took a breath,

"Zoey, your power is able to heal any injury or anything that will harm ones health, able to bring those from the brink of death back to full health and if used to its full potential, can bring those who died back to life," Hermione bit her lip, "It can kill you for every feather you lose a part of your soul is gone. That feather you plucked out had a bit of your soul in it. You see, if you were to heal or save others your feathers would fall onto the victim and will bring their health back. So little by little your wings will shrink

"In the books it has a record for those who used their feathers to bring others back to life. It is said that during this process half your feathers will immediately fall onto the person and will continue to fall until the person has taken half of your soul or enough of your soul in order to come back. Same goes with those from the brink of death. They'll take the part of your soul that is needed," Hermione drew in a shaky breath,

"This power is to be scared off by its user. That's why most seclude themselves for in fear that they will use it and lose their life in return," Hermione paused, "Those who had died using it either had not much soul left before they brought someone back to life or saved more than one person. For you see, no matter how much 'soul' or 'feathers' you've saved before bringing someone back from the dead you still could only use it once since it's taking half you soul if –"

"If I wear to save two people," Zoey couldn't help but interrupt, "I will die in their place"

Hermione let out a few tears. "I'm so sorry, Zoey. Please be cautious. I know you're the type to help others but please… please don't give it up….," she sobbed.

"So if I were to heal an open wound…," Zoey trailed off.

"No! Please, don't use the feathers for such trivial injuries!" Hermione cried, frightened of what the selfless Emeraude would do with her new found information.

Zoey slowly nodded her head but her questions kept coming out of her mouth. "What if someone had a bad burn? Or poisoned?"

"Only one feather is needed," Hermione sniffed, "As long as it isn't life threatening. If one were to be poisoned only one feather is needed unless that person was already dying by the time you've reached them"

"You could control the amount you give," Hermione continued, "But when it comes to saving lives and giving lives that's when the feathers take control. You can heal as much injuries as you like since it only takes one feather and if the books are correct you have over hundreds and thousands of them but please, I beg you, be wise in using them!"

"I would, I would," Zoey got up from the bed, "I – I better go. I'm surprised Madam Pomfrey hasn't come to kick me out yet. She must be really busy… I should… I should go get dinner," Zoey said with a rather troubled tone.

"I'm so sorry, Zoey," Hermione couldn't help but say.

"It's okay, really. I'm glad you told me," Zoey smiled and went to the door, "I'll see you around, yea?"

And she left.

* * *

_Kur-Bang!_

The Bludger went as Zoey hit it with all her might. A few days had passed since her knew found information and frankly it just added to her stress levels. The first task of the tournament was drawing nearer and it didn't do well for the Emeraude. She was scared for her friends. She was also scared for her father for Harry had informed her that Sirius would have a talk with him on the Twenty-second of November. She wanted to talk with him too but sadly it would take place in the Gryffindor Tower.

_Kur-Bang!_

The Bludger went again. Zoey knew that she shouldn't be doing this but, in truth, hitting the Bludgers sky high had helped her keep her mind of things. She had visited Dumbledore once and shared her concerns. The old wizard nodded his head in understanding and suggested several methods the Hufflepuff could do to get her minds of things. On the particular day she had felt rather violent and asked if there was any way she could hit something and not get in trouble. Though slightly surprised at her request, Dumbledore had given her a letter to give to Madam Hooch thus ending with Zoey on her Firebolt hitting Bludgers with an amazing strength.

"I can't believe I was afraid of these," Zoey said with another hit, "They're harmless – Ah!"

She spoke too soon and narrowly avoided being hit by an angry Bludger looking for vengeance. She zoomed away from it before turning around and swinging her bat and hitting it far away. Zoey concluded that this 'near death' experience of hers was a sign to stop and swooped back down to the ground. With a struggle she had placed the Bludgers back into their cases and returned them to Madam Hooch with a thankful smile. She held a firm grip on her broomstick and returned to her dorm.

A few days after Zoey's stress reliever she found herself sitting outdoors with the Daily Prophet in her hand. She had received a warning from Harry saying that what was written about him was utter rubbish and Zoey wanted to take a look at the rubbish herself. After reading Rita Skeeter's article she couldn't help but agree with her god brother. She crumpled the paper and tossed it to the side, saying she would throw it away later. She gave a sigh, brought her knees to her chest and brought her head to her knees. She was getting more and more stressed out. Why was she dealing with such things? She hated it. She felt worse than her OWL years.

"Hey," a voice came. Zoey gloomily looked up and saw Fred grinning down at her and taking his seat beside her. He popped a candy in his mouth. "You're looking a bit troubled. Sickle for your thoughts?"

Zoey gave a smile. "It's nothing," she didn't think it would be wise to share her thoughts just yet, "Just thinking about what has been happening."

"Oh?" Fred mused, "And why's that?"

"I don't really know," Zoey paused, a thought came to her head, "Can you do me a favor?"

Fred raised a brow. "Sure, what is it?"

"Stay away from one of the Beauxbatons girls. The one with blonde hair and is – err – incredibly busty and curvy," Zoey awkwardly said. When the thought of Mary Sue popped in her head she began to feel very protective of Fred. She didn't want him associating himself with her.

"Blonde… busty and curvy… You couldn't be talking about Mary Sue?" Fred looked at her with wide eyes.

"You know her?" Zoey asked with equal surprise.

"You know her?" Fred redirected her question, "She's very popular right now. I'm surprised you haven't heard all the gossip yet. She's live a Veela, that woman… although she doesn't have that same… spark as a Veela would have," Fred paused, "She was all over George the other day"

Zoey made a face. "She was?"

"Yep, she's been flirting with a lot of guys actually. About ten or more from each house and a lot of them Durmstrang men," Fred said in thought, "I don't particularly like her though. So I take your warning."

"What about George?" Zoey asked

"Well, he's always been the 'nicer' part of the twins," Fred stuck his tongue out at her, "But I wouldn't really worry seeing as his eyes are set on Echo"

"Oh that's goo – what?" Zoey's eyes widened to what looked like the size of plates.

Fred moved back a bit. Not really expecting her outburst. "You didn't know?"

"No one told me!"

"No one had to! It's pretty obvious!" Fred said.

Zoey groaned a bit and laid her head on Fred's shoulder. The action as no longer embarrassing for her. He's been with her through and through and frankly she was getting more used to their position and liked the feeling. She felt Fred shift a bit under her and he wrapped his arm around her. Zoey gave an appreciative sigh and played with the pendant around her neck. It was had a pink glow to it. Zoey looked up a bit and saw that Fred was looking at a distance and was still chewing on the candy he popped into his mouth not too long ago.

"What are you eating?" Zoey couldn't help but ask.

"A candy," Fred replied and reached into his pocket pulling out another piece, "Want one?"

Zoey eyed it suspiciously. "This isn't going to make me have uncontrollable coughs is it?"

"It's just caramel," Fred paused, "Coughing Caramel. That's a great idea"

"Brilliant," Zoey rolled her eyes and accepted the treat seeing as Fred was still normal and didn't cough one bit after eating the candy. She popped it into her mouth as well and let the sweetness overtake the remaining stress she had. Zoey truly loved the times she spent with Fred. Most of their moments were light hearted and when they weren't it was usually with Fred comforting her. She really loved him.

Zoey felt her blush crawling on her cheeks.

Love.

Zoey shook her head. She was going to get lost in fantasizing soon. That wouldn't do her god especially if she was with the person who took up most of her fantasies. She moved her head a bit and wrapped her arm around his, she didn't know why at first but didn't let go when Fred didn't push her away. She felt his arm a bit and noted it was rather muscular.

"Beater's touch," Fred smirked, "You like?"

Zoey gave a laugh and smacked his arm. "Whatever. Don't get a big head now"

"A big head… that would be brilliant!" Fred said with glee, "You know, you're coming up with a lot of ideas for the shop. Is there something you're not telling me?"

"And that something should be…?" Zoey asked

"That you, goody-two-shoe-Emeraude actually has a mischievous side?"

"Heh! Like that's possible!" Zoey laughed, "I just have brilliant ideas that's all"

Fred laughed as well and kissed her forehead. His eyes widened the moment his lips touched her and he drew back and saw that Zoey's eyes were wide as well and her cheeks pink. Why had he done that?

"Zoe," Fred began but he didn't really know where he was going.

"George and Lee are coming here," Zoey spoke quickly, stopping Fred from saying anything else, "I think they're looking for you"

Fred looked away from her and saw his twin and best friend approaching them. He shot up from his seat and said a quick goodbye to Zoey. Zoey watched his awkward and nervous gestures before he finally caught up with his friends. George and Lee looked at her and gave a wave, same with Fred though he wasn't really looking. Zoey sheepishly waved in return.

What just happened?

* * *

"It's a shame we don't have Quidditch this year," Cedric said with a stretch of his arms. Zoey looked at him curiously.

She had just returned to her Common Room after Fred had left with George and Lee. Whether it was to pull another prank on their fellow classmates or discuss their Joke Shop plans, Zoey did not know. All she knew was that she and Fred had once again encountered a rather awkward place and she didn't know what to make out of it. She tried to distract her thought from him but all she got was Fred's excited cute face when she thought of him planning the Joke shop with his brother. He seemed like a child walking around Honeydukes. No, wait. He looked like a younger Fred taking his first visit to Zonko's and thinking 'I'm going to own a Joke Shop one day'.

"But I thought you were glad that you are in the tournament?" Zoey asked after shaking Fred from her thoughts in the mean time.

"I didn't say anything about the tournament, Zoey. I was talking about Quidditch," Cedric said with a chuckle.

"Oh," Zoey smacked her forehead, "I'm sorry. I'm sorta out of sorts today. So why is it a shame we don't have Quidditch this year?"

"Well, you know we are one Beater short right?" Cedric asked

"Yeah, you told me – err- 'what's-his-name' graduated," Zoey paused, "Sorry, I don't follow. Isn't it good we don't have Quidditch this year since now you don't have to worry about tryouts just yet?"

"That's true but the tryouts are what I was actually looking forward to," Cedric scratched the back of his head.

Zoey raised a brow. "How come?"

"Hmm… well, I was sort of hoping that you'll try out," Cedric smiled.

Zoey stared at him for a while before letting out a laugh.

"Uhuh. Me. Beater. You're joking," Zoey said after calming down from her laugh. She looked back at Cedric and her face fell.

"I'm not joking," Cedric said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"You're not? Then you can't be serious!" Zoey exclaimed, her eyebrows knitting together.

"Oh, but I am," Cedric smirked, "Why are you even worried? I do remember you saying that you grew a liking to them murdering balls of fury"

"And you actually believed me! I hate the Bludgers!" Zoey panicked.

"That's a lie," Cedric said, "I saw you the other day. You were doing just fine hitting them so far that it could have founded the entire Black Lake and hit someone at the back of the head with equal force!"

Zoey opened her mouth to say something but soon closed it. She opened it once more but closed it again. She did this action several more times making her look like a fish.

"Just give it a chance. I have a faith in you. I'm sure you'll do great," Cedric smiled, "Come one. Just tryout next year. Please?"

Zoey bit her lip and weighed her options. After five minutes of thinking she gave a sigh. "Just tryout right? I don't have to actually be on the team?"

"Yes, only tryout. Please? For me?"

"Alright," Zoey gave another sigh.

"Promise?"

"Promise"

* * *

**A rather long chapter for you guys!**

**I sort of squeezed a lot of events into one chapter. I am hoping to have Zoey and Harry have a moment in the next one so please stay tuned!**

**First of all I want to apologize in advance if there are any typos that I may have missed!**

**Anywa, gosh I had a lot to say but now... blank**

**Okay, I wanna thank all of those who reviewed and the like! I'm so happy when I read your reviews and suggestions.**

**Also, wHaT's In A pEn-NaMe, the hiccuping candy - I've already had that idea in mind, I was planning to introduce it before the burping one but I also planned the hiccups with Zoey once again being the victim and Echo executing it... OOPS spoiler :P But thanks for the suggestion anyway :D**

**oh, and who Zoey's going to go with will remain a secret for now :D**

**Taka: Thanks for the idea! Very much appreciated :) I think I'll go with it and add a bit of my own. Thank you :D**

**I also bought the DVD! I love it :D**

**OddSakura: We'll wait and see what Fred will do for Zoey in the end :)**

**ZoomSkater14: It's okay :D**

**And once again thank you everyone!**

**Oh my... I'm so hungry. I haven't had lunch yet. I was too busy updating.**

**Guurrrgglle**

**Anyway, bye for now~**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next one **

**and **

**I only own what I own!  
**


	60. Chapter 58: To what Irks Zoey

**Chapter 58: To what Irks Zoey**

Zoey walked side by side with Bridgit as they looked around Hogsmeade. She figured she needed to catch up with her Death Eater friend and Echo would not mind as long as she didn't tell her who she was hanging out with. Zoey placed her hands in her pockets and looked around. She had heard from Hermione that Ron and Harry weren't on speaking terms. Apparently Ron had thought Harry placed his name in the Goblet and kept it secret from him. Also, Hermione supplied, Ron was jealous of Harry and sick of being his 'side-kick' and what not. Zoey found the argument stupid yet understandable at the same time.

She gave a sigh and looked straight ahead. She raised a curious eyebrow when she saw Hermione standing alone and seemingly talking to herself, a few feet behind her was Rita Skeeter. Zoey blinked a couple of times and saw that Hermione was still talking but with her mouth hardly moving almost as if she didn't want anyone to know she was talking at all. Zoey felt a little suspicious.

"Why's Hermione talking to herself?" Zoey asked Bridgit.

"Uhm… maybe because Ron and Harry are using her as an owl?" Bridgit answered. She looked at the scene and couldn't help but glare. "That Skeeter woman is following her, seriously what does she want to know?" Bridgit now asked.

Zoey looked at Rita Skeeter and raised her brow. "Well, seeing as Hermione is close friends with Harry she might want to interview her or something," she paused, "Did you read her article?"

"Hmm… which one? And I'm pretty sure I haven't because she writes about unimportant things," Bridgit answered, still glaring at the good for nothing reporter.

"Well, it was about Harry," she began, "But there's nothing much to say about it seeing as everything she wrote was wrong. She thought Harry was twelve! That and said he cries himself to sleep or something. Oh, look. Rita Skeeter left now and Hermione's entering The Three Broomsticks!" Zoey pointed.

"Wanna follow her in?" Bridgit asked, now turning to Zoey.

Zoey shrugged. "Harry's with her isn't he? Under the invisibility cloak, I mean. This is all a guest though," she took a breath and smiled, "And Ron's with Fred, George and Lee in there too. I bet it's very crowded"

"Wait, Ron and Hermione with Harry? Why am I expecting a war to occur?" Bridgit suddenly said, her expression turning into a worried one.

"I doubt that would happen," Zoey supplied, "I bet Harry would remain under his cloak the entire time that they're there. Oh look, Hagrid and Professor Moody's going in now," Zoey pointed at the teachers who just disappeared through the door. She then looked at Bridgit and took her hand.

"Besides," Zoey began, "I wanted to ask you some stuff that I couldn't possibly ask in there."

Bridgit looked back at the door the teachers disappeared into.

"Yeah, I guess its best we stay away," She said letting herself be dragged by Zoey.

Zoey readjusted her hold on Bridgit and began to walk the opposite way. She dodged the different passersby and looked at different shops before shaking her head and walking further down the road. She tripped a couple of times but brought herself together. She only let go of Bridgit's hand when they reached their destination, the fence separating them from the Shrieking Shack.

"Well, doesn't this bring back memories? Bridgit said, letting out a slight chuckle.

"Huh?" Zoey raised her brow at her friend but later shook her head. "Can we reminisce later? I wanted to ask you something"

"Sure, so what did your very jumbled brain want to know?" Bridgit asked, letting out a laugh.

"Well," Zoey let out her own laugh before turning a bit serious, "You seem to know a lot about the tournament seeing as you knew about before the rest of us because you're a – err – because of your 'connections'"

"Yes, well my connections are rather horrible aren't they, anyway… what did you wanna know about the tournament?" Bridgit asked, looking at Zoey questioningly.

Zoey took a breath . "Do you happen to know anything about the first task?" she paused, "I'm just worried for Harry and I want to know what he'll be put against."

"Yeah, I know about that. Romania actually was rather excited to bring them here," Bridgit answered, getting a playful smirk on her face as she recalled a memory.

"Romania?" Zoey asked and her eyes widened, "Doesn't Charlie Weasley work there? The Dragon Tamer… Dragon… Oh no... They can't do that!"

"Hmm, they have to if they want to win, but don't worry nothing's rigged in the competition if you're worrying about that," Bridgit then said, reassuring her. "Oh and yeah, Charlie brought the dragons here himself," Bridgit added, "I even recall seeing Ron talking to him, so he probably knows too"

"Ron? Charlie? You saw them? What were you doing around the dragons in the first place?" Zoey's curiosity moved from the tournament and onto the fact that her friend was hanging around fire breathing dragons.

"I was checking if the Death Eaters messed with the dragons. Probably do something to them. And yes I saw them," Bridgit answered. "And the worst dragon is the Hungarian Horntail so Harry has to look out to not get that," she added.

Zoey bit her lip. "So the Death Eaters know Harry in the tournament then?" she asked.

"Know? They planned the whole thing," Bridgit said, whacking her head. "I was not suppose to say that… Dumbledore is gonna kill me"

"He won't know if I don't say anything about it," Zoey gave a sympathetic smile before her expression returned to worry, "What do you mean planned?"

"Nothing, I can't tell you. It will ruin things. I'm really sorry Zoey," Bridgit said, bowing her head.

"I – It's alright. I understand. There's things that you can't really say," Zoey paused, "It's getting late. We should be getting back but I have one more question for you."

"What is it?" Bridgit asked, now turning to Zoey once again.

"Well… why do you bow your head when you apologize?" Zoey asked.

"Uhm… isn't it tradition to bow your head when you apologize, you know the shame? Actually, I really don't know… why do you ask?" Bridgit asked, now scratching her head at the question.

Zoey shrugged. "Just curious," she turned around, "We should be getting back to the castle"

"Yup, we should, but before I forget… you should also know that there's a ball on the way," Bridgit said, walking away with a smirk on her face.

"A ball?" Zoey asked, "…. That's why Mrs. Weasley got me that dress!"

"You already have dress robes? Hahaha, well I for one am not excited for it!" Bridgit shouted back, noticing that Zoey is yet to move from her spot.

Zoey shook her head, getting back to reality and caught up with Bridgit. "Figured you wouldn't be," she stuck her tongue out at her friend and began to run towards Hogwarts, leaving the Death Eater to eat her dust.

* * *

Zoey sat with her Gryffindor friends together with Echo when the most horrible thing happened. She was just innocently picking at her food when the Great Hall's doors slammed open, drawing everyone's attention to it and at the person who caused the disruptive sound. At the sight, Zoey's eyes widened. Mary Sue stood in the middle of the door frame with a flashing smile on her face and what seemed like butterflies flying around her. She gave a seductive sigh that made every boy stare as she walked down the aisle like a model. To whomever boy she found attractive she would either tap him on the shoulder or play with his hair, either way, she was flirting.

She made a spin at the middle of the room and flipped her hair. Zoey watched as one of her bracelets fell to the floor and Mary Sue gave a girlish sigh like picking the object up was the hardest thing to do in the world. Several boys stood up to pick up the bracelet for her but she got to it first. Mary Sue slowly bent down, her hand caressing her leg as she bent. She picked up the bracelet and quickly snapped back up; flipping her hair and making her breasts bounce at the action. Zoey looked away in disgust and listened to Mary Sue's retreating steps.

"There's something about that girl, Zwei," Echo stared at the aisle where Mary Sue strutted. Her eyebrows were still raised due to Mary Sue doing the most ridiculous things in all of the wizarding world.

"I know. She irks me too," Zoey gave a sigh. She then looked to the twins, Lee, Harry and Ron (who was sitting at the twins other side, avoiding Harry). Her eyebrows furrowed. She looked at the girls, Echo, Hermione and Ginny, and saw that they didn't like the way the boys were gawking. Zoey brought her hand up and began to snap her fingers. "Hey, shows over," she called to them.

"Probably, I think boys were much superior to the females," Echo held out her hand toward the boys still gawking, "This, girls, is why that statement – whoever made it – stands corrected"

"I really can't believe it," Ginny sighed, "And I thought they could do better"

"It's really pitiful," Hermione said with a shake of her head.

Zoey nodded in agreement. "Well, might as well bring them back to reality," she turned back to the boys, "You know, that woman you're gawking at broke into my house a little before school began right?"

"Woman?" Echo scoffed before finally nodding with her hands up, defending herself, "Oh wait. Isn't she a stupid empty-headed girl who just wants men to sleep with at night or perhaps have a look of her chest?" She let out a laugh, causing some to look her way. After that hoot, Echo muttered, "Merlin, it's so easy to get in the male mind"

"Actually, it looks like they have no mind left," Ginny offered, looking at the stunned Gryffindors, "Anyway; she broke into your house?"

Zoey shook her head. "Discussion for another day," she said, "I just mentioned it thinking it will get their attention. Sadly, I am mistaken."

"Now, going back to what Echo has just said," Hermione gave a sigh, "She's actually very smart. She's one of the smartest of her batch. Not empty headed at all. She got brains and looks. It's almost not fair"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Let me tell you what's not fair. She got brains, looks _and _athletics. She got an invitation to join one of the best Quidditch teams out there"

"That, and she's very social as well," Zoey jerked her head towards the direction of where Mary Sue was seated. She was surrounded by not only men but women as well. "She's not shy in the least. So now she has looks, brains, athletics and sociability."

"Now that you're saying those stuff about _it_, did you ever even wonder how come she hasn't got a boyfriend?" Echo shrugged and shot a distasteful look at Mary Sue.

"She's looking around," Ginny grumbled, "She claims she waiting for her prince but in reality she can't stick to one man. She's got to have them all. Like a collection."

"Ginny's right and the boys don't seem to mind. They just feel lucky to actually have gone out with her. She has a list you know," Hermione then pointed at George, "He's on that list. Why she just didn't have him _and _Fred, I don't know. Actually, I'm wondering if she could even tell the difference."

Echo, who's had her hands on the table, silently clawed it, pulling her nails down. "I'm going to kill him," she silently muttered, not knowing only Zoey could hear.

"Why him?" Zoey asked her and then paused, "I warned Fred about her the other day. He also told me that George isn't really interested in her"

It seemed that upon hearing that, the clawing sound made by Echo's nails and the table, stopped immediately. "Really? Wow, she must be getting hold of all the men here then; whether they like it, obviously, or not"

Zoey nodded her head and turned back at the boys. They were still frozen. "How long are they going to be that way?" she asked.

"Who cares?" Ginny said, "For all we know, she could have just petrified them when she did that spin."

"She didn't have her wand," Zoey pointed out.

"Doesn't matter. She can do wand less magic, though only from a short distance. She's that good. Top of the class in magic and studies"

"Athletics and sociability," Zoey continued

"Everyone likes her; she could do no wrong," Ginny huffed, "Utterly perfect, that one"

"In other words," Hermione sighed. "She fits her name. Mary Sue"

"Ew. Gross. Disgusting. Unpleasant. Repugnant. Mary Sue's flawlessness, it's absolutely abhorrent," Echo crinkled her nose up in disgust while she threw bits of toast at the twins.

Zoey watched in amusement as the twins began to brush away the crumbs and came back to reality. As they turned back to face the girls they bumped shoulders with Ron who bumped with Lee and Harry's shoulders were bumped by the other twin causing all of them to stop their drool-fest and return to the real world. Zoey watched as they looked at her, Echo, Ginny and Hermione and to their food rubbing their eyes which, by now, were dry from not blinking.

"Finally," Echo dramatically sighed before going back to pick on her food. "It seems that if I eat breakfast and looked at Mary Sue immediately right after, it'll just go back up," she pushed her plate away from her.

"That's a harsh thing to say. Only something disgusting and ugly would cause you to throw up. Mary Sue, she's different. She's gorgeous," Ron said with a dreamy sigh.

"Oh, Ronald, you seem to have dropped something," Hermione said.

"What is it?" Ron asked.

"Your dignity," she smugly replied. Ginny laughed and high-fived the brunette.

Ron glared at her and began to shovel down his food.

"Ron, are your ears defective? I just spoke out words, synonyms to the word disgusting about Mary Sue! I mean, who wouldn't be absolutely revolted by her perfect-princess like figure? Oh wait, I know someone. It's you, and probably the rest of the male population," Echo put her chin on the table and sighed once more.

Zoey looked at the boys and saw that they did not object nor did they support Echo's views. "You lot don't honestly think she's all that, do you?" she asked.

"Well, she can't be _that _bad," Lee said.

"She seems pretty alright," George added

"Nothing wrong," Fred nodded

Zoey's face read disbelief and she turned to Harry. "You can't possibly think that do you?"

Harry swallowed hard and rubbed the back of his neck. He took a breath and looked everywhere but his god sister. "I say we should give her the benefit of the doubt"

"One, she can't be that bad because she's much worse. No one can be that perfect. It's not normal. Two, you only think that because she was all over you the other day. Three, Fred I thought you listened to my warning and Four, Harry, that's not going to save you from anything. You obviously think she's all that," Zoey rubbed her temples.

"Men," Echo sighed.

Hermione and Ginny stood up from the table and Zoey and Echo followed in suit. They turned away from their friends and walked out of the Great Hall without another word. The moment they left, the bell rang.

* * *

A few days had passed since the Mary Sue incident and it was time for the First Task. Everyone from Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang had gone to the arena to watch and Zoey was just about to join them but she got a little caught up. It was not like Zoey was and narcissist but on that particular day she had found herself looking in the mirror. She stared at her reflection and began noting different parts of her face and body.

Her skin was its usual pale-ish color yet it still had a rosy tint on her cheek area. The hair on her head was still its normal brown and the color of her eyes were as gray as ever, just like her father's. The clothes she wore were normal, it was a bit bigger than her original size and her posture was the same. Nothing was different. Everything was the same but Zoey didn't feel the same.

She looked harder at her reflection but no matter how intensified her stare became nothing changed. She still appeared to be the same girl. But why didn't she feel that way? Zoey looked around the room and noted that all of her dorm mate's things were tidy yet hers seemed to have exploded on her bed. Her dorm mates didn't mind, hell no. They hardly knew she was there in the first place. Zoey figured as long as she kept her things to herself she wouldn't bother them and vice versa.

Zoey gave a sigh and looked back at the mirror. Ever since Hermione told her about her, Zoey's, gift and the effects, Zoey never truly felt the same. Sure, she looked the same and acted the same. Nothing different there but what wasn't the same was what she felt inside. She couldn't help but feel paranoid. Both of the end results of having her power made her scared. She was afraid that she might keep herself from the outside world yet at the same time she was afraid that she would do something reckless.

"Then again," she muttered to herself, "I'm not the type to do reckless things… that's the twins' job"

She turned away from the mirror and left her dorm and Common Room. She headed towards the arena. "No use in worrying about being secluded. I'm going to be kept away from the world after a graduate anyway," she spoke to herself as she felt the wind in her hair and she climbed up the stairs to take her seat beside Echo. She gave the Ravenclaw a smile before looking around. Not too far away, she saw Ron standing alone with a space beside him. _Probably for Hermione, _Zoey found herself thinking before looking at the area above him where Fred and George were taking bets. Zoey shook her head at the two of them and saw Ginny standing a bit lower with her own friends. From a distance she could catch sight of Bridgit as well.

Zoey looked to the center to the arena and her eyes widened at the sight of the chained dragon and the egg situated near it. She gave a frightened jump when a cheer erupted from her peers. She squinted her eyes towards a tent and saw Cedric walk out of it, his wand at the ready. Her hands were instantly brought to her mouth when the dragon gave an angry roar.

Fifteen minutes passed and Zoey felt like she could breathe again. Cedric had passed and the judges were holding up their score cards. Zoey patiently watched as he walked into the medical tent to get his burns treated. She looked back at the other tent and saw Fleur Delacour walk out of it. She, Zoey, turned her attention back to where the dragon was and saw that it was replaced by a new dragon, in the place of the Swedish Short-Snout now stood the Welsh Green. Zoey brought her attention to the golden egg and wondered how Fleur was going to get it.

After ten minutes, Zoey watched Fleur head to the medical tent while the judges held up her score. She was faster than Cedric but Zoey didn't mind. They were both equally talented and got the egg. That's Zoey, Team All and Team Neither. The Welsh Green was then replaced by the Chinese Fireball and Krum exited the tent. Zoey's eyes widened when Krum made a daring move towards the dragon making it emit a horrible roaring shriek making her draw breath in shock. In a matter of minutes, maybe seconds, she didn't know, Krum had gotten the egg.

When Krum retreated to the medi-tent and his dragon replaced, Zoey felt like her breath was once again taken away from her. It was now Harry's turn and from what Zoey guessed, he got the Hungarian Horntail. Bridgit had told her about it and Zoey wondered if Harry getting it was a coincidence or just horrible luck. Probably both.

Zoey watched in panic as Harry left the tent and came face to face with the dragon. She watched as he looked at the dragon and raised his wand in the air. She looked at him curiously and couldn't comprehend what he had exclaimed seeing as the crowd's cheering and yells muted Harry's yell. Her brows furrowed and wondered what Harry had done seeing as he lowered his wand and nothing had happened. The Hungarian Horntail looked at Harry and took a deep breath before breathing out a large ball of fire. Zoey let out a surprised scream and saw Harry dodge the fire and take refuge behind a large rock.

She then heard a sort of zooming sound. Zoey turned away from Harry and looked up at the sky. She saw his Firebolt fly towards him and Harry held it in his hand. He mounted it and began to fly around the arena. Zoey watched him with wide eyes and tuned out everything else. She ignored Bagman's commentating and the crowd's cheer. All her focus was directed towards her god brother and praying that he'll live to see the next day.

* * *

Zoey pushed through the crowd and made her way towards the medi-tent. Harry had just survived the dragon and was able to get the golden egg. Heck, he was the youngest and the fastest to get the egg. This; however, did not matter to Zoey. All she cared about was getting to Harry. She made her final push and entered the tent. She looked around and saw Cedric sitting on one of the beds. He didn't look that injured but had some of his burns being treated. She saw Harry sitting on the bed next to Cedric's, being separated by a curtain. Zoey caught sight of Madam Pomfrey and heard her say "Dragons!" in disgust. Zoey took this as her chance to make herself known. She approached Madam Pomfrey and tapped her shoulder.

Madam Pomfrey whirled around in surprise but got herself composed when she saw that it was just Zoey. "Miss Emeraude! What are you doing here?" Madam Pomfrey asked in a rush, "Oh never mind. It's good that you're here. Please tend to Mr. Potter. I have to get back to Mr. Diggory," she said before hastily making her way to Cedric.

"So how are you feeling, Harry?" Zoey asked with a friendly yet professional tone as she opened the curtains further and even made it longer with a wave of her wand and with a flick made it bend a bit so she and Harry were enclosed within a curtained box.

"Fine," Harry replied, "On the count that I just took on a dragon"

Zoey offered him a smile before taking a look at his shoulder and arm. He hardly had any burns on him but his was whacked by the dragon's tail and that fact alone was worrisome. She told Harry to remove his shirt so she could get a better look at his shoulder and arm. Harry blushed at her request and Zoey rolled her eyes.

"Come on, this is for medical purposes," she said to him, "And besides. We're practically siblings. Nothing to be embarrassed about here"

"But – you – fine," Harry sighed and swiftly removed his shirt and tossed it to the side. Zoey bit her lip and took a look at his shoulder. The wound wasn't as bad as she thought it would be but it wasn't merely a scratch as well. Zoey knew no spells to heal it nor could she think of any potion that would work. She thought about getting Madam Pomfrey but she didn't want to interrupt the process of her caring for Cedric. Zoey gave a sigh. She was about to do something she didn't plan on doing for a very long time.

"And here I thought I wasn't reckless," she muttered to herself though an annoying voice at the back of her head told her it wasn't _that _reckless.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked

Zoey shook her head and began to remove her scarf and her sweater. Harry's eyes widened at her actions and was about to ask what she was doing but Zoey threw her sweater at him, covering his face and muffling his questions. She rolled her neck and crossed her arms over her chest; she was still wearing a plain white shirt. Harry threw her sweater to the side and looked at her questioningly.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" Harry asked in a hushed tone, why he was whispering he didn't really know.

"I think I'm going to heal that wound of yours," Zoey said and looked down seeing the mist begin to form at her feet, "And watch your language"

"And how does stripping help heal anything?" Harry ignored her request.

Zoey blushed at his choice of words. The mist was now above her knees. "I'm not stripping. I still have a shirt on –"

"But why did you need to remove your sweater?"

"Because I'm going to heal you," Zoey winced and felt the mist wrap itself around her. Through teary eyes she could see Harry's shocked expression. She felt the wings break out on she quickly brought a hand to Harry's mouth to keep him from yelling and what not. She gasped and felt the back of her shirt ripping. In a matter of painful minutes her wings were out and stretched. She took in a shaky breath and dropped her hand.

"Those wings," Harry breathed out.

"They can heal you," Zoey whimpered. She could never get used to it.

"I know," Harry whispered, "I haven't seen them since my second year"

Zoey's eyes widened. "You know?" she paused, "You've seen them?"

"Back in the chamber. Volde – Tom – Whatever said something about them being able to bring those from the brink of death back to full health and what not… I just… I guess when you said that you can heal me I sorta put the pieces together that they could do more than save lives," Harry blinked.

"Healing people _could _save lives, Harry," Zoey said, "But good that you know. Less explaining for me"

"You mean there's more?" Harry's eyes widened.

"Better ask Hermione on that one. She told me all about them," Zoey placed a hand on one of her wings and plucked out a feather. A tear left her eye. It was painful to do it. She then placed the feather on Harry's wound and watched with awe as it began to glow and seep into Harry's skin.

When the feather disappeared, Zoey was in so much awe that she didn't even feel the wings retreat back into her body. This was for the better for she might have screamed out in pain. She heard the curtains being pushed back and the footsteps of Madam Pomfrey but she paid no mind to that. She was still shocked at what she had done. She had healed Harry but in doing so gave a small part of her soul.

"I see you've healed Mr. Potter's wounds, Miss Emeraude," Madam Pomfrey said as she inspected him, "Very good job, not a single scratch. You can put your shirt back on Mr. Potter. The judges would be announcing your score now"

Harry vaguely heard her but got his shirt and placed it on. He was still in shock but was able to maneuver himself off the bed and out of the tent. Zoey, who wasn't any better, took her sweater and held it in her arms. She felt a hand touch the skin on her back.

"What on earth happened to you, Miss Emeraude?" Madam Pomfrey asked, picking n the ripped shirt, "It looks like the dragon had attacked you"

Zoey shook her head. "Just an old shirt is all. Nothing to worry about," she smiled at her mentor.

"Nothing to worry about? How is this old? It looks brand new! How did you get this scratch? Did someone attack you?" Madam Pomfrey bombarded her with questions.

"It's nothing, really. It might have gotten ruined in the washer and I just didn't realize," Zoey lamely said before inching towards the exit of the tent.

"The washer –" Madam Pomfrey began but was no longer heard for Zoey ran out of the tent and swiftly placed her sweater back on. She didn't care to stay any longer. She was guessing Gryffindor would be celebrating in their Common Room and vaguely wondered if Hufflepuff would do the same.

* * *

**And Chapter end!**

**Hope you enjoyed this one!**

**I want to thank ZoomSkater14 and HayleyParadox for helping me out**

**Also, I want to thank all of you who reviewed and the like!**

**LOVE YOU GUYS!**

**That little picking up thing Mary Sue did was none other than the "Bend and Snap" from Legally Blonde. If you didn't know that, check it out if you like :D**

**Hm... what else to say? I don't really know. I'm extremely tired. I had to help take care of my cousins today. I enjoyed doing it though. I had fun :D**

**Anywho... hmm...**

**Razbash: If I can't say "We'll see" or "Maybe" to answer your question then I really can't really answer it then since it would really spoil everything. Just... well... stay tuned**

**Okay then. I don't think there's a lot to say now so**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter**

**Sorry for any typos and the like**

**and**

**I only own what I own  
**


	61. Chapter59:We don't needthis kindof drama

**Chapter 59: We don't need this kind of drama**

A few months had passed since the First Task and the talk of the school was now the upcoming Yule Ball. When December had swooped in the Head of each house had collected their students and gave them an orientation on the subject. Telling them what it is, why it is to be done, how to dress, how to dance and the like. At the word "Ball" all the girls were immediately excited at the idea and began talking about it. How they were going to look and who they hoped will ask them. The guys, being themselves, weren't as excited as the girls but couldn't hide the fact that the Ball was something to look forward to. Even the Weasley twins were excited, that is until something had momentarily turned Fred's views upside down.

It was a normal day at the Great Hall. By that time, everyone knew what was coming for the Yule Ball and were planning. Girl and Boys, mostly girls, were talking about what they would wear and who they would ask or planned to dance with. Some stressed over the idea and others laid back. Fred was one of the laid back types. He eagerly munched on his food while listening to the conversations going around him. One particular conversation caught his ear.

Fred continued to shovel the food into his mouth as he listened to the head of his house have a chat with Professor Sprout. They were having a friendly talk of a random topic until it swerved towards the Yule Ball. They began saying names from both genders and Fred had guessed they were paring up students and saying if they wanted to see the pair go to the Yule Ball together or not. The topic was surprisingly girly for Professor McGonagall but Fred's surprise was soon washed away after he caught on what Professor Sprout had just said.

"I don't know about you, Minerva, but I for one think Miss Emeraude would look lovely dancing with Mr. Diggory," the Herbology teacher said, "Just the other day I oriented my house on the Yule Ball and had them have a practice dance and those two, they were partners, were utterly wonderful," she jerked her head over at her house table were the two were seated, "To tell you the truth, I was very surprised! You must know what a shy thing Miss Emeraude is and to dance so gracefully, like she's been doing it for years, is a real eye-opener! I really think she's coming out of her shell"

"I can see where you are coming from, Pomona. Miss Emeraude seems to be doing better these past few years," Professor McGonagall pushed her glasses further up the bridge of her nose, "I remember that she used to only speak with the Weasley twins and those two girls from the Ravenclaw house but now, she's been interacting with more and more people," she paused, "So her dancing… how 'graceful' is she?"

Professor Sprout smiled. "I can't put it into words. It's very hard to describe. I'd rather you see it for yourself"

"You mean wait for the Yule Ball?" Professor McGonagall's eyes widened, "I'm sorry, Pomona, but no matter how good she is I doubt that I'll be able to see her in a room filled with over a hundred students."

"Don't think that I don't know that, Minerva. What I meant was now," Professor Sprout looked over at her table, "It wouldn't hurt for them to dance right here."

"You mean at this very moment?"

"But of course! Diggory, Emeraude, please stand up," Professor Sprout called over at her table.

At this, Fred looked over at the Hufflepuff table and questioningly raised his brow. He saw Cedric and Zoey (one of the rare times she actually sat at her house table) stand up and looked at the head of their house with confusion.

"Why don't you both put on a little show? Demonstrate to everyone the way to dance at the Yule Ball," Professor Sprout joyfully said as she brought out her wand and gave it a wave. Suddenly, music began to play.

Fred watched as Zoey looked at Cedric questioningly before awkwardly getting into position with him. As he placed one hand on her waist while she placed on his shoulder and their other hands held, they began to sway to the music. At first, they looked like they weren't really sure in what to do, whether their teacher was joking or not, but soon enough Fred understood what Professor Sprout had meant by Zoey's and Cedric's dancing.

Just by looking at the pair, Fred wished that he was in Cedric's place. He wished that he was the one holding Zoey close to his body, guiding her. He wanted to be the one twirling her around and lifting her in the air. Fred wanted to be the one Zoey looked at with her bashful expression.

"She's really good," George said from beside him, "You'd think she was the type to stumble around but…wow"

Fred didn't reply. He continued to gaze enviously.

A few days had passed since Cedric and Zoey's impromptu dance and to Fred's annoyance it was the talk of the school together with the Yule Ball. Everywhere he went he's always hear two or three people talking about the Hufflepuff pair.

Often times he's either hear:

"Weren't they absolutely brilliant?"

Or

"They looked so cute together"

And what really irked him was:

"I hope they go to the Yule Ball together"

And the response being

"I heard that he's going to ask her soon"

Fred felt like he could break twelve muggle ball pens with his bare hands. He looked over at the two who were talking and if only looks could kill. He wanted to stand up and say something or look for Zoey himself and clarify but before he could even begin to stand up several male Hufflepuffs burst into the room wearing gleeful expressions.

"He did it!" one of them cheered!

"He actually did it!" another continued

"He asked her to the Yule Ball!" a third said.

The two, who were revealed to be Ravenclaws, looked at the Hufflepuffs with curiosity.

"Who asked who?" one asked.

"Cedric!" the Hufflepuff replied, "He asked her to the Yule Ball and she said yes!"

Fred didn't hear who 'she' was but from the Ravenclaws' reaction he dejectedly figured it was Zoey. Cedric had asked Zoey to the Yule Ball and she accepted. He had lost his chance. Fred began to beat himself up from the inside. He missed his chance, he should have asked sooner. He felt like an idiot. Fred banged his head on his table.

* * *

It seemed that it was not only Fred who had problems with their love life. Echo had some bumps in the road as well. Months had passed since Mary Sue made a cat walk down the Great Hall and much to her, and the rest of her female friends', dismay, George had began hanging out with her more often. She did not know what was wrong with the boys mind. She began to question his sanity. She knew for a fact that Zoey had warned Fred about Mary Sue and told him to warn George about her as well but seeing as Mary Sue was constantly draped over the boy, the warning had not worked. Mary Sue was often seen with them, whether it was with George or eating with them on the Gryffindor table, she did not seem to leave Echo's sight and it disgusted her.

Mary Sue with her suffocating perfume and her girlish charms made Echo feel ashamed for the female race. It was sickening to watch especially seeing that George did nothing about it. Echo, who was calmly reading one of her pocket books, tried to ignore the fact that even though George and Mary Sue were becoming rather 'good mates' she still rode on the slight hope that he would still have enough sanity left to ask a decent girt to the Ball. Unfortunately, that didn't happen for while Echo was leisurely reading she had heard a rumor pass her by.

"Did you hear that one of the Weasley twins is going to the Yule Ball with that Mary Sue?" a Slytherin asked his fellow Slytherin as he took a seat on the table next to Echo's. Echo peered over her book and raised a brow at the two, though they did not see her.

"I heard about it," the second Slytherin said with a nod, "But I couldn't believe it. Imagine, a filthy blood traitor like him going to the Ball with someone as majestic as her? Please tell me it's just some rubbish gossip"

"Sadly, it isn't," the first Slytherin said

"Damn, which twin is she going with?" the second asked.

"I believe his name is George," the first Slytherin nodded his head before getting up and grabbing a random book from one of the shelves.

Echo's ears perked up and the bindings of the innocent pocketbook she had in her small hands began to tear into halves. Has the world gone mental, off its trolley and fell into the obscured oblivion of naivety? She narrowed her eyes and looked down at her hands. A perfectly halved pocketbook. Echo heaved a sigh; the pocketbook had cost her some money after all. Maybe she was right; George was _too _kind.

Echo needed to find Zoey. She was the only friend that knew her long enough besides the twins to understand. The shredded pocketbook halves were still held in her hands. Somehow, she felt sorry for the good piece of literature she had found not too long ago. No matter, Echo would just sew it back; if that's even possible. Echo stood up from her chair and briskly walked out of the library. She didn't even bother to return her chair to its proper place.

The raven swiftly walked through the halls, miraculously dodging the students who went the opposite way. She only stopped when she reached the part of the castle where it was fully covered in grass, the field. She crossed the grass-covered part of the grounds and decided to pick a flower that wouldn't eat, skewer, poison or even spit at Echo. She stuffed the book remains into her brown messenger bag, and picked at the flowers.

"Skewer Mary Sue. Crucio Mary Sue. Skewer Mary Sue. Crucio Mary Sue. Skewer Mary Sue..." it went on until she had caught Zoey in her peripheral vision and stopped in front of her. She picked off at the petals, still chanting, "Skewer Mary Sue. Crucio Mary Sue..."

As Echo continued to chant, Zoey began to look around the field. She had come out of the castle to get a breath of fresh air and came to a stop when she heard a strange, harmonic voice. When she caught sight of her friends, she raised a brow. Echo was hunched over a flower, picking at its petals and chanting. Zoey was curious as to why.

The badger trudged towards the raven and took a seat beside her, peering at the flower.

"Skewer Mary Sue. Crucio Mary Sue," Echo continued to chant.

Zoey blinked in confusion. "Are you off your rocker?" she asked the Veela.

Echo stopped the petal plucking and looked at Zoey. "You're right, Zwei! I should do both!"

"And what are you exactly suppose to do?" Zoey asked, "Cook the girl? Surely, no matter how beautiful and – err – mouth watering she looks she wouldn't taste very good"

"I didn't say I was going to eat _it,_" Echo scoffed and brought her palm to her face, "Hippogriffs won't eat it, I'm sure. So, I should feed it to Charlie's dragons. They won't mind the taste though. To dragons, meat is all the same," Echo laughed.

"That may be so but what did that dragons ever do to you?" Zoey asked, "Poor things, eating something that poisonous."

"I bet trolls would eat her, but they would think its cannibalism," Echo giggled and fought to restrain her laughter.

Zoey laughed. "But is she truly human? She's too perfect. If she _wasn't _human then it wouldn't really be cannibalism"

"Trolls aren't humans, Zoey," Echo picked at the flower again.

"So you're calling Mary Sue a troll then?" Zoey asked taking a flower in her own hands except leaving it in one piece and twirled it.

"I never said that," Echo faked a hurt expression.

Zoey rolled her eyes at her friends and looked away from Echo and the flower. She looked up and her eyes widened a bit. _Speak of the devil, _she thought herself as she watched Mary Sue walk towards them with a little skip in her step. She looked like a little kid who finally got what she was begging her parents to give her. The current vibe, the childish 'I got it! I got what I wanted!' vibe, Zoey got from Mary Sue made her nauseas for it was mixed with the current appearance of the girl.

The weather was already cold, seeing as it was December, and yet Mary Sue found the body heat to wear a mini skirt with thigh high stiletto boots together with an off- shoulder long sleeved sweater that showed a lot of cleavage. Her hair was tied in a very high ponytail and her face was fresh with winter looking make- up. She looked nice, Zoey had to admit but what ruined the look was that the clothes seemed almost see-through.

"I need a bucket to put my vomit in," Echo coughed and crinkled her nose in disgust.

"That bucket will have to wait," Zoey winced, "She's coming our way"

What Zoey said was the truth for Mary Sue stopped right in front of them and smiled down at the two. She gave a giggle.

"Hello, Zoey, Echo" Mary Sue greeted with a voice that was as sweet as honey, "How are you today?"

"Hi, Mary Sue," Zoey forced a smile and nudged Echo in the ribs.

Echo forced a strained smile before it disappeared in a flash and Echo gave a curt nod, going back to her flower, probably chanting the words inside her head.

Mary Sue paid to mind to what Echo was doing and averted her pearly whites to Zoey. "May I sit down?" she asked but before Zoey could even reply she already plopped down in front of the two. She brought her perfectly manicured fingertips to the ground and plucked out a flower of her own. She twirled it a bit before placing it in her hair.

"I don't want to seem rude… but… did you need something, Mary Sue?" Zoey asked in a quiet voice. It took every ounce of her sanity to rip the girl to shreds. It was a little over dramatic to say but she couldn't help it. Mary Sue was just too… Mary Sue.

"Well, Zoey, I just came here to complement on Harry Potter's success in defeating the Hungarian Horntail! Marvelous summoning I must say," Mary Sue gushed.

Zoey bit back a laugh. "That's nice of you, Mary Sue but you're a little late… you see, Harry defeated the Horntail months ago… also, shouldn't you be telling your complements to Harry?" Zoey tried to keep her polite tone in check.

"Oh, details, details. The poor boy is very busy. Seeing as there's still the Yule Ball and the Second Task ahead," Mary Sue said with a wave of her hand.

"How considerate of you," Zoey's mouth twitched.

"Note to self: Go to the Ministry and have a restraining order for Mary Sue," Echo silently muttered, loud enough for both of them to hear. Zoey nudged Echo again.

"Pardon?" Mary Sue gave a smile to Echo, "But what was that?

"A cold draft of wind," Echo muttered back.

Before Mary Sue could say another word to the Ravenclaw, Zoey interjected. "So was there anything else you came to say?" she asked in a panicked tone.

"Oh? Oh right!" Mary Sue clapped her hands with a childish look of excitement on her face, "Well, I came to ask if any of you have been asked out for the Yule Ball yet"

"What? So you could brag about the boy who we both feel sorry for because he asked you out?" Echo glared. She was still pissed about hearing the Slytherins talk about George and Mary Sue going together. Mary Sue talking about it was just putting gasoline on the fire.

"Oh, I'm sorry Echo dear. I didn't know you'd be… hmm… sour on the subject," Mary Sue said with a sweet smile, "After all, George did ask me to be his date"

"That was so sweet of him though you deserve better," Echo said, curling her hand into a fist and crushing her almost petal-less flower.

"Oh no, not at all. Georgie dear is the best," Mary Sue tilted her head to the side.

Zoey's eyes widened at the two of them. Something was going on. This didn't look good at all.

"Well, you definitely need some brain transplant," Echo dropped the remains of her crumpled, almost petal-less flower to the ground.

"Oh, Echo, what makes you say that?"

"You don't know George. You obviously deserve better!" Echo said in a loud, forceful voice.

"Is that the case or are you just jealous? Perhaps you wanted… say… George to ask you?" Mary Sue asked in an innocent matter but Zoey knew that tone all too well. This was not innocent at all. Mary Sue was pushing Echo's buttons.

"I did not say anything, Mary Sue. You're the one who said it, not me," Echo smirked, "Maybe, I just wonder, that you charmed George to ask you so that you can rub it off on me?" Echo crossed her arms over her chest.

Mary Sue's sweet face disappeared and was replaced by a glare. The glare reminded Zoey of a dreaded woman she knew. She felt her hands get clammy and her eyes widened at the similarities she saw. She wanted to get up and run away. Wanted to retreat back to her Common Room and find shelter there, where no one can hurt her.

"Very well," Mary Sue said before turning to Zoey.

Zoey tensed. She could not escape now.

"How about you, Zoey? Has anyone asked you to the ball yet?"

"Err –"

"Cause you are rather pretty –"

"Not –"

"– And I would think that someone would have asked you by now –"

"No –"

"Maybe that Diggory boy –"

"But –"

"Or maybe even… Fred!"

Zoey's eyes widened and saw Mary Sue waving her hand. She, Zoey, whirled around and saw the twins approaching them. She blushed as she saw Fred give her a wave and she was just about to wave back but was stopped when she felt Mary Sue quickly stand back up, she seemed to have forgotten their conversation already. Zoey watched as Mary Sue skipped her way towards George and clung on to his shoulder. Her legged popped up and she flirtatiously pocked the top of his nose.

"I'll see you tonight, Georgie~" she giggled before twirling and skipping away. George blushed shamelessly.

When Mary Sue was finally out of sight, Echo stood up from the grassy ground and approached George. She pulled out her broken pocket book and held both halves threateningly.

"You disgust me," she said in a deadly voice before throwing the torn up pocket book at George in anger. Pages flew and Echo ran away from the trio leaving them shocked. Zoey looked at George sympathetically and watched as he lowered his arms, he had raised them in defense, and looked down at the torn up book.

"What did you do to her mate?" Fred asked, turning to his brother.

"I don't know…," George replied, kneeling down and picking up one of the pages that flew out of the book. He stood back up and looked at Zoey together with Fred, both looking for an answer.

Zoey looked at them with her brows knitted in worry and gave them a small smile that didn't really say anything because she didn't know what to say.

"I'm sorry," she spoke with a quiet voice before turning away from them and running after Echo.

* * *

_That little daughter of a bitch, _Well, no, Echo couldn't really think that; other people obviously fond Mary Sue a little miss sunshine that was there to brighten up your –

Whatever

Echo sat against the stone wall of an empty classroom, crossed-legged. She was being comforted by Ginny and Hermione (the only two who made the classroom not so empty) and oddly enough, Echo was actually grateful for once. Although she couldn't ever so much bring herself to their droning words and comforting advices, Echo knew very much that she wasn't alone. It gave a homey feeling, the warmth that is resonated by your feelings about friends that you're comfortable with.

The night was quiet and the only sounds that Echo could hear was the soft winter wind from outside and Hermione and Ginny's words of comfort. It was peaceful. Sadly, peace could not last long on Hogwarts grounds and a little bit of proof to that statement was the classroom door being slammed open by a breathless Zoey.

"What's got your knickers in a twist, Zwei?" Echo spoke, not really sparing even a glance, but only eyed the floor.

"What I'd give for my own Marauder's Map," Zoey gave a sigh before closing the door behind her and placing a radio on one of the tables before wiping the sweat of her brow.

"Zoey, what's that?" Hermione asked, standing up and pointing at the radio.

"That," Zoey pointed at the radio, "Is a radio"

"We know that. What is it for?" Ginny stood up as well.

"Well, I was hoping it would cheer Echo up a bit," Zoey gave a sheepish smile.

"If it's what you call music, no thanks, I'm in no mood," Echo muttered, crossing her lean arms over her chest.

Zoey rolled her eyes. "This is music, yes. But in this little song, I was hoping we could make fun of Mary Sue a bit," she smiled.

"That's sounds awfully unlike you," Ginny smirked, "I like it"

"How are you going to make fun of her?" Hermione asked.

"Well, remember that odd bending and what not Mary Sue did a couple months back?" Zoey asked the three of them.

"Do not remind me of that memory I decided to forget," Echo said.

"What about it?" Ginny asked.

Zoey brought out her wand and tapped the radio. "You see, that thing she did is called the 'Bend and Snap'," Zoey tapped the radio again.

The three girls gave her a confused look. "The what?" Ginny asked again.

"The Bend and Snap," Zoey repeated, "Bridgit told me about it. She has a thing for muggle movies you see, except this particular one she regretted watching… Anyway, according to her, when I asked, the Bend and Snap is from this movie called 'Legally Blonde' what the movie is doesn't matter right now. Moving one, the Bend and Snap is used to attract the opposite sex and as you noticed, It worked"

Zoey took a breath. "This radio is going to play a song from the Legally Blonde _Musical._ The song …uhm… well, basically the song tells us about the Bend and Snap and what it does and how to do it," she paused, "We're going to do the Bend and Snap"

"Please send me to the underworld," Echo groaned.

"Come on, it's fun. You know, when you don't use it to seduce anyone," Zoey smiled, "I'll even swear. Bad words and all. No euphemism."

"Well, this I need to see, so fine," Echo groggily pushed herself off the floor.

"So how _do _you do the Bend and Snap?" Hermione looked at Zoey questioningly.

Zoey blushed. "Err – to do a bend and snap you bend down to reach for something and snap up and basically hold your – uhm – breasts up and smile"

"And you want _us _to do that?" Ginny asked with disbelief.

"You don't have to hold your breast. Just do it," Zoey tapped the radio once more and music began to play.

Zoey tapped her foot on the ground for a bit before opening her mouth to sing the lyrics.

_"Look at my ass  
Look at my thighs  
I'm catnip to the guys  
They chase my tail  
They drool and pant  
Wanna touch this but they can't_

_No! All the boys want to come and play_  
_Snap my fingers and they obey_  
_Why do they follow me around all day_  
_Watch me while I walk away"_

Zoey was dancing to the beat and Hermione and Ginny wore amused grins on their faces. Never did they imagine that Zoey would be doing such a thing. Echo raised her brows at her friend. Zoey then did the bend and snap as she sang the next lyrics.

_"I bend and snap_  
_Feel how hot it's getting_  
_Bend and snap_  
_Then when you got em sweatin'_  
_Spring the trap_  
_They cheer and clap_  
_No tight end can defend against the bend and snap"_

"Who are you and why are you using Poly juice Potion to imitate Zoey horribly?" Echo laughed. Hermione, Ginny and Zoey joined in.

"You guys should try it!" Zoey said over the song and tugged them towards her. Zoey did another bend and snap but this time Hermione and Ginny joined her in doing it. When their hair flipped back they gave another laugh.

As though an unknown force suddenly pulled Echo into finally doing the bend and snap, she looked like she was having a hell of a good time insulting Mary Sue. The four girls continued to dance along to the song and even sang the chorus together. It was fun and enjoyable and it even made them dizzy when the bend and snap just made their head hurt and their back ache but they didn't care they were having a good time. This little cheering up activity continued until the song ended and a clearing of a throat came.

The girls looked at the door.

"What are you doing?" asked as he stood beside Fred, both looking very much dumbstruck. Hermione and Ginny quickly went back to their upright position and Zoey and Echo soon followed after the twins' gaze moved to an area where they rather have them not looking.

"This is all a hallucination," Echo groaned and sunk to the floor.

"She's right," Ginny said, "You're just dreaming" she began to make hand motions making the twins believe that they were indeed dreaming. Zoey began to make dreaming noises like owls and ghost, though it didn't really make any sense, while Hermione just rolled her eyes at them and switched off the radio with a tap of her wand

"Like we'll believe that," Fred said with a role of his eyes, "Now what were you lot really doing? It's passed curfew"

"And since when were you Mr. Responsible? I think Percy's finally rubbing off on you Freddie," Ginny countered.

Fred made a face of disgust together with George. "That's horrible!" he cried out.

"But she's right," Hermione said, "And we should also be asking what are _you two _doing up past curfew"

"We're Fred and George. When are we not up past the curfew?" George asked.

Echo looked at George and felt a horrible pang in her chest. She was fed up with everything. Echo can't possibly ignore the fact that George didn't even get the message when she shoved that carcass of a pocketbook at him. It's just so.. so.. sad, Echo realized. She got up, though she wobbled when she finally did, and mustered the courage not to fall into tears. She hadn't cried in a long time, why start now? Echo harshly bumped into George's shoulder rather harshly before going out.

George stumbled a bit from the force and looked back to watch Echo run away from him once again and out of his sight. He gave a sigh before looking back into the room. Hermione and Ginny wore glares and left the room as well while Zoey quietly got the radio and held it in her hands. She looked at the twins and gave a small bow of apology, almost like Bridgit, and left the room.

* * *

**Gosh, it's so late already. I'm so tired.**

**I wanna thank HayleyParadox for helping me out**

**Also want to thank all my reviewers.**

**I don't own the idea of the Bend and Snap nor do I own Legally Blonde... duh XD**

**I'm so brain dead right now... sorry.**

**Sorry for the typos**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter**

**and**

**I only own what I own  
**


	62. Chapter 60: The Truth

**Chapter 60: The Truth**

"So is this really the Golden Egg?" Zoey asked as she held the object in her hands, gazing at it.

On that particular day Zoey found herself sitting near the bath taps of the empty Prefects' Bathroom with Cedric. No, none of them were going to bathe and the contrary they had just come to talk. Zoey swung her legs and placed the egg on her lap as she looked down at the swimming pool size bathtub. She didn't know why their tub had to be so big; it was simply a waste of water in her opinion.

Cedric laughed. "Well seeing as it is an egg and is indeed golden I would have to say, yes, that is the Golden egg," he ran a hand through his hair, "Come on, Zoey. You've seen it before."

Zoey rolled her eyes and played with the clasp of the egg. "Did you figure out the clue for the next task yet?" she asked.

"Unless you can tell me the meaning of a banshee screaming then, no," Cedric took the egg away from her, scared that she might open it and unleash the horrid sound, "Besides, the next task isn't until February. I have enough time to worry about it"

"Don't put off tomorrow what you can do today," Zoey said with her head held high before looking back at Cedric, "But seriously, you never know how long it will take to crack the clue. You might run out of time"

"I see what you mean but don't worry so much about it. It's my egg so it's my problem," Cedric paused, "Shouldn't you be worrying about the Yule ball instead?"

Zoey gave a scoff but smiled. "Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean all my current worries are about the Ball. Besides, I already have what I need. Dress and all."

"Really? Someone's excited," Cedric chuckled.

"Mrs. Weasley got it for me, okay? Let's get back to serious matters. So you have any idea what the clue might be? I mean, maybe the scream itself is a clue"

"I doubt it. Fighting a banshee is little too farfetched, don't you think?" Cedric raised a brow.

Zoey sighed. "I guess you're right… maybe the clue comes after the scream!" She took the egg away from Cedric and placed her hand on the clasp.

"You mean we have to endure that? I bet we'll be deaf before we even get to hear the clue," Cedric paused with realization, "And you aren't even suppose to be helping me solve the clue! It's against the rules"

"I'm not even supposed to be in the Prefects' bathroom in the first place but you insisted we have a chat here. If we broke one rule we can break another," Zoey struggled with her words. It was unlike her to even suggest such a thing but she couldn't help it. She had a lot on her mind and she thought helping a bit with the tournament would keep her mind of things.

It was on impulse when Zoey opened the clasp causing the egg to crack open and the ear-piercing scream began to flood the room, its echoes bouncing of the walls and seemingly getting louder by the minute. Zoey, shocked by its amplified volume, dropped the egg into the bath tub and accidentally hit one of the taps causing it to open and water began to flow out, filling the tub.

"Shut it off!" Cedric yells over the screams, his hands covering his ears.

"I can't! I dropped it in the tub!" Zoey yelled back.

"I meant the tap! It isn't doing us any good!"

Zoey reluctantly removed her hands from her ears and tried to turn off the water but ended up making it stronger. Her eyes widened in panic and turned the other taps which caused bubbles and suds and different types of foams and aromas to flood the tub as well. Before long, the bath rub was half filled with water while the other half was over flowing with bubbles and foam. Zoey could no longer see her knees below and lifted her legs off the edge. They were already drenched with bath water.

She looked over to Cedric.

"I'm so sorry," she said with a stressed sigh as she ran a hand through her hair.

"It's alright," Cedric placed his hands down and lifted his legs out of the tub as well, his pants were dripping with water and made small puddles on the floor, "You were only trying to help," he paused and looked around, "Do you hear that?"

"Here what?" Zoey looked around, "I don't hear anything"

"Exactly! The screaming stopped!" Cedric said with s grin

Zoey raised her brow, "Of course it stopped. It's drowned under water," she pointed at the tub. Suddenly, her eyes widened. She brought out her wand and pointed into the tub_. "Accio egg!"_ she said and the egg surface, still screaming. At the sound, she released the spell and the egg plopped back into the tub.

"You're brilliant," Cedric breathed out, bringing out his own wand, "Utterly brilliant"

"It was just an accident," Zoey blushed at the compliment

"But even so," Cedric smiled and brought out his own wand, summoning the egg and at the same time the scream flooded the room again he took the egg in his hands and quickly closed it. He looked over at Zoey. "So how does it feel like breaking a rule?"

"Completely terrifying. Never let me do that again," she paused, "You're a prefect! You weren't supposed to let me do it in the first place!"

Cedric laughed.

* * *

"So still haven't spotted anyone yet?" Zoey asked the two Gryffindor fourth years as she took a seat in front of them in the Great Hall. Ron and Harry nodded gloomily as they began to pick at their food. "Don't worry, you'll find someone," she offered a smile.

"But who?" Ron asked, "Everyone's taken by now!"

"Not everyone," Zoey said as she took a banana from one of the plates in front of her.

"Really? Who's there to ask?" Harry raised a brow and dropped his fork to the side of his plate, pushing his food away.

Zoey began to peal the banana and nibbled on it in thought. She swallowed and smiled at the two sheepishly. "I don't know, really. I just said that because I thought you were over exaggerating."

Ron pushed his plate away. "No I'm not. It's obvious that everyone's taken," he paused, "Even you, I'm sure someone's already asked you"

"What makes you say that?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Ginny appeared and sat beside Zoey, "Ever since that dance you had with Cedric almost every boy, who isn't busy drooling over Mary Sue, has been dying to ask you"

Zoey blushed. "Now you're over exaggerating"

"No she isn't," Harry shook her head, "You should hear what people are saying and how they are planning to ask you. But they stopped after they heard that you were going with someone already. And speaking of that… who are you going with?"

"They've been saying things like that?" Zoey asked with wide eyes, "Well, that explains a lot"

"What do you mean?" Ron asked

Zoey bit her lip. "Well… a couple of days ago several boys from different houses and years came to me and asked me to the dance. I turned them down though," she scratched the back of her head.

"Because you've already got someone," Ginny said.

"No," Zoey shook her head, "Because I didn't know who they were. It would have been extremely awkward if I would be dancing with a complete stranger."

"I see what you mean – wait, you said no… you mean you aren't going to the dance with anyone yet?" Harry asked with wide eyes.

"Well, yeah. Still free," Zoey gave a laugh.

"Then, would you go with me?" Harry asked quickly but got a shoved by Ron.

"Not fair! I was going to ask her!" Ron said.

Ginny bent towards Zoey and whispered in her ear. "Now look what you've done. You got my brother and his best friend fighting over you," she made a tsking sound. Zoey laughed and ushered the two to calm down.

"I would say yes, but no. Sorry Harry," Zoey apologized, "I know you want to ask someone else and you're just afraid to ask her"

Harry blushed. "Not true!" Zoey gave him a look, "Alright. Fine, but if she says no then would you go with me?"

Zoey nodded. "That is if I'm still free," she jokingly stuck her tongue out at him.

"But, if you aren't free. Who would you most like to ask you to the ball?" Ginny asked, genuinely curious.

"Well," Zoey blushed, "I was sorta hoping Fred would ask me…" She trailed off and looked at the three faces looking at her with sympathy. She raised a brow and felt her heart beat quicken. "W – Why are you looking at me like that?"

Ron scratched the back of his head. "L – Let's put it this way. You should accept going with Harry or me if you want to go to the ball with someone," Ron struggled to find the right words.

"What do you mean?" Zoey asked

"Zoey," Ginny placed a hand over hers, "Fred's already got someone"

"Who?" Zoey asked in a loud voice before lowering it into a whisper, "Really? Who? When?"

Harry answered her question. "Angelina Johnson. As for when, I'm not really sure. It was a few days ago, he was telling Ron to ask a girl before everyone's taken and Ron told him that it wasn't that easy –"

"But he said it was so I told him to prove it," Ron continued after Harry, "He called over to Angelina and asked her to the Ball. She accepted it"

"We're so sorry, Zoey. I'm sure he would have asked you if he hadn't heard that you were going with Cedric," Ginny gave her hand a pat.

Zoey's eyebrows knitted together. Why were they sorry? It wasn't like it was their fault… what's done was done; Fred had already asked someone…

"Well, we can't help it," Ron said.

"What?" Zoey's eyes widened, "Did I say that out loud?"

"Yes, you did. You said it wasn't out fault and what's done was done," Harry said.

"But it's true! Fred's got someone and… there's nothing I can do about it… I'm just shocked he didn't tell me about it. I mean, that's what friends do right?" Zoey said with a forced smile.

Ginny let go of Zoey's hand. "I don't think he told you because you didn't tell him that you were going with Cedric," she said.

"What's this about Cedric? Of course I'm not going with him! He's going with someone else. He asked her weeks ago and she said yes!" Zoey said with a worried look, "Why do you all think I'm going with him?"

Harry, Ron and Ginny looked down at their hands. It was Ron who spoke. "You both danced the other day. I guess we figured that you would be the one he would ask," he paused, "So you aren't going with him?"

"Of course not! We've established this already," Zoey sighed and looked around. She caught sight of the Patil twins enter the Great Hall, "Why don't you guys go with them?" she asked Harry and Ron.

"Parvati and her sister?" Harry asked, "Well, I suppose. That is if they're still free"

"Oh, Parvati is," Ginny took an apple from the plate, "and I'm sure her sister's the same"

"You should give them a shot. They're both really pretty and I'm sure they're nice," Zoey said before standing up. "Well, I'm going to catch a breath of fresh air now. I'll see you guys later!" She gave a wave and after a small chorus of goodbyes, left.

* * *

Zoey left the Great hall and crossed the grassy grounds before quietly taking a seat on her spot near Hagrid's hut. The rock was large and smooth and Zoey even took the liberty of carving her initials on the rock so she would know that it was _her _rock and not just any other rock. The idea was foolish and childish but Zoey could not help it. She has done a lot of thinking on the particular rock and it was very comfortable to sit on. No other rock could compare. Zoey gave a sigh and patted her rock as she looked up at the sky.

It was just a few more days before the Yule Ball, actually a few more hours since the Yule ball was just two days away. Zoey looked at the grassy ground and twirled her finger in her hair. She thought about what she would do. Her clothes weren't something to worry about, they have been ready since Mrs. Weasley showed it to her and she didn't really care about her hair and make-up. She decided she would just put on a light shade of lip-gloss and she would be ready to go seeing as her cheeks were already rosy. Her hair wasn't a problem either because she knew a simple spell that would make her hair at the least bit more presentable than it would be if she styled it by hand.

The object of Zoey's worry was who she would go to the ball with. After her talk with Harry, Ron and Ginny her worry on the subject grew. It was true that a few boys in her year, and even some who were younger, had asked her but she declined each of them politely because she truly didn't know them that well and was scared that things might get to awkward, and not the good kind of awkward (if there ever was a good kind of awkward).

Zoey let out a sigh. She knew that worrying about who to go with was no good and it shouldn't bother her that there was a possibility that she would attend the ball without a date. In truth, Zoey was not even worrying about it in the beginning but when Mary Sue told her that she was going with George and when they told her that Fred was going with Angelina well, her worry seemingly increased.

Zoey hastily brought her hands to her eyes and rubbed them trying to stop the tears that were forming. She thought about Fred going to the dance with Angelina, dancing with her, laughing and enjoying himself. She gave off a shaky breath.

"Come on, Zoey, get a hold of yourself. No good in crying about it," she told herself and began to think about the guys she knew, "Okay, Cedric's with Cho, George and Fred are out of the question already, Ron and Harry are most likely going with the Patil twins... Neville's going with Ginny too…come on, think, who else are there?" Zoey thought harder about the guys she knew and began to cross them out if she heard that they were already going with someone else. Her head was close to exploding with concentration that the only thing that distracted her was the voices that began to get louder and louder. Zoey shook her head and freed her mind from any thoughts when she recognized the voices. She turned to the source.

Fred, George and Lee were walking her way, talking. They didn't seem to take notice of her yet.

"I don't know what to do man," Lee said with a sigh and frustrated scratch of his head, "It's already two days away. Forty eight more hours or so and I still don't have a date for the Yule Ball. Everyone's taken by now. I'll be a lonely man, watching from the sidelines while everyone has fun dancing and what not"

George patted his friend's back. "You're overreacting, Lee. I mean, it can't be _everyone. _What about Katie?"

"Oh, she's taken," Fred said.

"Alicia?"

"Some bloke asked her last week," Fred scratched the back of his head, "How could you not know? You were there"

George furrowed his eyebrows. "Oh...right," he paused, "Well, how about..." and he began to list name after name. When he covered every girl they knew in their year he moved to the year below them and the year below that until Fred told him to stop and that the next year would be too young for Lee.

"Oh wait, I know!" George grinned, "What about Angelina? You've liked her for years!"

Fred cleared his throat and glared at his twin. George laughed.

"You know I was just pulling your leg mate"

Lee groaned. "I guess, that's that. I'll just have to attend the ball alone."

"Don't beat yourself up. I'm sure you'll find someone," Fred patted Lee's back while George looked around trying to see if he'd find someone that he forgot to mention. His eyes landed on Zoey. Zoey caught his gaze and gave a wave which he returned. Suddenly, his eyes widened with realization.

"What about Zoey?" he looked back at Lee, "You're friends with her and she's the same year as us. She's perfect!"

"Okay, George, never say those words again..._ever,_" Fred looked at his brother seriously, "You sound like those odd muggle girls that dad told us about. And I thought Zoey was going with that Diggory"

George raised a brow at his twin. "Where did you hear that?"

"What do you mean?" Fred asked.

"Cedric's going with the Seeker of Ravenclaw. What's her name? Cho something," Lee said before turning back to where Zoey was seated, "Now, if you would excuse me. I have something to do" He then began to walk towards Zoey.

* * *

"Hey, Zoey," Lee greeted as he stood in front of the Hufflepuff. Zoey smiled and greeted him in return. She side glanced at the twins and saw that George was watching them while Fred was trying to talk to him. She turned her attention back to Lee.

"So, is there something you need?" Zoey asked with smile. She watched Lee shift a bit before scratching the back of his head.

"Well, I'm sure you know that the Yule Ball is coming in two days and all," Lee began, slightly awkward, he did not plan on what he was going to say, "And from what I heard you've turned down every single bloke that's asked you so far"

Zoey gave a small laugh. "I didn't know them all too well and if you're going to say anything about Cedric, no I'm not going with him"

Lee raised a brow. "I wasn't going to say anything about him. I _know _he's going with someone else."

"At least you know," Zoey sighed.

"What?"

"Sorry, never mind what I was saying. What were _you _going to say?" Zoey waved the topic away from Cedric and stood up from the rock.

Lee cleared his throat. "What I was going to say – well, more like ask was," he paused and dramatically took her hand in his, "Would you go to the Yule Ball with me?"

Zoey raised a brow and laughed a bit. Lee was kneeling on the ground with her hand in his. If she didn't know better she would think he was joking or was dared to ask her but she did know better.

"So is that a yes or what? You're killing me here!" Lee whined.

"It's a yes," Zoey's laughter died down and brought Lee back up to his feet, "You didn't have to kneel, you know. You could have just asked me like a normal person."

Lee grinned. "I think we've established that I'm not a normal person"

"Anyone who hangs out with the twins aren't normal," Zoey joked, for she hung out with the twins as well, "Speaking of the twins, where are they?"

"Oh, they're just over… where's Fred going?" Lee turned around and his eyes widened. Zoey looked as well and her face read concern. It looked as if Fred and George had a disagreement of some sort. Not something large but just enough to make Fred storm away. Lee began heading towards George and Zoey followed.

"What happened?" Zoey asked the moment George was in ear shot.

George looked back and watched his twin walk away until he was out of sight. He then turned back to his friends and gave a sigh. "Just his wand in a twist," he said simply.

"That's odd, you guys never fight," Lee said, "Seriously, I mean"

"It wasn't like we fought or anything," George shrugged, "Maybe you should talk to him," he looked over to Zoey.

Zoey's eyes widened. "Me? But it was you two who had a row"

"It wasn't a row and even if it was we were talking about you," George grinned, he was plotting something.

"Why would you talk about me?" Zoey asked suspiciously.

"Why don't you ask him?" George then grabbed hold of Lee, "Come on. I say we throw some dung bombs at the Slytherins before dinner!"

"I have some extra ones in my trunk," Lee grinned before her and George ran back into the castle leaving Zoey very confused.

* * *

Zoey gave a tired sigh and looked up the stairs leading to the Astronomy Tower. The sun had already set and by her guess, everyone was already at dinner except her and a certain Weasley. She looked up the stairs which seemed to go on forever and gulped. Though she practically faced her fear long ago, the idea of climbing back up there was dreadful to her. She wished that Fred hadn't been up there, heck she only guessed he was there. She spent the rest of her day searching for him, often times appearing in one place more than once. The Astronomy Tower was the only place she hasn't checked and she truly wished he was somewhere else. It would be good to climb up and see him there she would hate to climb up and find out he was somewhere else.

"I really need my own Marauder's Map," Zoey gave a sigh and proceeded to climb

Each step Zoey took made her feel like an eternity had passed she was going very slow and didn't know why. Maybe it was because she didn't know what she was going to expect once she reached the top. She didn't know what to say to Fred when she found him there. What was she going to say? Was she going to tell him that George sent her out to talk to him? But what about? What was the twins' argument about? According to George it was about her, if it was, was it truly wise for her to talk to him if they fought over her? Zoey didn't know. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't realize that she reached the final step until she nearly hit her head on the door.

Zoey took a step away from the door before biting her lip and placing a hand on the wooden surface. She gulped a bit before gently pushing the door open. The door swung with an eerie sound and Zoey only opened it wide enough for her to fit before quietly closing it once more. She took a shaky breath before looking around the room. Everything was the same as before, Zoey didn't know if that was a comforting fact or not. Her eyebrows furrowed. She slowly walked around the room, looking for signs of Fred and when she found none she decided to use her voice.

"Fred?" she said in a loud whisper and heard the floor squeak beneath her. Her eyes widened and she whirled around to see the Weasley twin standing behind her.

"Fred!" Zoey said with relief and went to touch him but he flinched away. Her eyebrows knitted in worry. "Fred?" she asked unsurely, "Are you alright?"

"What? Me? Just peachy! Why do you ask?" Fred finally spoke; every word that came out of his mouth was coated with malice and sarcasm. Zoey took a step back; she didn't know why he was acting that way. Was it because of the fight he had? Surely, he knew that it was something he and George can talk over, right?

"I don't think you're alright," Zoey said slowly, taking a step towards him, "What's wrong?"

Fred took a step away from her, his eyes forming a glare. Zoey winced. "Fred, whatever you have to say. Say it. Please, maybe I can help you," Zoey tried.

"You can't help me," Fred said

"You don't know that," Zoey insisted.

"You can't help me," Fred repeated, "because you're the cause!"

Zoey's eyes winded at what he said. "Why? What did I do?" she asked, genuinely clueless. George _had _said that he and Fred fought over her but she didn't know _why._

Fred pretended to think but it was obvious to Zoey that everything he had to say was already at the tip of his tongue. She began to regret telling him that he could say whatever he wanted to.

"What did you do? Hmm, let me think. You go off with the guy who beat Gryffindor in Quidditch! We don't like him, Zoey and with you going off with him, well, that's a big slap in the face," Fred glared.

"We? Who we? Are you talking about Cedric? Is this what it's all about? Quidditch? Let it go, Fred! It's in the past. If this is what's got your wand in a twist that I never thought you'd be this childish!" Zoey felt a nerve break. She was so worried about it and finds out this little argument was about Quidditch! Of all things, and George said it was about her. That confused the Hufflepuff but she paid no mind to it. She didn't know what happened but she felt like all her bottled up anger was going to explode in this one night. She did not want to think on how this would result in.

"Hell yeah I'm talking about Cedric! Who else would I bet talking about? You shouldn't be hanging out with a git like him!" Fred exclaimed.

Zoey furrowed her brows. "And since when do you get to tell me who I can hang out with or not? I'm sorry but last time I checked I don't have to ask your permission on who I could be friends with," she scoffed, "and what's more, Fred, why are you getting so worked up on all this? It's just a bloody game!"

"It isn't just about Quidditch, Zoey! It's about everything. Him, Cedric, Quidditch, the tournament, asking you to the Yule Ball. _Everything,_"Fred's temper seemed too worsened with each word.

"What are you talking about?" Zoey asked in disbelief. What was she hearing? What was he saying? Things just didn't add up to her.

"What I'm talking about?" Fred seethed, "When were you going to tell me that Cedric asked you to the Ball and you accepted?"

"Never," Zoey glared, "Because he didn't even ask me. Get your facts straight, Fred. Cedric's going with Cho Chang and I'm going with Lee!"

Fred's eyes widened. "My own best friend? You're going with my best friend. That's almost as worse as going with Cedric," Fred looked away from her and up at the stars. He wanted to take control of his temper, he really did but no matter how hard he tried, it just seemed to be getting worse.

"How so?" Zoey folded her arms

"He's my best friend!" Fred simply exclaimed like the statement itself made sense.

"So? You don't hear me getting so worked up about you going with Angelina Johnson!" Zoey made her voice level to match his own.

"She isn't your best friend nor is she your friend," Fred said, "It's different!"

"Does it matter? You didn't tell me you were going with her," Zoey pointed out, "I guess this mistake is mutual but seeing as I wasn't even going with Cedric in the first place, it's all on you."

"I only asked her because I thought you were going with Cedric and I was proving a point to Ron," Fred tried to steady his voice

"Well, news flash Fred. I'm not going with Cedric and that's a pretty shallow reason to ask a girl," Zoey said, "I'm sure if you told that to her she would get hurt"

"Would you get hurt if I said Lee only asked you because he was out of options?" Fred tested.

"Of course not," Zoey said and interrupted Fred before he could retort, "Because I _know _he was out of options. Harry and Ron had the same problem. Like hell I'll get upset. I'm just glad he asked me soon before I went off and went with some stranger!"

"Oh yeah?" Fred asked

"Yes!" Zoey cried out, "Because long before he asked me I was already upset!"

Fred's glare softened a bit. He saw Zoey's eyes well up in tears. He had to force himself to stay where he was or else he might have gone to her to comfort her.

"I was really upset, Fred. You know why? Because I heard that you were going to go to the Ball with Angelina! It broke my heart! I was there, waiting for you to ask me. It was a stupid thought but I actually hoped it would happen but, no!" Zoey wiped her eyes, "You just decided to be a total prat and believe everything you hear!"

"How do you think I felt when I thought you were going with Cedric?" Fred asked, "Don't you think you were the only one upset at the news that someone you wanted to go with was going with someone else"

"Really now? You wanted to go with me?" Zoey rolled her eyes, "That's believable."

"Of course you don't believe me now, we're having a row," Fred felt his nerves calm down a bit, "But if we weren't. If I hadn't heard that you were already taken I would have gone and asked you"

"No you wouldn't," Zoey said quietly, rubbing her eyes.

"And what makes you say that?"

"Because, I'm still friends with Cedric. Some way, somehow, you'd hear another rumor and we'll just end up in the same fight," Zoey looked away from him, "This is stupid…. Why do you even hate him? Is it because of Quidditch? Because I don't think it is. I think there's more"

Fred ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "You're right, there's more," he said. Feeling his head cool down. Zoey looked back at him. "Then what is it?" she asked, "What's behind all this. I have a feeling that whatever it is caused this entire fight."

"You're pretty good a guessing," Fred sighed.

Zoey offered a smile before removing her scarf from her neck and waving her wand at it. The scarf began feel cold in her hands and she began to take tentative steps towards Fred. She bit her lip before wrapping the scarf around his head. She then stepped away from him. Fred gave sigh and felt the rest of his anger disappear and was replaced by coolness of the scarf. He didn't care if he looked very laughable with a scarf wrapped around his head; all he cared about was getting rid of the anger.

Zoey quietly watched as Fred's tensed muscles relax as did the rest of his body. She hoped that they could have a reasonable conversation now, now that all the anger and frustration was gone. She quickly tied her hair in a messy bun and pushed her glasses further up her nose, waiting for Fred to speak.

When Zoey saw that he wasn't going to say anything anytime soon she decided that she should say something first.

"So… what's the source of all this?" Zoey began, "What caused all this? What made us have a row?"

Fred opened his eyes and looked at Zoey. He placed a hand on the cold scarf and readjusted it on his head.

"Jealousy… I guess," Fred said, looking away from the Emeraude. He would never admit this to anyone besides his twin and Zoey. It was unlike him to act this way.

"Jealousy?" Zoey repeated, "You were jealous of Cedric?"

"No need to rub it in my face, Zoe… but yeah. I was jealous of that Prefect Diggory," Fred grumbled.

"But why? What does he got that you want?" Zoey asked

"Money, looks, grades, admiration, something for his parents to be proud of, the list goes on Zoe and the more I name them the more it hurts on my esteem," Fred lowered the scarf to cover his eyes.

Zoey furrowed her eyebrows. "Is that it? Fred, money doesn't matter… you know that right?" Fred grumbled in response, Zoey continued, "As for grades, they don't determine how smart you are and for the record you and George are geniuses. Admiration? I thought you were the type to not care what other people thing –"

"I'm not!"

" – Well, you better cross that out of the list then. Something for your parents to be proud of? Why wouldn't they be proud of you? You and George have done splendid things and frankly, I think they're mega proud. They, just show it in a different way," Zoey laughed a bit and Fred offered a chuckle, "Now, as for looks," Zoey blushed, "If it helps… I think you're very handsome"

Fred didn't say anything after and Zoey didn't know how to take it. Her heart was beating very fast against her chest and she could feel her cheeks burn with embarrassment. She wished she could take the cooling scarf from Fred and wrap it around herself but she didn't dare see the expression her held. Zoey tensed when she saw Fred reach over to the scarf and pulled it away from his eyes.

"There's something else he has that I don't," Fred said looking Zoey in the eyes.

"What's that?"

"He has you"

* * *

**And Chapter end!**

**I want to thank each and everyone of you who reviews, alerted, favorited this story. Without you, I don't think this story would have been very successful.**

**So thank you!**

**This is a rather long chapter and I hope you enjoyed it.**

**As for the fight, well, You see, I don't really like typing out fight and I don't think Zoey's the type to be in a fight with someone so I made a fight and I ended a fight in one chapter.**

**I hope it was to your liking.**

**Hmm... I feel like I had more to say but the same as usual, I lost my train of thought.**

**Anywho, hm... nothing much. This chapter's long enough and I don't think I should make a long author's note though I like doing those too... Ah well.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter**

**Tell me what you think!**

**Sorry for any typo's and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter**

**and **

**I only own what I own!  
**


	63. Chapter 61: The Reason behind it all

**Chapter 61: The Reason behind it all  
**

_"He has you"_

Zoey's eyes widened at his words and the intensity of his gaze. She knew by the look in his eyes that he was serious, no joking around, completely honest. Zoey felt her heart beat quicken and her palms sweat. Her breath got locked in her throat and she tried to look somewhere else, to distract her from all this, but it seemed that her mind and eyes weren't taking orders and her full attention was at Fred. Zoey felt dizzy.

"W – What?" She stuttered out though she heard him clearly.

"He has you, Zoe," Fred repeated with a sigh as he brought his hand to the scarf and pulled it down to his side. "Cedric has you… and I don't like it"

"Fred… I don't follow…," Zoey said, her eyebrows knitting together in worry.

Fred gave another sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. He took a deep breath before looking back at Zoey. It was now or never. He had said what he said and had no choice but to say what he has been meaning to tell her for the longest time. He licked his lips and took another breath.

"I lo – like you, Zoe, a lot and it kills me to see you with Cedric… having fun, smiling every bloody time," Fred told her, "I want to be the one you have fun with, I want to be the one you're smiling at"

Zoey took a step back and looked down. This was too much. They were fighting and now he was confessing to her? Sure, she was overjoyed at the fact that the boy she had been fancying since her second year was returning her feelings but it was simply too much for her to take in.

"But, I do have fun with you Fred… your jokes make me smile and laugh but… you can't have me all to yourself," Zoey looked up, "I have other friends too. George, Echo, Bridgit, Lee and others."

"I know that," Fred said

"But then why are you jealous of Cedric? Why him in particular?" Zoey couldn't help but ask.

Fred took a step forward. "Because there's a high chance of Cedric liking you and… you liking him back," Fred paused, "George, Lee, Harry, Ron they won't like you to the same extent that I do. Their lo – like to you is platonic but with Cedric… it's different"

"Cedric… Cedric could never like me that way… He has Cho," Zoey said in a quiet voice.

Fred stayed quiet for some time, thinking about what he should say next. After a few seconds in thought he opened his mouth and said: "Tell me, Zoe, did Cedric _tell _you that he and Cho were together? Cause even if he did, the way he spends time with you and the way he acts around you sure goes against that."

Zoey's face read disbelief at what Fred had just said to her. Why couldn't he just get the idea that Cedric was just a friend to her and nothing more? She took a deep breath.

"Yes, he told me about him and Cho and to tell you the truth he told me he was going to ask her to the Yule Ball before he even did that," Zoey bit her lip, "Can't you see Fred? Cedric's nothing but a friend and he's one of the nicest guys out there, he would never hurt Cho by going behind her back and fancying me or whatever your imagination made up"

"You're defending him"

"If he was your friends you would do and please don't hold that against me, Fred. You don't know him like I do," Zoey pleaded.

"Exactly, Zoe, you know him and I have a feeling he knows you just the same! Do you know how that feels? For the girl you lo – like to be known better by someone else?" Fred says with his fists clenching.

Zoey's breathing became ragged as she blinked at him in confusion. What was he saying? "What are you talking about, Fred? _You _know me way more than Cedric! We've been friends since the very beginning; you know what has been happening to me at home and much more!" Zoey cried, "You're not making sense anymore! First it's about Cedric and now we're talking about how he knows me? Cedric this, Cedric that. Just let it go!"

"Well, I'm sorry if I can't let it go. Sorry that my feelings don't make sense to you, Zoe, but that's how much I like you and I just can't explain everything and make it clear! It isn't as simple as that," Fred exclaimed.

"What do you want me to do, Fred? Stop hanging out with Cedric because you know that's not possible. He's my only friend in my house and he's been with me and put up with me," Zoey said in a defeated voice.

Fred licked his lips and unclenched his hands. He walked over to Zoey and pushed a strand of hair away from her face and placed it behind her ear. He took a deep breath. "I want you to give us a chance," he said, "I want us to be together."

Zoey felt her cheeks flush at Fred's words. She closed her mouth into a tight line and thought about what he said. She had always imagined life with her and Fred together, as a couple but she never thought it would happen. She looked at him in the eye and saw something she has never seen before. Her cheeks became warmer at his gaze. Should she accept? Why shouldn't she? She felt the same way, didn't she? Zoey opened her mouth to reply but then she remembered something she promised her aunt long ago.

_"What would you do after your schooling though? Run away?" Damiana then walked towards Zoey again, stopping mere inches away from her face. Blue eyes penetrating gray._

_Zoey swallowed hard._

_"Were you even planning to run away?" Damiana asked as she straightened up, "You know I would not like that. I would hate to know that you would leave the Emeraude's. After all, you are an Emeraude aren't you?"_

_Zoey did not want to answer her, "If you want me to stay then I'll stay. After schooling I'll come back and I'll never leave."_

_"Never?"_

_"Never. I promise"_

Zoey had promised her aunt that she would come back to her after Hogwarts. Come back to the dreadful woman and stay in her home forever, never to see her friends or the outside life anymore. Never to see Echo, Bridgit, George and Lee all her friends and Fred. Never to see Fred. She looked down with worry. She couldn't do that to him. She couldn't accept to be in a relationship with him and then break his heart in the end. She couldn't do that. She couldn't hurt him or herself.

"Fred," Zoey began in a teary voice, "I – I can't"

"What?" Fred's eyes widened and tried to hold onto Zoey but she pushed him away. She looked down at the floor for a moment before looking back at him with tears rolling down her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Fred, but I – I can't do this right now…," she let out a sob before turning away from him and dashing out of the Astronomy Tower.

* * *

After jumping the final five steps of the stairs Zoey blindingly ran towards a random direction. She didn't care that she didn't know where she was going nor did she care that she was out past curfew and someone could catch her and throw her in detention. She didn't care. All she cared about was how much she hurt Fred and how she wanted to get away from it all. Get away from the confusion and the hurt and everything in between. She didn't want to deal with it now or ever. Zoey knew that at one point everything will come back and she will have to do something about it but she deeply wished it wasn't going to come any time soon.

_"What does man love more than life?_

_ Fear more than death or mortal strife. _

_What the poor have, the rich require, and what contented men desire, _

_What the miser spends and the spend shift saves _

_And all men carry to their graves"_

Zoey looked up and let a couple of her fall. She had reached the Ravenclaw Tower without meaning to. She brought her hand to her eyes and wiped the tears away, though they just came back. She bit her lip and replayed the riddle in her head. She didn't know if it was wise to even try to answer a riddle with her thoughts in chaos. Before she knew it, she would be stranded in front of the room waiting for someone to get the correct answer. Then again, she wasn't stupid. If she were to get it wrong, she would simply walk away. Zoey gave a sigh. She got nothing to lose.

Her eyes widened.

"N – Nothing," Zoey stuttered out, "The answer is nothing"

"Well answered," the statue said before revealing the entrance to the Common Room.

Zoey's eyes widened and she was momentarily stuck to her spot. She got it right? How in the world was that possible? The confused Hufflepuff shook her head and stumbled into the Common Room. She looked around and saw that there was someone sitting on one of the chairs by the fireplace. The figure was flipping the pages of a book while writing down some notes on a piece of parchment. Zoey took a step closer to the figure and saw that it was Bridgit.

"I know you're there, Zoey," Bridget said, shocking the girl.

"H – Hey," Zoey struggled to say, wiping away the tears, "Sorry… I sorta came…am I distracting you?"

"Nope, I just found my reason to quit stud –" Bridgit was saying but stopped as she saw Zoey's red and puffy eyes. "Okay, sit and tell me," Bridgit said, pointing to the seat beside her.

Zoey's lips quivered as more tears formed. Completely missing the chair she ran up to Bridgit, fell to her knees, folded her arms on Bridgit's lap and cried. Bridgit was caught off guard but soon relaxed, seeing the state of her friends.

"I – I just don't know what to do anymore," Zoey said with suppressed sobs, afraid she might wake up unwanted Ravenclaws.

"What happened?" Bridgit asked, patting Zoey's head awkwardly. She really did not know how to deal with crying girls.

"I –It's F – Fred," Zoey began but the rest of her words were muffled with tears. She tried to calm herself down but didn't know how. No matter what she tried the image of Fred's heartbroken face kept coming back to her and it made the tears continue to fall.

"Why am I not surprised?" Bridgit asked to no one in particular. "What did Fred do?" Bridgit now asked, still trying to calm down her friend.

Zoey lifted her head from Bridgit's lap and wiped her eyes. What did Fred do? He just said what he felt, though some hurtful against her friends, Zoey _did _tell him to tell her whatever he felt. Surely, it wasn't his entire fault. At most, it was hers.

"I – It's more on… what did _I _do?" Zoey said with a sad voice, looking away from Bridgit and into the fire. She quietly watched it crackle.

"Okay…?" Bridgit answered, getting a bit confused, "What did you do?"

"I… I… broke his heart…," Zoey looked away from the fire and down to the floor, playing with the hem of her skirt.

"Oh…," Bridgit said, once again not knowing how to handle the situation. "Well…how?" Bridgit asked.

Zoey bit her lip. "I… it's hard to explain…," she said.

"I see, so I guess this is the most important question then… Did you mean to?" Bridgit asked.

"Mean to?" Zoey repeated her question, "Surely you know how I feel about it," she paused, "No… I didn't mean to… I didn't want to but, Bridgit you got to understand… I _had _to!"

"I don't blame you, Zee, and what do you mean you had to?" Bridgit asked, getting confused once again.

"Maybe… I should begin from well… the beginning?" Zoey suggested, "Maybe it will make things easier to understand?"

"Well, don't all things begin from the beginning? Hence the word 'begins'?" Bridgit said, trying to get Zoey to crack a smile, "And I think that's a good idea," she added.

Zoey gave a small laugh. "Right… well, the day began with Cedric in the Prefects' Bathroom. We were just talking about the tournament – Well, that's not important. After my chat with Cedric I went to the Great Hall and found out that Harry and Ron still don't have dates for the Yule Ball. Thing led to this and things led to that and I found out that Fred had asked Angelina to the Ball," Zoey took a breath, "By the way, did you know about that?"

"Well, yeah actually. He asked her during a study with Snape. I even remember Snape whacking Ron and Harry on the head, and Hermione walking out furiously…," Bridgit answered. "WAIT! How does this add up to Fred's heart being broken? He's the one who got a date?"

"No, well, sorta. Wait. I was getting to that. After they told me about that, Ginny, who was also there, told me that Fred would have asked me if he hadn't heard a rumor about Cedric going with me. I find that utter rubbish seeing as he's dating Cho," she looked at Bridgit, "Would you believe a rumor like that?"

"Nope, because Cho is my housemate and she just can't keep her mouth shut," Bridgit answered in a happy and sarcastic tone.

Zoey nodded her head. "I see, well, Fred believed it. Moving on, I left the Great Hall and took my place in my favorite spot near Hagrid's Hut. You know the spot right? Well, when I was there, George, Lee and Fred were approaching the area and were talking about something… I don't know what thought," Zoey paused in thought, "That doesn't matter – Soon Lee approached me and asked me to the Yule Ball"

"Hmm… and you said?" Bridgit asked.

"I said yes," Zoey sighed, "After that, we looked over at Fred and George and saw Fred walking away from George. We thought they had some sort of row but George said it wasn't a row. He told me they fought over me and when I asked why, he told me to ask Fred myself"

"And you chased Fred, didn't you?" Bridgit suddenly said.

"I wouldn't say 'chase' but I did look for him," Zoey blushed a bit, "But when I found him… that's when the trouble began"

"Did he confess?" Bridgit asked, hoping that she wasn't crossing any lines.

Zoey's lip quivered a bit when she remembered what happened. She took a shaky breath and forced herself to continue. She held onto her left forearm with great force. What reason? She didn't know. She just did it.

"No, not yet," Zoey whispered, "I – I don't want to get into too much detail on it because I sort of want to forget the whole thing," Zoey paused, "We – We had a row, you see"

"Go on…," Bridgit said, now rubbing her friends back as she noticed the tears once again.

Zoey brought a hand to her eyes and tried to wipe the tears away. "I… I don't know what has gotten into him at that time. He… he was just so angry! At first… well… the anger just… the source of the anger," Zoey hiccuped. It was painful. It was difficult. "It was Cedric. Fred was angry about Cedric! He was jealous of him. Saying stuff that I just couldn't believe he was saying!"

"What did he say? And I'm sure they weren't true! Cedric is a great friend," Bridgit said, still trying to comfort her friend.

"I… he said a lot of things and well… when he finally cooled down he began to tell me why he was jealous of Cedric," Zoey licked her lips, "He said that he was jealous about his looks, grades, admiration and all that but…," Zoey brought her face into her hands and shuddered at the memory. It was still fresh in her mind. It felt like a dream but she knew it wasn't. What had happened was real and she couldn't change it.

"He said he was jealous that you and Cedric were close didn't he?" Bridgit asked, trying not to let her friends say the obvious anymore.

Zoey shook her head and spoke into her hands hoping it wasn't too muffled for Bridgit to hear. She did not want to repeat what she was going to say. "He said that he was jealous that Cedric has me," Zoey said.

"Oh… I see," Bridgit said, thinking of something good to say to her friend. "Can I ask you a question? Not including that of course," Bridgit asked. Zoey merely nodded.

"When Fred said those words, What did you feel? I know that this is odd, but just answer okay," Bridgit asked.

Zoey's eyes widened and she lowered her hands to her lap, staring at the floor. What did she feel? She knew that what he said had shocked her but was that the feeling Bridgit was looking for? Was there more to it? Zoey knew the answer, it was yes. She had felt a rush emotions; confusion, shock, happy, sad and much, much more. So much that she began to doubt reality. Began questioning if what she heard was truly what he had said. Zoey liked her lips.

"I – I felt a lot of things," Zoey said after a long pause, "I was shocked at first but then confused after. I was also happy but that was hidden beneath the first two feelings," Zoey struggled with words, "I… I don't really know how to describe it…"

"Hmm… indescribable feelings, huh? Are you sure it's not love?" Bridgit asked, shocking Zoey even more though not with the reason she thought shocked Zoey.

"I _know _it's love, Bridgit," Zoey said, "I thought you knew I love him?

"I know you do, I was just scared that _you _didn't," Bridgit answered, giving Zoey a smile. "besides, I'm still shocked he realized it. Guess he's not as dense as I thought he was," Bridgit suddenly added. "So, what's the reason you two aren't frolicking in the garden being a happy couple right now?" Bridgit asked.

Zoey looked away from the Ravenclaw. "That's the thing… we can't be a happy couple," she said.

"My question is 'Why'?" Bridgit pushed, hoping Zoey would answer.

"Because it's not possible," Zoey sighed, "Fred…Me… together. It won't end well"

"Again… why?" Bridgit asked, trying to know the real reason behind everything.

Zoey looked back at Bridgit and gave a sad smile. She brought her hands to her lap and gripped onto the cloth of Bridgit's pajama bottoms. "Because… I'll be taken away"

"Oh, I see, so you'll be – Wait! What do you mean you'll be taken away?" Bridgit asked, panic in her eyes.

"I'm sorry I kept you up with my sob story," Zoey said with an apologetic face before getting up from the floor and straightening her skirt. She was avoiding the question. "It's way past my curfew and if I'm caught exiting the Ravenclaw Common Room I'll be in deep trouble. Thank you for helping me… I really appreciate it"

"Zoey… I know you're avoiding the question, and I also know not to push too hard. It's okay if you don't want to tell me, but maybe you should think…if…maybe Fred deserves an explanation," Bridgit now said, standing up as well. "And I'd be staying up late anyway… I have to finish studying and I have to make sure Harry lives in the next challenge," Bridgit added, offering her friend a smile.

"An explanation?" Zoey said with a hollow look in her eyes, she lost all feeling by now, "Don't you think that would just destroy him further?"

"Zee, if the explanation will hurt him… it's not going to compare to the rejection that he'll feel the moment you start to avoid him. Love is not my forte, but I know enough to know that you avoiding Fred would be like piercing his heart with a stake," Bridgit answered, hoping Zoey will understand, "I can't tell you what to do, and I can't teach you either, but try to think about it"

Zoey looked at Bridgit, scrutinizing her before turning away and heading to the door. She placed a hand on the knob but did not turn it. She just looked at it in thought. She bit her lip and turned back to Bridgit.

"Thank you," she breathed out with a smile before pausing, "I – I don't think avoiding Fred would be possible anyway"

"Trust me, you'll try," Bridgit suddenly said, "because you'll think it's what's best"

"That may be so and it might happen but… you know Fred, he might be dejected for a while but he's going to get back on his feet. He's persistent, that one," Zoey gave a small laugh, "Also, he's going to talk to me one of these days. You know why?"

"Because he can't stay away from you?" Bridgit answered, letting out a chuckle at the rhetorical question.

Zoey shook her head and turned the knob. "No, he's going to talk to me one of these days because," she stepped out of the door, "he still has my scarf," and with that she left the Ravenclaw Common Room with a click.

* * *

It was way past everyone's curfew and Fred was still yet to close his eyes. There he lay on his bed staring at the ceiling with wonder. He had been left in the tower alone after Zoey had ran out on him. He was left to wonder what he has said. Fred would have probably been frozen in his spot if not the nagging voice in his head told him to go back to his dorm and get some sleep. Sadly, that wasn't going to happen to him anytime soon.

Fred had found out that even in his pajamas and under his covers on his nice comfy bed he still couldn't get a wink of sleep. He was thinking too hard and he really did wonder how Hermione and Echo could manage to think so much without suffering from a headache every day. He was thinking about the only person who seemed to always fill his mind, yes, Zoey. His mind was currently having a war against him. He didn't know if he was confused or just tired, but his mind wouldn't shut up and give him time to actually find out which.

_Did I just get rejected?_ Fred thought to himself as he felt an uncomfortable pain in his chest. He had felt this pain back in the tower and hoped that it would have left him alone, unfortunately, it came back. Fred furrowed his brows. _Of course not! She didn't say she didn't like me right?_ Fred thought again, turning in his bed hoping that he didn't make any sound. He didn't want to wake anybody and be asked unwanted questions.

_But she ran away, didn't she?_ Fred's brain thought again, making Fred feel the pain once again. His brain had taken the toll on being the reasonable one. The Reasonable and extremely frank and insulting one. His brain was against him. Like he didn't even own it. It reminded him of Bridgit.

_Maybe she's not ready for a relationship…, _Fred answered, hoping that it would explain everything, but of course it didn't.

_The actual question is are you ready for a relationship?_ The brain said, making Fred more confused than he was before.

_Of course I am! I confessed didn't I?_ Fred asked himself, turning once again in his bed.

"… you look beautiful in your dress… Mary Sue..," Fred heard George say in his sleep and couldn't help but laugh. "But I'm terribly sorry but Echo looks absolutely spiffing in hers. Makes you look like a fungus growing under Lee's bed"

"He's love sick," Fred whispered to himself, laughing again at his twin's sleep talking, "And has his own problems," he then said in thought as he watched his twin clutch onto his pillow and turn over in his own bed. Fred raised a brow at his twin.

_Oi! You're supposed thinking about Zoe!_ His brain suddenly shouted, making Fred jump a bit and tear his questioning gaze away from his oddball twin. Then again, he was an oddball himself.

_What's there to think about? Of course I'm ready for a relationship and she's not. So then why push the matter?_ Fred thought. _Why can't you shut up?_ Fred then asked his throbbing brain.

_Because I'm rarely used and only appear whenever you have love problems!_ His brain answered, making his headache worse.

_That's not true! _Fred yelled inside his head.

_Fine, I'm not used for reasons I want to be used for, _His brain then told him. His brain had a mind of its own. It was not normal.

_Is this how it feels like to be Echo, Hermione and Bridgit?_ Fred asked himself, hoping that his brain wouldn't respond.

_No, this is what it feels like to have a brain that is rarely used!_

Fred was seriously annoyed. The fact that his brain was taking a different personality was irritating. He groaned, giving up his mental battle and turned in his bed once more, face down on his pillow. "Why is this so hard?" Fred asked, the question coming out muffled.

"…No, Echo! Please don't eat me!" George suddenly said, making Fred turn to his twin again.

"It's nice to know that if my brain is messed up, yours is too, George," Fred whispered, reaching over to cover himself better with his blanket but his hand grazed a different cloth. This cloth was thicker than his blanket and colder. Fred turned a bit to see what he touched and saw that it was Zoey's scarf. He brought it closer to his face before falling back into his pillow. He placed the scarf over his eyes and felt the cool temperature relax his tense muscles. He gave a sigh and hoped that he could finally get some sleep.

* * *

**Before everything, I would give an humongous thanks ZOOMSKATER14 for staying up with me till like 12 in helping me with this chapter~**

**You are too awesome for words~ I need a bigger vocabulary~**

**Anywho, thanks for all the reviews you guys gave! I'm glad you liked the previous chapter and I hope you like this one as well.**

**I'm hungry and sleepy and it's late (or early) so I don't have much to say.**

**I guess I'll just have to cut to the chase**

**Thank you for taking the time to read this**

**Sorry for any typos and the like**

**Please tell me what you think**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter**

**and **

**I only own what I own :)**


	64. Chapter 62: Cleaning the wounds

**Chapter 62: Cleaning the wounds**

_"Sirius! What in the world happened to you?" Lucy asked with her eyebrows raised and her eyes reading concern. She placed her quill down and ran up to the injured Black. The closer she got the clearer Sirius' injuries became. Lucy stopped right in front of him, stopping him from advancing, and placed a tender hand on his shoulder. She quickly retracted it when Sirius winced at her touch. Lucy's brows furrowed._

_"What happened?" she asked him, studying his wounds. Sirius had a black circle forming around his right eye and a bleeding lip. His left arm had deep gash while his right hand was covered with blood from covering the gash. Lucy looked over at the shoulder she touched and saw that the cloth of the shirt on top of it was ripped and drenched in blood. _

_"It's nothing," Sirius groaned and walked away from Lucy and towards the table she was previously sitting on. He pulled up a chair and slumped on it, wincing during the process. _

_Lucy shook her head. "Nothing," she breathed out in disbelief before following Sirius and sitting beside him, "You look like you've been attacked by a Hippogriff," she paused, "Go to Madam Pomfrey"_

_"What?"_

_"Go to Madam Pomfrey," Lucy repeated, "Your injuries, they could get infected"_

_Sirius scoffed. "It's just a scratch. They're nothing to worry about. Look, they could be no bigger than a paper cut"_

_"A paper cut? Are you mental?" Lucy's eyes widened, "What kind of demon paper were you using?"_

_"Luce, you're getting too overworked on the matter. Can't you just let it slip?" Sirius asked with a grin_

_"Sirius Orion Black! If you don't go to Madam Pomfrey right now I'll –"_

_"You'll what? Drag me there yourself?" Sirius glared, "You've said all that before, Luce, face it, you won't do it."_

_Lucy sighed. "You're right. I can't possible drag you not can I use a spell to bring you to her," Lucy paused, looking at the at Sirius' smug look before smirking, "But… I could always heal them myself"_

_Sirius' smug smile washed away and was replaced by a look of panic. "Maybe I should just go to Ma –"_

_"Nonsense," Lucy took hold of Sirius before he could even get up from his chair, "You wouldn't want to disturb the poor woman –"_

_"It's her job!"_

_"So, I'll just heal them for you," Lucy ended, ignoring Sirius, and brought her wand out and gripped it tightly. She scrutinized his wounds before biting her lip and pointing her wand at his black eye. She took a breath and the tip of her wand began to glow a cooling blue before Sirius took hold of her hand, stopping her._

_"Have you ever done this before?" Sirius asked seriously._

_"Of course not," Lucy scoffed, "I'm not striving to be a healer. Why in the world would I know this?"_

_"Then do you think it's a good idea to start with the minor injuries seeing as I'm still losing a bit of blood as we speak?" Sirius paused, "Better question: Do you think it's a good idea to even be doing this?"_

_Lucy rolled her eyes. "What happened to the daredevil Sirius I once knew? Come one, remember what you always say? 'What's life without a little risk?'" Lucy pointed her wand back to his eye, "This is a risk and your life depends on it"_

_"That's not what the saying meant!" Sirius pushed her wand away._

_"Talk – talk – talk. Would you just let me heal it?"_

_"What exactly are you planning to do?"_

_"I'm planning to heal the minor injuries first because I couldn't possible mess them up. If I go straight on to healing you wounds, I might make a mistake and cause all your blood to gush out," Lucy stated like it was the most professional way to sooth a patient into letting you heal them and flicked her wand at Sirius' eye before he could protest. She casted the spell in her mind and the cooling blue glow shot out and attached itself to Sirius' right eye._

_Lucy watched as the glow outlined the bruise and slowly began to make its way to the center until the black-ish purple color was gone. She smiled in relief before patting Sirius' shoulder, telling him that it worked. Sirius opened his eyes and blinked them several times before touching his right eye, giving a sigh of relief when it didn't sting. He opened his mouth to say something but Zoey quickly shot another spell at him, healing his cut lip._

_Sirius let out a surprised gasp and fell out of his chair and onto his back. Lucy's eyes widened and quickly went to his aid, helping him back up. Sirius rubbed the back of his head. "Warn me before doing that," he gave her a crooked smile. Lucy blushed._

_"Sorry about that," she muttered before checking his shoulder. She gently ripped of the rest of his bloody shirt and looked over at the wound. The bleeding had stopped had a scab forming. Lucy shivered before conjuring a small basin and towel. "Aguamenti," she muttered, filling the basin. She dipped the towel in it and wrung it before moving to Sirius' shoulder and gently began to clean it._

_Sirius relaxed under the cool temperature and closed his eyes. Lucy glanced at him before looking back at the towel. "Will you tell me what happened to you now?" she quietly asked him, dipping the towel back into the water._

_"I was harmed in battle," Sirius said with a warrior tone, "Defending the weak against the dark side. Protecting the poor mothers and children who cowered in fear –" _

_Lucy rolled her eyes."Tell me what really happened. Did you fall down a hill or got pushed into a thorn bush or something?"_

_"I did tell you what happened!" Sirius looked at her and grumbled when she gave him a look, "I also fell into something… pointy… BUT I was also defending someone"_

_"Really? Who?" Lucy moved to his arm and began to clean the dry blood there as well._

_"You"_

_Lucy dropped the towel into the basin making water droplets spray out. She looked at Sirius with wide eyes as a blush crawled onto her cheeks. "M – Me?"she asked, blinking several times._

_"Yes, you," Sirius dunked his bloody hand into the basin, pulling it back out, making a face and dunking it back in. Lucy took his hand out and held it in her own while getting her wand and replacing the bloody water with new, fresh water. She cleaned the towel with a wave of her wand and dunk it in the new water before cleaning Sirius' hand properly._

_"But why?" she whispered, "How did it all happen?"_

_"Long story short. A couple of Slytherin's should watch their mouth and their eyes," Sirius took his hand away from her, taking a good look at it and cracking his knuckles. Lucy furrowed her eyebrows at the sound._

_"Oh," Lucy side glanced at the basin, "Did you have your wand with you?" She was used to him being involved in fights with Slytherins. _

_Sirius scoffed. "Of course I did"_

_"Then how did you end up this bad?" she gestured to his now healing injuries._

_"Well, I tend to fight physically during these, yeah. I guess you could say I threw in a punch or too," Sirius scratched the back of his head._

_Lucy laughed. "I see," she then moved a bit to kiss him on the cheek, "Thank you for going through the trouble of teaching those Slytherin's a lesson"_

_"No problem," Sirius grinned at her before standing back up. "So how do I look? I'm still breathtakingly handsome right?"_

_"Absolutely," Lucy said with a role of her eyes and made the basin and towel vanish. _

Zoey sat on the Ravenclaw table, beside Echo, watching Fred from a distance. It was now the day before the Yule Ball and it seemed like Fred got over Zoey rejecting him. It's either that or he was really good at hiding the depression. It must be the latter. Zoey bit her lip as Fred joked around with George and Lee, talking about who knows what. Zoey wished she was there with them, laughing with them and just having a good time. She looked over to the Hufflepuff table and saw Cedric talking with his own friends. She knew that she should probably sit at her own house table but figured it was not wise to associate with Cedric just yet, frightened that Fred would just get angry again.

She let out a defeated sigh and looked over at Bridgit who sat at the far end of the Ravenclaw table_. "–__but maybe you should think…if…maybe Fred deserves an explanation,"_ Bridgit's voice echoed in her head. Zoey glanced back at the Gryffindor table. "Deserves an explanation…," she muttered.

"Who deserves one?" Echo suddenly muttered aloud from her breakfast.

"Fred," Zoey breathed out, realizing that Echo had no idea of what happened the other night.

"Why would he need one?" Echo popped a piece of toast in her mouth.

Zoey shook her head and pushed away her empty plate. "Tell me, Echo, how did you fell when you found out George was going with… you know…her?"

"You mean it," Echo corrected her, "and since when did you start questioning these type of things? Don't answer 'just now'."

"Since… since…since, well, more like because, I think that if I understood how you felt I might be able to understand how Fred felt when – I just might understand certain things," Zoey bit her lip.

"It's hard when you fall for someone and you somehow know that they didn't fall for you," Echo started fiddling with her fingers on her lap, "That's how it feels"

"But, but what if that person felt the same way but there were certain things that stops them from… you know… doing so?" Zoey paused, "Like, what if George had no choice but to go with Mary Sue…"

"No choice? There's always a choice, Zoey, you know that," said Echo, "George had a choice, Zwei, he had"

Zoey shook her head. "What about the Imperius Curse? You don't have a choice there, the victim I mean"

"You're smarter than I let you on," Echo smirked, "But I guess not, the Imperius Curse has no counter"

_"Powers that are almost like the Imperius Curse and the like! It's amazing really,"_ Hermione's words swirled in Zoey's mind and her eyes widened at the realization. She looked over at where Mary Sue was seated and her eyebrows furrowed. "Can it be…?" she whispered to herself with suspicion. There was a fifty-fifty chance where it could. Zoey looked back at Echo. "Let's continue this in your Common Room," she said quickly to the Veela.

"Alright," Echo replied, getting up from the table and walking out the Great Hall. Zoey trailed behind her, but looked back at the Gryffindor Table. She saw a couple of Slytherins walking away from the twins and George looking angry. Zoey's eyebrows shot up. "Hey, Echo?" she called over, "I – I'll catch up with you later"

Echo raised an eyebrow but proceeded walking to the Ravenclaw Tower. Zoey watched quietly until her friend was out of sight before turning back to the Great Hall and walking to Mary Sue. She stood behind the girl, panicked in the inside, and tapped the girl's shoulder. Mary Sue turned around, her hair whipping Zoey at the process, and looked at the Emeraude with large doe eyes before giving her sweet smile.

"Well, Zoey, this is a surprise. What can I help you with?" she asked conversationally.

Zoey gulped. "Hey, Mary Sue, I was wondering if we – we could have a little chat?" Zoey forced a smile of her own.

Mary Sue blinked and looked back at her friends, excusing herself before standing from the table and smiling at Zoey. "Lead the way," she said in a honey laced voice. Zoey nodded slowly before walking out of the Great Hall, Mary Sue in tow. Zoey led the girl through the halls, passing students, who took the time to stare at Mary Sue, and paintings. She rounded corners and walked down stairs until they were out of the castle and into the field. Zoey only stopped when they reached the Quidditch Pitch which suspiciously has very tall grass. She raised a brow at it before looking back at Mary Sue.

"So, where to begin?" Zoey said awkwardly, "I was thinking if I could ask you something…"

"If you were just going to ask, why did you lead me all the way out here?' Mary Sue wrinkled her nose at the sight of the grass.

"Well, you see, it isn't a question that I could ask in front of our peers," Zoey wrapped her arms around herself, wondering why she led Mary Sue to the Quidditch Pitch in the first place. If Mary Sue were to attack, no one would come and save her.

"Alright," Mary Sue nodded with understanding, causing Zoey to raise a suspicious brow, "What's the question. Let's hear it"

Zoey nodded. "I was wondering what you were doing at the Emeraude Suburb," Zoey struggled with words, "You know, before school began and all"

Mary Sue tilted her head. "What was I doing there? I was invited," she said simply.

"Invited? Invited by who?" asked Zoey.

"Well by your Aunt Damiana of course!" Mary Sue giggled, "Wonderful woman she is! What I would give to have an aunt like her"

Zoey felt her heart skip a beat and her breath get lodged in her throat. She felt a sweat form at her brow and her legs shake in fear. She tried to take a deep breath to calm herself but she knew that it wouldn't help anyway. Zoey blinked a couple of time and looked to the ground. She couldn't bear to see Mary Sue now. She was associated with Damiana, she couldn't be good.

"But I couldn't see why she had to invite me in the first place," Mary Sue went on, not noticing or ignoring Zoey's panicked state, "I mean it was a lovely gesture but I could have entered the Emeraude Suburb no problem even without her invitation"

"What?" Zoey's eyes widened, "But no non-Emeraude is allowed in!" she looked up at Mary Sue, "They won't let you through the gates," she paused, "Did you floo there?"

"Floo? Of course not!" Mary Sue laughed, "And why wouldn't they let me through? After all, I do have some Emeraude blood in me"

Zoey's mouth hung open in shock. "Y – you do?" she squeaked out.

"Yup, my grandmother was one, but my mother had none of the Emeraude Gift, a shame," Mary Sue pouted.

"W – what about you?" Zoey asked, "Do you ha – happen to have it?"

"But of course," Mary Sue squealed with glee, "Grandmother was so pleased to know!"

"And what might that be? Your gift I mean," Zoey furrowed her brows. She wanted to know what Mary Sue was capable of. Why Damiana took the time to know such a girl. What Mary Sue can do. What Zoey was put up against at that very moment. Zoey took a step back, watching Mary Sue's sweet smile turn to one of malice. She, Mary Sue, now held an uncanny resemblance to that of Damiana.

"Hmm? It's called, 'Hypnosis' Charm'," Mary Sue giggled as she stared into Zoey's eyes.

Zoey's eyes widened at the sight of Mary Sue's. The blue eyes Mary Sue had, turned brighter and seemed to almost swirl with a very odd pattern. Zoey felt herself lose mind, she tried to look away but couldn't. Zoey felt her mind go fuzzy and her vision misty. It was almost as if she was put under Tom Riddle's spell once more.

Suddenly, a voice called causing Mary Sue to look away and the charm to break. Zoey felt a bit dazed and took a step back to regain her balance. Mary Sue was irked at the disruption but the ugly expression was soon replaced when she saw who had disturbed them. Mary Sue gave a side glance glare at Zoey before running up to George. She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a swift kiss on the cheek. Zoey blinked several times before looking away in discuss.

"Mary Sue, get off me," George said in a strained voice, pushing the girl away before trudging towards Zoey. Zoey looked over at him in confusion before looking at Mary Sue who was glaring and huffed before leaving them. She, Zoey, returned her attention back to George.

"What's up? You look a little troubled," Zoey told him after getting a good look at his current state. His muscles were tense and his hair standing on end, looking like his hand ran through it more times than one can count. He was also breathing heavily and looked very irritated, like he needed to get something off his chest. Zoey took a step back, slightly frightened. "George… what's wrong?"

"I need your help," George told her, getting a hold of her hand and dragging her back to the castle, not waiting for her to answer.

"What? Why?" Zoey stumbled a bit but was able to match her pace with his, "What's happening?"

George didn't answer her for a while. All he did was walk. Zoey's brows knitted in worry and continued to follow George as he led her to the west side of Hogwarts. They entered the castle and he quickly brought her to the staircases and trudged up to the fifth floor. Zoey was beginning to sense her panic rise once more as they began to climb up a spiral staircase. When they reached the top, Zoey saw Fred standing in front of the entrance to the Ravenclaw Common Room, scratching his head. He most likely didn't get the riddle right.

"No luck?" George asked, letting go of Zoey and approaching his twin.

"No, I got it right," Fred said sarcastically, "I just felt like closing the door again and answering another riddle" he looked over at George, "Did you find someone who can answer it?" George nodded and jabbed his thumb towards Zoey. Zoey's eyes widened when Fred's gaze met hers. He seemed to tense at her presence before looking back at George.

"I thought you were going to get a Ravenclaw?" Fred asked.

"I couldn't find Bridgit anywhere," George replied, "Besides, I'm pretty sure Zoey would be able to answer the riddle"

"But she's a Hufflepuff!"

"A Hufflepuff who was in the Ravenclaw Tower the other night," Zoey spoke up, tired of watching them speak like it wasn't rude that she was standing right there, "What's the riddle?"

_"My first is double twenty-one but twice of twenty-two,__ Decipher it and you will see that statement is quite true._

_My next two are just three apart, or, looking at the link,__ You'll have the answer easily and will not have to think._

_My fourth is so more ways than one, so long as you can spell,__ While my fifth splits first and second, so what is it? Can you tell?_

_It may seem like these words of rhyme are nonsense things to say,__ Though the five together are right here (two ways) so what are they?"_

Fred said from a piece of parchment that he held in his hands. Zoey bit her lip and thought of an answer. This was rather tricky and if George and Fred couldn't answer it and she got it wrong then they wouldn't be able to enter until someone else passed by. After a few seconds passed Zoey looked over at the twins.

"Why do you even want to go in?" she couldn't help but ask, "You need Echo?"

"Just answer the riddle," George said, his patience wearing thin, "Please," he added after taking a few deep breaths.

Zoey licked her lips and took the piece of parchment away from Fred, pretending to ignore his blush when their hands grazed, and reread the riddle, biting her lip as she did.

"It may seem like these words of rhyme are nonsense things to say, though the five together are right here (two ways) so what are they?" Zoey read the last line and her brows furrowed, "What are they?"

"Believe me, we've asked," Fred said with a role of his eyes, "But all we got were these nonsense words –"

"That's it!" Zoey's eyes widened, "Words! The answer is Words!"

"Incredible wit," the door opened revealing the Ravenclaw Common Room.

Zoey and the twins stepped into the Common Room and looked around. It was empty except for the one person who was taking a seat on one of the sofas with a large pocket book in hand, Echo. Zoey stepped forward to great her but stopped when Echo turned to them with an indifferent look in her eyes.

Zoey and the twins stepped into the Common Room and looked around. It was empty except for the one person who was taking a seat on one of the sofas with a large pocket book in hand, Echo. Zoey stepped forward to great her but stopped when Echo turned to them with an indifferent look in her eyes. George looked towards Fred and Zoey and sighed.

"Thanks for the help, Zoey, but you and Fred can go now," he told them, "This is between Echo and I"

"What?" Fred asked in disbelief, never would he have thought that George would ask him to leave a scene that involved him. Zoey simply looked at him, and then at Echo with questioning eyes.

"Whatever you have to say, she can listen," Echo said, putting her pocketbook down.

George looked over at the Ravenclaw. "She and Fred can listen but what about the rest of your house?" he asked with a glare.

"Bother do they not," Echo monotonously spoke, "We only care on our own business here. What do you even want?"

"What I want?" George's voice raised a little and Zoey quickly placed a silencing spell around the room. She didn't know if it would work but it was at least a try. "What I want to know is when you were going to tell me you were going to the ball with a Slytherin!" George asked, "I know I don't have control on who you say yes to but a Slytherin who is two years younger than you, might I add. Are you mental?"

"What? Am I supposed to say 'no' to him?" Echo snarled, "George, I accepted because he was the first one to ask me. He mustered up the courage to ask me," She shrieked, "Why do you even care?"

Zoey flinched at the pitch of Echo's voice and was surprised that neither George nor Fred did. She gulped and straightened up, though backed a bit behind Fred.

"Slytherins have no courage. That's for Gryffindors," George said, "And why do I care? Cause he's a Slytherin! No Slytherin is good for anyone."

"So what? I barely even knew there were people out there who can even notice the likes of me!" Echo was now standing up to George, fist clenched at her sides, "Besides," she started in a sickeningly softer tone, but was still filled with malice, "You've got Mary Sue, don't you? Why not just frolic with her in a flower filled hillside?"

"Flower filled –" George began but shook his head, "That's stupid! I wouldn't be caught dead doing that with_ her._"

"That's believable," Echo growled, "Believable like you're going with her to the ball!" she threw her arms up in the air.

"What do you want from me, Echo? The truth?" George's brows furrowed in anger.

Echo let out a dry laugh before continuing. "The truth? What else is there? That you've already done Mary Sue?"

"No," George's glare hardened, "The truth is that I don't want you to go with a Slytherin is because I want to go with you – No, I know I have Mary Sue but believe me when I say that I don't even remember asking her," George paused, "And no, I was not drunk. I was completely sober when she cornered me. I heard Fred's warning so I tried to distance myself but before I knew it; people were telling me I was going with her. There was like a memory I was missing, like asking her but I don't know any more so with no real proof and not wanting to hurt her feelings seeing as I don't want to turn out as an arse I went with it! I like_ you_, not her"

Zoey's eyes widened and she didn't even know she was clutching onto Fred's arm out of suspense. She slowly released her hold on him and looked at him with wide eyes. She watched as Fred's eyes were wide but held knowing. He knew this, he told her this but Zoey did not know this. She looked over to the two and gulped. What was going to happen next?

"Yeah," Echo scoffed, "'I like you not her!' he says," Echo put her fingers in the air and made quotes while imitating George mockingly.

George looked both hurt and angry at what she said. "Fine, don't believe me. Just go off with that slime ball for all I care," he said to her before turning his back on her and leaving the Common Room. Zoey followed George with her eyes and felt Fred move from beside her, calling for his twin.

"Fred," Zoey said to him, grabbing a hold of his shirt, stopping him from following his brother.

"I need to go," he told her gently and took her hands off of his shirt, "Meet me in Honeydukes, you know the way" and with that, he too left the Common Room. Zoey bit her lip in worry and turned back at Echo.

"Are you going to make me go with them by force and apologize to George and be friends with him again?" Echo crossed her arms over her chest.

"Do you want me to?" Zoey asked in a quiet voice.

"You're going to force me to," Echo replied, "Face it, you're tired of me being like this and not fun-loving and carefree like that one time before."

Zoey shook her head. "I'm not the forceful type," she told her, "Why didn't you believe George when he told you he likes you?"

"Hard to believe when you see Mary Sue in all her perfectness"

"But remember when I told you that he might not have had the choice?" Zoey asked.

"He was put under the Imperius Curse?" She breathed out.

"Or something like that," Zoey said worriedly, "He could have been… hypnotized, but it just wasn't strong enough… Echo, I'm going to lend you some books tomorrow"

"Thanks," Echo spoke silently, "You're still going to make me be friends with George, aren't you?"

"That depends… do you want me to?" Zoey asked, with a small encouraging smile.

"Fine," Echo sighed, "I'll go get dressed"

Zoey merely smiled and watched as the Veela went up to her dorm.

* * *

_"Broken hearts  
Broken dreams  
They're just some things that love brings  
When you learn that it's all been a lie  
You cry  
You find that"_

Zoey then sang the chorus of the song,

_"Nothing_  
_Nothing_  
_Nothing hurts like love_  
_Nothing brings your heart so much pain_  
_And you'll never learn_  
_Till you get burned_  
_Till you're burned by the flame_  
_Nothing hurts so bad_  
_Nothing hurts so much_  
_No nothing hurts like love"_

Zoey sang as she trudged in front of Honeydukes. She was dressed in her winter robes and wore a hat that had panda ears on the top. She had her hands in her pockets and paused every once in a while to look down the path of Hogwarts. Fred was still nowhere to be seen. She felt her heart skip a beat. She didn't know why she even came. Sure, Bridgit had said that she would avoid Fred and truth be told Zoey was thinking about it as an option but Zoey also thought about giving Fred an explanation. He did deserve one right? Zoey began to trudge again.

_"So you gave all you had  
How the story turned so sad  
Nothing left but the tears in your eyes  
You die inside cus"_

She sang the sad song's chorus once more, closing her eyes as she did so. She didn't know why she was singing it, she knew it didn't help her mood but the song just came up and she simply had to voice her heart's feelings.

_"So dry your eyes  
It's just your turn to learn  
The time to find that nothing  
Nothing"_

Zoey bit her lip as she played the instrumentals in her head. Where was Fred? Was he able to catch up with George? More importantly, was Echo able to catch up with the youngest Weasley Twin? Zoey did not know, she hoped she did. It would have made life a whole lot easier if she was the only one with the problems. She wanted everyone to be happy. Zoey looked down to the ground, that's why she rejected him. She knew it wasn't going to make him, or her, happy but it would make things easy. She took a deep breath and sang the last line.

_"Nothing hurts like love  
Nothing brings your heart so much pain  
And you'll never learn  
Till you get burned  
Till you're burned by the flame  
Nothing hurts so bad  
Nothing hurts so much  
No nothing hurts like love"_

There was clapping. Zoey felt herself jump in surprise and whirled around to see Fred standing a few feet behind her, clapping. She felt her blush, from the cold, deepen with embarrassment. She played with her sleeves and blinked at Fred. Her heart was beating faster and faster. She couldn't avoid or run away from him, not now. Not when he was standing right there with her scarf wrapped around his hand. Zoey held a laugh. He was going to give her the scarf.

"Hey," Zoey breathed out as a greeting, shivering as a cold winter breeze blew by. Fred returned her greeting.

"Glad you came," he said to her, "I thought you would avoid me, actually"

Zoey gave a small laugh. "Bridgit thought I would too," she looked around and spotted a bench not too far away, "Want to take a seat?"

"Sure," Fred grinned before moving to the bench and waiting for Zoey to take a seat before her did. When they were finally seated and awkward silence hung over their heads. Zoey bit her lip and swung her legs, waiting for Fred to say something. She looked up at him and saw that he wasn't looking at her, instead he looked like he was trying to muster up the words to say.

She cleared her throat.

"May I have my scarf back?" she gave a sheepish smile, "It's getting rather cold now"

"What?" Fred looked at her and blushed, "Sure, here" he gave her the scarf. Zoey happily accepted it but her eyes widened when her hand grazed the cloth.

"Fred!" Zoey exclaimed, "It's still giving out a cold temperature"

"Yeah, it really worked. You know, cooling my head and all," Fred said, scratching the back of his head.

Zoey shook her head. "That's not what I mean," she threw her scarf to the side, "Fred, were you holding onto it the whole trip here?"

"Yeah," he said to her slowly.

"But it's freezing!" she told him

"I know, it was rather hard to do it at first but after a while I sort of lost feeling anyway," Fred raised a brow.

"You could have gotten frostbitten or something," Zoey said worriedly, quickly taking Fred's hand in hers and scrutinizing it. His hand was cold to touch and when she tried to move his fingers they were rather stiff, the skin was white and seemed to have a slight change in color near the tip.

"I don't know any warming spells," she whispered trailing a finger down his palm.

"What? Am I going to lose my hand?" Fred asked panicked, "I loved this hand!"

Zoey gave a soft laugh at his reaction. "It isn't that serious," she told him and held the frozen hand in between hers, hoping that she could warm them. After a while of rubbing it she breathed on it with a warm breath.

Fred looked down at the Emeraude and felt slightly uncomfortable at the position they were in. She was very close to his body and holding his hand, sure he couldn't really feel her touch at the moment but it still made his heart skip a beat. He sighed inwardly. He might as well start questioning now; he might never get the chance again.

"Zoe?" he began. Zoey hummed in response, not looking at him. "I need to ask you something"

"Sure, what is it?" Zoey asked, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a thick pair of gloves. She placed both on Fred's frozen hand before looking up at him with a bashful smile, embarrassed at what she had done as a substitute for a warming spell.

Fred took a breath and looked at his glove covered hand. "I was wondering about what happened the other day," he began, "I feel like… I didn't fully understand it."

"W – what didn't you fully understand?" Zoey stuttered out.

"Why you said no"

Zoey swatted his arm. "That's a pretty big ego you have," Zoey forced a joke, "Not every girl would say 'yes' to you, you know"

"I'm being serious here," Fred looked in her eyes, seeing right through her defense mechanism.

"I know," Zoey sighed, "I – I just don't think we'll be happy together"

"Why? Don't you like me?" Fred asked.

"I do, I really do like you, Fred it's just it's not easy," Zoey's lip quivered.

"What makes it hard?" Fred turned to her, looking her in the eye.

Zoey licked her lips. "Because, Fred, I want a relationship that will last. No problems in the way –"

"Every couple has their fights," Fred interrupted, "You know that"

"I do know that but that's not what I meant by problems… Fred, how long do you think we'll last? As a couple, I mean?"

"I can't predict those kinds of things"

"How long do you want us to last?" Zoey felt tears forming and blinked them away_._

Fred furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "I would like us to last a very long time," he said honestly, "Even after Hogwarts"

"And that's why we can't be," Zoey said sadly.

"We'll still be in touch after Hogwarts," Fred told her, "Just because school ends doesn't mean our friendship or whatever relationship will have by then would end too"

"It will, Fred," Zoey told him.

"Why?"

"Because," Zoey took in a shaky breath, "Because, I made a promise"

Fred opened his mouth to ask but was stopped when Zoey gave out a sob and wrapped her arms around him, crying on his shoulder. He felt no tears but her shuddering breaths told him she was holding them back, afraid that she had shed too many tears on the matter and didn't want to waste anymore. Fred, used to comforting her, soothingly patted her back, whispering kind nothings into her ear. After a while, Zoey calmed down but didn't release her hold on him.

Zoey kept quiet and thought to herself. What has she become? She was weak. All she ever did was flinch away from things that scared her and cried when she felt upset and angry. She hated it. Sure, she was showing feelings and it was healthy for her not to keep them bottled up and she was tired of it. Why was she this way? Zoey mentally shook her head. She knew why she was this way. It was her Aunt's fault. Zoey was mentally and physically scarred by that woman. The abuse she had to endure took a toll on her personality. Zoey knew that there were some things she can never change in herself. She could try but after some time she would always revert back to her timid self.

She didn't like that.

She knew that there was no stopping it. It was in her blood. The people in the Hospital she went to all those years ago told her.

She would remain this way no matter what she did.

Zoey took a breath. If she was going to always revert back to her timid self, why not at least try to break it? It was hopeless but it was worth a try.

The Emeraude knew she was always painfully shy. Afraid to say what's on her mind at times but now she would be different. By tomorrow she would once again be shy but just at this moment, at this very hour she was going to say what's on her mind. She didn't care that she would be embarrassed the next day, no, she had to tell Fred what she needed to say, before it was too late.

I have to do this, Zoey thought to herself, feeling her brain force the words to form in her mouth. It was painful but it had to be done.

"I'm sorry for asking," Fred whispered to her, "I know there are still demons in your past that you still can't share and I respect that. I won't bother you about it anymore"

"No, bother me about," Zoey said against his neck, "Not forcefully but give me a reason"

"What?"

Zoey shook her head. "You're right. There are still things I need to tell you and I want to tell you but it's not that easy," she took a breath, "I know I'll be very embarrassed to say this tomorrow but please hear me out."

"I – I really lo –" she felt an electric shock in her head and bit back a scream. Her body, it was fighting back. It was trying to bring her back to who she was once more. Zoey fought against it. "I really like you, Fred and I want you to convince me to stay with you, be with you," she paused, "It's a lot to ask but if you don't want to –"

"I'll do it," Fred pushed her from his shoulder and looked at her in the eye, determination in his, "What do you want me to do?"

Zoey gave a smile, the electric shocks becoming more painful. "I want you to be yourself again," she told him, "All this drama. It's changed you a bit. I want you to be joking and carefree with George and Lee. I miss out talks and the trouble you nearly drag me in like the one with Filch. I want that," Zoey inwardly winced, "Can you prank the Slytherins?"

"I'd love to," Fred grinned, a twinkle in his eyes.

* * *

**There's still more to Zoey that we don't know yet. More will be revealed soon. Most likely during their final year so please bear with me.**

**This is a rather long chapter filled with a bit of Drama and such. **

**I'm hoping to get rid of that in the next chapter.**

**Also, I miss the joking twins so we'll be seeing them again in the next chapter~**

**YEY~**

**Thank you HayleyParadox for helping me out.**

**Also, thank you to all of you who ** **reviewed~**

**I have like 400 now and I'm so happy! I never thought this could happen but it did.**

**I really love you guys.**

**Now, hmm... what more do you want me to say?**

**Fred and Zoey now know how they feel about each other but now their only problem is that there are things that keep them from being together.**

**WHY?**

**OH WHY?**

**Oh well... Let's see what happens in the next chapter...**

**THE YULE BALL!**

**YEP, We finally reached that part of the story~**

**FINALLY.**

**You can go to my profile and check out the links to their dresses... sadly you can't just simply click the link... you have to copy paste it... guuurrgglllee :P**

**Meh, nothing more to say except for**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter**

**Sorry for any typos and the like**

**and if anyone was OOC**

**like maybe Fred and George... I really miss their joking side D:  
**

**Please tell me what you think**

**I'm open to suggestions**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**and**

**I only own what I own**

**Oh~ And Also, the song Zoey sang is "Nothing hurts like love," by Daniel Bedingfield. I feel like she hasn't sang in so long and I felt "What the heck" So yeah...**

**TOO MUCH DRAMA~  
**


	65. Chapter 63: The Yule Ball

**Chapter 63: The Yule Ball**

Zoey carefully brushed her hair away from her shoulder as she looked in the mirror. She was previously watching all her dorm mates fussing over their hair, shoes, make up and dresses before she, herself, was dragged into the chaos. Zoey had lived all her Hogwarts life thinking that her existence was unknown to them until one of her dorm mates, Jane Younglove, had taken notice to Zoey who seemed to stand out from the rest for she was not running around looking for an eyelash curling spell and what not.

In all honesty, while everyone was either helping each other with their hair or zipping up the back of their dresses, Zoey was leisurely laying down on her bed, reading. Her dress was hung and her shoes were placed near her bed, her makeup was just a stick of lip gloss and it was just carelessly placed near her pillow. Jane, who was already dressed and ready to go, took a look around the room, checking for anything she might have missed when she caught sight of Zoey. She walked up to the girl with a questioning gaze.

"Aren't you going to get ready?" Jane had asked her, taking a seat on the bed. Zoey, bookmarking her page, placed her book near the discarded lip gloss and raised her brow at the girl. Jane had never spoken to her before.

"It's a little too early to get ready," Zoey said in a shy voice.

Jane's eyes widened in disbelief. "A little too early?" she asked, "Are you serious? If you don't get ready now, you'll be late!"

"I think that's a little too much," Zoey said, sitting up

"It would take a lot of time to put on your dress –"

"It's a tube, I'll just have to slip it on and zip it up at the back," Zoey jerked her head towards the dress Mrs. Weasley bought for her.

"What about your shoes?"

"It's not that hard to put on shoes…. uh," Zoey paused. She didn't know the name of this girl.

"It's Jane," she said with a smile, "What about makeup?"

Zoey held up the lip gloss. "Right here"

"Just a stick of lip gloss?" Jane asked, taking the stick and looking at Zoey, "Well, wow. You're really pretty. I guess that would do"

"T – Thanks. You're pretty too," Zoey blushed and scratched the back of her head, this was a first. She was not used to this, having a friend, or an acquaintance, in her own dorm. She liked it, Jane was a nice girl.

"You're welcome and thanks," Jane smiled, "What about your hair?"

Zoey ran a hand through her hair and looked at it. She had already taken a bath earlier and her hair was dry and fell into waves because she didn't brush it or tied it when she laid down on her pillow. "Isn't this okay?"

Jane shook her head and brought Zoey to her feet. "Come on, I'll help you"

And that's how Zoey had ended up sitting in front of the mirror, brushing her hair away. Jane had been a great help in the hair department while Zoey simply sat there and let the Hufflepuff do whatever to her hair and face. Zoey was in awe when she was finally allowed to look in the mirror. Her makeup was simple, Jane has stuck to her promise to just use the lip gloss and Zoey was shocked at what the tine stick of gloss could do. Her hair was untangled and fell into soft waves and her bangs were kept away from her face. Jane had removed Zoey's glasses and Zoey was shocked at how bright her gray eyes were.

"I should really look in the mirror more often," Zoey breathed out a laugh. Jane gave a giggle before helping Zoey into her dress and shoes. When all this was done, Jane held Zoey at an arm's length, studying her.

"That should be good," she said to her, "You're all ready for the Ball"

"Thanks for your help," Zoey smiled before looking at the clock hanging on the wall, "And would you look at that. We aren't even late"

After a small laugh, Jane waved good bye to Zoey and left the dorm, leaving Zoey alone. Zoey gave a small sigh before looking at the mirror once more. She picked up her glasses and placed them on. She tilted her head to the side and removed her glasses before placing them back on the table. She then took a good look at her dress.

It was simple yet elegant. Its colors were mainly of yellow except it had a black ribbon right under the breast. Black flowers were scattered all over her chest and ended somewhere near the end of the ribbon with only a stray flower exceeding it. Her shoes were three inches and were black as well. Zoey smiled. This dress was nice. She liked it.

Zoey looked back at the clock and gasp. She held up her dress a bit and dashed out of her dorm. She was going to be late in meeting up with Lee. Sure, some teachers had told their students that the boy should be picking the girl up but she and Lee had an agreement that they didn't really care about it. They were going to the Yule Ball as friends and just to have fun, no need for formalities.

Zoey gave a huff when she finally reached the Gryffindor Tower and waited for Lee, or a Gryffindor, to come out. She took out her wand, which her kept in a secret pocket of her dress, and waved it causing all her sweat and running odor to go away and to be replaced with her usual scent of coconut milk. She smiled at the result and kept her wand again just in time for the portrait of the Fat Lady, who was busy drinking and did not take notice of Zoey, to swing open.

"Oh, Hello Harry," Zoey greeted when she saw her god brother emerge from inside with his date beside him, "Hello, Parvati, you're looking lovely"

Parvati smiled in greeting and Zoey returned her attention back to Harry. "Someone's very dashing tonight," Zoey smiled before her eyes caught onto his bow tie. She gave a motherly sigh and fixed it, "Honestly, Harry, you should fix these sort of things before going out of the room. I mean, Parvati looks so beautiful tonight. You shouldn't looks shabby"

Harry gave small groan and pushed Zoey's hand away, fixing his own bow tie. Zoey gently swatted his hands and fixed it herself. "You should be happy, don't be such a grumpy puss," she paused and smoothed out the cloth on his shoulders, "There we go. Very handsome"

Harry then opened his mouth to say something to her but the door swung open again and Fred came out with Angelina on his arm. They were laughing. Zoey bit her lip and stepped aside along with Harry and Parvati to make room. She, Zoey, watched from the corner of her eye, Harry take Parvati's arm and led her to the direction of the Ball. Zoey looked back at Fred and Angelina; Angelina caught sight of her first.

"Wow, Zoey, you look beautiful," Angelina commented. Zoey smiled.

"You're looking very lovely yourself," she turned to Fred, "You clean up good"

Fred scoffed. "If I didn't know better, I would think that you were insulting me. Saying I looked like a boy in rags everyday"

"Not every day," Zoey rolled her eyes, "Every other day is more like it" She then let out a squeal as Fred reached over and threatened to mess up her hair.

"Hey, don't sabotage my date," Lee's voice came. Zoey looked over at him and saw him offering his hand, "Shall we, milady?" his asked in his best gentleman tone. Zoey saw Angelina stifle a laugh and Fred role his eyes with a grin.

"We shall," Zoey said with a small laugh in her voice before letting Lee lead her to the Ball.

When they finally reached the last step of the stairs Zoey saw the Triwizard Contestants standing at the door with their dates. Zoey raised a brow and saw that Viktor was the only one without a date. She looked back up the stairs and wondered where Hermione was. Suddenly, Zoey heard a bark and looked down in surprise.

There sat Shinji with his front paws on the last step of the stairs. His tongue lolling out and a tiny mint green hat falling to cover his eye every now and again, on his neck was a white bow tie.

"Hey there," Zoey said, picking up the pup and holding him in her hands, Angelina let go of Fred and petted Shinji. Lee gave a laugh and poked the hat so it went back to its proper place on Shinji's head. Zoey looked up at Fred and saw that he simply looked at the teacup poodle.

"You can pet him too, you know," Zoey smiled at him

Fred huffed. "No way, last time I checked, he was growling viscously at me"

"That's because of what you dead," Zoey pointed out, "I'm sure he's already forgiven you"

"Really…," Fred said suspiciously as he went to pat Shinji's head. Shinji's tail stopped wagging and barked at the Weasley. Fred instantly brought his hand back. "See!"

"He's just playing with you," Angelina cooed as Shinji faced her and licked her hand, "See? He's friendly!"

"Oi! Fred Weasley, What are you doing with my dog?" Bridgit's voice ran as she descended the stairs walking up to the group of four.

"I wasn't doing anything," Fred held his hands up, "That dog of yours just hates me!"

"Really now?" Bridgit said, petting her little teacup poodle, "Do you hate him?" Bridgit asked, pointing towards the only Weasley. Shinji let out a soft growl and Bridgit laughed. "Good boy!" she said, letting the teacup poodle lick her finger.

Lee and Angelina laughed.

"What in the world did you do to him?" Lee asked, patting Fred's shoulder.

"I wasn't the only one, George was in on it too," Fred grumbled before taking a look at Bridgit. She wore a mint green off shoulder dress and her hair was in a ponytail with some free strands framing his face. He looked back at the poodle before smirking at Bridgit. "What's this? Matching outfits? Don't tell me he's your date?"

"Fred!" Zoey scolded.

"Well, actually he is my date and I am sure he will be the cutest date in there," Bridgit answered, taking Shinji off of Zoey's hands, "Won't you Shinji?" she said, and Shinji barked in return.

Zoey gave a smile before McGonagall came into view ushering everyone, except for the four champions and their dates, into the Great Hall. Zoey stumbled a bit and looked behind her to see Hermione. Zoey's eyes widened.

"Whoa," she breathed out, getting the attention of Bridgit while Fred, Angelina and Lee entered the Hall, not knowing.

"She looks great doesn't she?" Bridgit said, as if expecting Hermione to look amazing, "And it looks as if Harry and Viktor's noticed it too," she added.

Zoey side glanced at the two champions and gave a small laugh. She then looked back at Bridgit. "Let's go in. The Champions are the first to dance aren't they?"

"Yes, and I find that rather unlucky for them," Bridgit said, entering the Great Hall with Zoey.

Zoey smiled and laughed once more before taking in the appearance of the Great Hall. It was magnificent, simply too grand for words and everywhere she looked, it was hard to describe each and everyone's dress robes and the like. She was simply in awe. It was Shinji's bark that brought her back to reality.

"Tell me, Bridgit, is Shinji really your date?" Zoey asked, petting the dog.

"Nope, I just said it to piss Fred off. I know he loves teasing me," Bridgit answered, petting the little dog as well.

"Speaking of Fred," Zoey began, stopping near Lee and the others, waiting for the champions to come out, "I took your advice… sort of"

"So you explained it to him?" Bridgit asked, looking at Zoey curiously.

Zoey opened her mouth to tell Bridgit what had taken place the day before but then the Great Hall's doors opened and out came the four champions, Fleur with Roger Davies, Viktor with Hermione, Cedric with Cho and Harry with Parvati. Zoey smiled seeing Harry being awkward while Parvati was simply beaming at the attention. The entrance music stopped when all the champions took their place in the middle of the hall and soon another song came out and they began to dance. Spinning, waltzing and lifting the girls in the air. All were simply graceful except.

"Harry looks like he's having a little trouble, don't you think?" Zoey asked Bridgit, seeing Harry constantly switch his hold on Parvati.

"Actually, I think it's because he's focusing on the girl on the other end of the dance floor," Bridgit answered, holding back a laugh. "Poor Parvati," she added.

Zoey shook her head and her eyes widened once more. Almost standing opposite of her was Echo, who was standing beside her date, Blaise Zabini. Echo's dress was of a light pink made out of layers of tulle and sequins at the bust. The neckline formed into a slight sweetheart, but it was strapless. The waistline was empire and the tulle flowed down to the floor. Her hair was put into a half-up do and curled with an addition of a small silver butterfly hairclip at the side. Echo's lengthy violet tresses cascaded halfway down her lower back.

"I think Ron looks ready to kill," Bridgit suddenly said, making Zoey look at Ron.

"What's got his wand in a knot?" she asked before blinking, "Did you see Echo? I mean, whoa. Her dress! I never thought… wow"

"I have an idea what…," Bridgit said, turning back to Zoey, "And yes, I saw Echo. I swear, I think she looks stunningly brilliant, but her dress color is something I will never like," Bridgit answered.

Zoey was going to say something back but then all the other students began to go to the dance floor to dance as well. Lee had approached the Emeraude and silently held out his hand, a grin on his face. Zoey gave Bridgit a 'see-you-later' look before accepting Lee's hand and followed him to the dance floor. When they reached their spot, that's when Lee began to look nervous.

"What's wrong?" Zoey asked.

"I've never, well, dance before," Lee said sheepishly, "Save for that one time when McGonagall oriented us."

"Really?" Zoey tilted her head and took Lee's hands in hers. She placed on of them on her waist and held the other in her hand, she placed her other hand on his shoulder. "It's easy," she reassured him, "Let's just do a simple waltz. No need for spinning or lifting"

Lee grinned. "How do you do that then?"

Zoey gave a laugh and began to sway, making Lee sway along with her.

"Oh," Lee said and just followed Zoey's lead. After a while, Zoey began to help him through other dances and even Lee successfully lifted Zoey in the air and brought her back to the ground safely. Zoey smiled at him and was going to tell him something except she was interrupted when the Great Hall's doors swung open and all eyes went to the person in the middle of the door frame. It was Mary Sue.

Mary Sue's dress had a princess-theme edge to it. It was strapless, like Zoey and Echo's dresses, and it was entirely pink, save for the little lines of silver at the scalloped design that consists of most of her dress, from bust till the small train of her dress. The waistline was natural, and a pink bow at the back was attached; the tails of it running until where her ankles were probably located. Mary Sue's hair was put into a half- up do like Echo's but there were no decorative additions. Her natural long wavy locks were curled slightly and grouped at the higher potion of the back of her head. It fell just above her bust.

Zoey watched as George walked up to her and held out his hand. Mary Sue smiled her sweet smile and accepted his hand.

"Way to make an entrance, huh?" Zoey blew a stray hair away from her face.

"Tell me about it," Lee said to her, spinning her out of view of Mary Sue.

* * *

After a few more dances with Lee, he brought Zoey to one of the tables and told her he was going to get them some drinks. Zoey gave him a wave and when he was out of view she turned and saw Echo sitting on the same table, Blaise chatting with Malfoy not too far away. Zoey raised a brow and slowly inched towards the Beaumont.

"Having fun so far?" Zoey asked, conversationally.

"I actually am," Echo said, "But not entirely"

"Saw Mary Sue?" Zoey asked sympathetically.

"That, and I was a completely brainless git towards George," she said

Zoey blinked. "Did you guys make up?"

"Didn't have a chance to," Echo looked down at her hands, which were placed on her lap.

"What? Why?" Zoey's eyes widened.

"Saw George in the Three Broomsticks," Echo started, "about to go at him when Mary Sue bounded and kissed him. I was disgusted."

Zoey's eyes widened and was meant to say something but she caught sight of George standing next to Mary Sue, a glum look on his face while Mary Sue chatted aimlessly, only stopping to give a seductive wave at any boy who passed by. Zoey squinted. Mary Sue didn't even like him.

"If it helps," Zoey began, "I bet George would have rather kissed you"

A blush instantly reddened Echo's cheeks, "Thanks," she muttered.

"You know, I think I'm going to make it happen," Zoey grinned, "The kiss I mean"

"What?" Echo looked up, shock evident on her face.

Zoey simply smiled. "I was asked to sing a couple of songs tonight, you know?" she merely said before standing back up and advancing towards George and Mary Sue, leaving Echo in the dark.

More and more students began to stop dancing and were walking around now. Zoey stopped several times and almost lost George, much to her panic. She was only a few feet away from him when realization struck her. _How am I going to get rid of Mary Sue? _She asked herself and just as the thought ended, Zoey caught sight of Bridgit standing next to a slightly creepy boy. Zoey bit her lip and made her way to the Ravenclaw.

"Bridgit," Zoey quickly said once she was near the girl, "I need your help"

"Huh? Oh, hey, Zoey, this is Michael by the way….," Bridgit said not trying to be rude, but her eyes showed relief.

"Hi," Michael said, as he waved at Zoey. Zoey politely greeted him back.

"So you need something?" Bridgit asked, hopeful that she could get away. "Help me! I hate dates… it's completely awkward," Bridgit added, whispering so only Zoey would hear.

"Great. I'll help you so you could help me in return," Zoey said and quickly turned her attention to Michael, not giving Bridgit anytime to respond. "Uhm… Is it alright if I can steal Bridgit away from you for a while? Ten minutes at most. I promise"

"Uhm, sure. I'll just go hang out with Terry then," Michael said, giving Bridgit a smile and walking away.

Zoey gave him an appreciative wave before grasping Bridgit's hand and walking slowly towards George and Mary Sue.

"Okay, now I owe you what do you need? Oh, and if you need help getting Echo and George together, I'm in… and no I am not using Legitimacy, I just noticed how Echo was glaring, " Bridgit now said, letting out a breath

"I need you to keep Mary Sue away from George at all times," Zoey told her, glad she didn't need to tell Bridgit what she needed her help in.

"How do I do that? I hate the girl to bits!" Bridgit asked.

"I don't know," Zoey said in a rush, "Just think of something!"

"Oh! I got an idea! Make sure to keep George away from the Garden!" Bridgit said, clasping both of Zoey's hands.

"Perfect. Now go!" Zoey pushed Bridgit towards Mary Sue and before the perfect princess and George could react, Zoey quickly took hold of George's hands and began to drag him away.

"Whoa, Zoey, what are you doing?" George stumbled a bit, still in shock.

"Go on and ask Echo to dance," Zoey pushed him to the Veela but George quickly dug his foot to the ground, not moving

"Are you mental?" he asked, "No!"

"Don't worry about it!" Zoey continued to push him, "Mary Sue will be fine, she just wanted to get a breath of fresh air"

"That's not the point. Echo hates me," George looked over his shoulder to look at Zoey.

Zoey whined. "No she doesn't. Just trust me and go – ask – her – to – dance!" she gave George one final shove causing him to stumble over to Echo. Zoey gave a triumphant smile before dashing to the stage.

* * *

Fred caught sight of Lee sitting on one of the tables with two glasses placed behind him. He didn't look disappointed with Zoey not around. In fact he just wore a smile on his face as he looked around.

"What's up mate?" Fred asked, taking a seat beside him, "Zoey finally ditch you?"

Lee gave him a dry laugh. "What about you? Angelina got tired of you now?"

"She's with Katie and Alicia," Fred laughed, "So, where's Zoey?"

"Not sure," Lee shrugged, "But, man, can that girl dance"

Fred didn't say anything but merely looked at everyone else who was dancing. He knew she danced well; he just wanted to be the one who danced with her. Lee looked over at his friends and patted his shoulder comfortingly. "You should ask her to dance," he told him.

"What?" Fred asked, surprised, "But she's your date"

"So? No rules that we can't dance with other people, is there?" Lee grinned, "Besides, if you dance with her then I could dance with Angelina," Lee wiggled his eyebrows.

Fred gave a laugh before thumping his friend on the arm. "Real suave of you," he told him, "Anyway, if I am going to ask her. I should know where she is first"

Lee furrowed his eyebrows. "Well –" he stopped. The music was cut and everyone stopped dancing and looked towards the stage. His and Fred's eyes widened to see Zoey standing on the stage with the microphone in front of her.

* * *

Zoey bit her lip as she held the microphone in her hand and looked around. Everyone was looking at her. She began to feel her legs shake. She has done it before, when she was in Diagon Ally but at that time she didn't know who was looking at her and Bridgit was with her too. Now, she was alone. She took in a deep breath and saw Echo and George. It seemed like they were about to have an argument but she could sense that something different was going to happen. She took a breath.

"Err – Good Evening, everyone," she began awkwardly, "I don't know if you know me – well, I've been asked to do a few songs so… yeah" Zoey then looked at the band and gave them a smile. Music began to play and Zoey was glad that it filled the awkward silence of the Great Hall. She began to sway to the beat, looking towards George and Echo.

George looked at Zoey with disbelief before looking back at Echo. She was not looking at him, her arms were crossed and was just watching Zoey. George began to feel nervous and looked at Zoey as well. Zoey caught his look and widened her eyes at him almost as if trying to send him a message through her mind, a message saying 'Go dance with her!' George looked away and gulped, staying where he was until Zoey began to sing.

_"There you see her_

_Sitting her across the way"_

George shook his head slightly and turned his attention towards Echo. His eyes widened in awe. Why didn't he notice it before? She simply looked amazing tonight; even a blind git could see that. George mentally kicked himself. Who was he kidding? She looked amazing even in sweats.

_"She don't got a lot to say_

_But there's something about her."_

George sucked up his pride and held his hand to her. Echo looked at him with wide eyes. She didn't expect him to do this, she felt her cheeks flush.

_"And you don't know why_

_But you're dying to try_

_You wanna kiss the girl."_

George offered a smile and Echo returned it, cheeks still red.

"May I have this dance?" he asked, and Echo merely nodded not trusting her voice at the moment.

_"Yes, you want her._

_Look at her you know you do."_

George led Echo to the center of the dance floor and it seemed like they were going to be the first couple who was going to dance, seeing as the others were too busy looking at Zoey and wondering what she was singing. The Weasley siblings; however, were looking at George and smirking in the inside, even Ron who was in a bad mood until then

_"It's possible she wants you too_

_There's one way to ask her"_

George placed his hands on Echo's waist while Echo placed hers on his shoulder. They started to sway to the song, and Zoey smiled as she saw the pair and felt her nervousness fade away. Her plan had worked and she couldn't wait to see the end result. She took another breath and continued to sing.

_"It don't take a word, not a single word_

_Go on and Kiss the girl, kiss the girl"_

"You really do look amazing tonight Echo." George leaned down a bit and whispered, making Echo smile.

"You don't look too bad yourself gidiot." Echo answered, making George smile.

"I'll take that as a compliment" George said as they continued to sway to the music

_"Shalalalala_

_My oh my_

_Looks like the boy's too shy_

_Ain't gonna kiss the girl"_

Zoey saw George look over at her and she couldn't help but give him a wink. She watched as his face turned a shade of red and she bit back a laugh. He looked back at Echo.

"Are you okay George? You seem a bit red." Echo asked, knowing well what Zoey was trying to do.

_"Shalalalala_

_Ain't that sad_

_It's such a shame, too bad"_

"I'm fine; it's just a bit hot in here," George answered, ignoring his beating heart, making Echo let out a soft laugh.

"Okay then..." She said, looking straight into George's eyes.

_"You're gonna miss the girl_

_Go on and Kiss the girl, kiss the girl."_

Zoey took another breath and watched as other couples began to move to the dance floor and sway to the music as well. She scanned the Hall and saw Neville and Ginny in the crowd, she also saw Parvati and Padma. Zoey's eyes widened and looked for Harry and Ron. When she spotted them, she found Fred as well. She felt her face heat up when she saw he was looking at her. She offered him a smile, though thinking he wouldn't see her sending it to him, before looking back at the pair, Echo and George, she held in another laugh seeing Lee and Angelina dancing not too far from them.

From where Zoey was standing she could almost make out a small conversation being exchanged from the Ravenclaw and the Gryffindor, wanting to lighten up the mood, Zoey slowly brought out her wand and gave it a small wave.

_"Now's your moment_

_Floating in a blue lagoon"_

The lights in the room dimmed a bit and the color of the lights changed to that of a light pink to set a romantic image. She, Zoey, looked over at the teachers and saw that they didn't mind so much. She gave a sigh of relief before turning her attention back at the pair and saw that they were both blushing, that or the pink lights were playing tricks on her eyes.

_"Boy, you better do it soon_

_The time will be better"_

George then moved his hands from Echo's waist and took hold of her hand, spinning her. When she spun right back into his arms he breathed in a familiar scent of raspberries and mint. He remembered growing up with that smell. George had to admit, he missed his childhood friend.

_"She don't say a word_

_And she won't say a word _

_Until you kiss the girl, kiss the girl"_

George gazed deeply into Echo's golden orbs and he felt himself being drawn in by her stare. His heart was beating faster and he simply couldn't ignore it anymore. Without his knowledge, Echo was feeling the same way staring into his eyes.

_"Shalalalala_

_My oh my_

_Looks like the boy's too shy_

_Ain't gonna kiss the girl"_

"Why did we fight again?" George asked, after a moment's silence. It simply wasn't like him to be silent during a dance. He was George Weasley for crying out loud! There has to be a conversation going on.

"Something about your stupidity..." Echo answered, making George laugh. He wasn't George if he stayed quiet for more than five minutes and it wasn't Echo if she didn't insult his intelligence every once in a while, or eating but that was for the both of them.

"Of course, because you can never act stupid can you?" George raised a brow

"It's against me to be stupid" Echo playfully scoffed.

_"Shalalalala_

_Ain't that sad_

_It's such a shame too bad_

_You're gonna miss the girl"_

With their witty words, jokes and laughter in their dance, they paid no mind to everyone around them. This was their dance and theirs alone. No one could bother them and they simply didn't care if they bother others. Frankly, everyone else was lost in their own partners loving gaze to pay any mind to Echo and George.

Everyone was having a nice time with their own schools romance to mind anyone else. That is, except for the remaining Weasley brothers.

"I'm betting you that they snog somewhere near or at the end of the song," Fred said, facing Ron. He didn't have anyone to dance with and even though he was happy for his twin, he was also bored. If he couldn't dance or joke around, might as well rob his younger brother.

Ron's eyes widened. "No way, like George would ever do that," he dug into the his ancient dress robes' pockets, "You're on"

"It's a bet then," Fred smirked, shaking Ron's hand.

_"Shalalalala_

_Don't be scared_

_You better be prepared_

_Go on and kiss the girl"_

Though Zoey continued to watch the happy pair, and was glad that they weren't fighting she was also beginning to get annoyed from the lack of reaction from the both of them. The song and the atmosphere were screaming for something yet the two just didn't seem to hear the message. Zoey gave her wand another wave and a spot light, that was tinted pink, shone right on the lovely couple, or yet to be couple.

The spot light was a different shade of pink and seemed to stand out from Zoey's point of view but it wasn't the eye-catching to throw a commotion. Zoey was beginning to wonder if she was playing cupid. It seemed oddly unlike her.

_"Shalalalala_

_Don't stop now_

_ Don't try to hide it_

_How you wanna kiss the girl_

_Go on and kiss the girl, kiss the girl"_

George and Echo blushed as the spotlight hit on them. They looked around and saw that they were the only ones receiving it. It was either someone was behind all this or something was off with the lighting. They went for the latter.

_"Oh kiss the girl, kiss the girl_

_Lalalala, Lalalala_

_Go on and kiss the girl_

_Lalalala, Lalalala"_

George returned his attention back to Echo and couldn't help looking at her lips, her soft pink lips. Without his knowledge, he began to lean in.

_"Lalalala, Lalalala_

_Go on and kiss the girl"_

Echo, seeing George leaning in, began to lean in as well. She didn't intend to but it just felt right to do so. Her mind wasn't taking control now, her heart was.

_"Shalalalala_

_My oh my"_

Closer and closer they went until she felt his breath on her face, that's when her eye fluttered close. It didn't seem like a single second past when she felt a pair of soft lips on top of her own. A jolt ran through her body and she instantly wrapped her arms around George's neck while he pulled her closer by her waist.

_"Looks like the boy's too shy_

_Ain't gonna kiss the girl"_

The lyrics now held no message for George to hear. She no longer needed to urge him to do just as the song was saying. George had done it and Echo had returned it. Everything was right. Zoey felt herself smirking as she tore her gaze away from the two and caught sight of Ron giving Fred some money. She raised a brow at them

_"Shalalalala_

_Ain't that sad_

_It's such a shame _

_Too bad, you're gonna miss the girl"_

George felt like he was on top of the world. He forgot about Mary Sue, and he forgot they were in a public place. He forgot about everything and every bother. All that mattered was that he and Echo were alright. They were finally friends and judging by the kiss, something more.

_"Lalalala, Lalalala_

_Go on and kiss the girl_

_Go on and kiss the girl"_

When the two finally broke apart, George offered Echo a smile, and Echo returned it. They embraced each other lovingly and the feeling of contentment ran through their body as they continued to sway to the music.

_"Lalalala, Lalalala_

_Go on and kiss the girl_

_Go on and kiss the girl"_

George and Echo were now happy, no fight and no confusion. It was just them. Zoey felt herself smile seeing her friends finally together, that is if they were going to make it official. She felt her eyes role. Of course they were going to be official!

_"Kiss the girl_

_Kiss the girl_

_Go on and kiss the girl"_

Zoey ended the song and pulled the mike away from her mouth, giving a tired smile. She felt no need to speak to the crowd and instead thanked the band before descending down the stage. She wasn't able to catch George and Echo leaning in for another kiss but she was able to hear a hair standing shriek. Actually, everyone could hear the shriek.

Each and every person in the Hall turned to the door and saw Mary Sue burst right in except she didn't look as radiant as before. Her dress was muddy at the bottom and her dress was a mess. Her makeup looked like it belonged to a witch and frankly she no longer looked picture perfect.

"What the –" George began as both he and Echo were trying to stop their laughter.

Soon after Mary Sue trudged away from the door, Bridgit came in and stuffed her wand in the boots that she was apparently wearing.

She gave Zoey a thumbs-up and Zoey mouthed a _'thank you'_ towards her before advancing towards the new couple, together with Fred.

"This doesn't look good," Zoey whispered, seeing Mary Sue trudged towards them

"Georgie baby," Mary Sue said in a fake teary voice, "Look at what that witch," she pointed at Bridgit, "Did to me!"

"It looks like an improvement to me," George said with a shrug while Fred snickered.

Mary Sue gaped at him before looking over at Echo. "Hey, get your hands off of him!"

"Like you could tell me what to do," Echo snarled

"Of course I can. I'm his girlfriend," Mary Sue huffed, "Tell her to get off, Georgie - poo"

Zoey made a face. "What kind of nickname is that?" she wrinkled her nose, "You're calling him crap"

"Nice," Fred snickered

"Girlfriend?" Echo scoffed, "More like Girl-fiend"

"Hmm… Girlfriend? Was that ever established?" George feigned a thought

"Come one, Georgie – poo, tell her the truth," Fred batted his eyelashes at his twin

"What truth?" Mary Sue glared

"Well," George picked a leaf out of Mary Sue's hair, "To tell you the truth, I don't even know why I asked you. You aren't really my type"

"What?" Mary Sue asked in rage, "How can I not be your type? I'm _everyone's _type!"

"Really? Fred, was she ever your type?" Zoey faced Fred.

Fred wrinkled his nose. "I'm not one for a mossy shampoo type. Are you Georgie?"

"Nah," George brought Echo closer to him and kissed the type of her head, "The truth is, Mary Sue, we were never together, never will be and –"

"You should get lost," Zoey ended for him with a sweet smile.

"In. Your. Putrid. Face" Echo smirked.

Mary Sue looked amongst all of them with her eyes wide in disbelief before letting out a loud shriek, shaking as she did so, before storming off. Everyone's eyes followed her to the door and flinched when the door made a loud slam. No one spoke after her departure until Dumbledore clapped his hands.

"Shall we continue?" he asked with a smile.

The students cheered and music began to play once more.

The group of friends walked away from the dance floor and settled down on one of the free tables. Zoey smiled at the couple before her eyes widened in realization.

"You should thank Bridgit," Zoey whispered to Echo, "She kept Mary Sue away"

"Where is she anyway?" Echo queried.

"Over there," Zoey pointed, "Near – err – What's his name? Mikey? He's in your house. Slightly creepy boy"

"Never knew about him," Echo muttered before leaving George's side and quietly approached Bridgit.

"Where's she off to?" George asked Zoey

Zoey smiled and shrugged before looking back at the dancing students.

* * *

"Hey, Michael, thanks for taking care of Shinji for awhile," Bridgit said, offering him a smile. Michael handed her the small teacup poodle and Bridgit gave her dog a smile.

"Bridgit?" a voice called from behind her.

"Hmm?" Bridgit hummed turning around and felt herself grow nervous at the sight of Echo, "Oh… Hey, Echo…," said awkwardly.

"Thank you, you know, for distracting Mary Sue and doing all those stuff I would have dreamed to have done to her," Echo gave an apologetic smile before continuing, "Sorry I was insensible git for no understanding you back then:

"It's alright," Bridgit said, offering her a smile, "and you would have loved to have seen what I did to her…," Bridgit added, grinning like a maniac.

"Friends?" Echo's smile grew wider

"Friends," Bridgit answered, smiling back

Out of nowhere, from an unknown impulse, Echo stepped closer to Bridgit and hugged her. Bridgit was shocked by the sudden action, but hugged her friend back. All was right again

* * *

Zoey smiled, watching her friends hug from afar and sighed in relief. All was right again in the world. Everything but, she looked at Fred, her own little problems. She shook her head. She couldn't worry about that now. She was here to have a great time. She scanned the crowd and saw Lee and Angelina dancing once more, she gave a small laugh. Maybe, just maybe, there would be another couple made tonight. Zoey stood up and smiled at the twins before silently jerking her head towards Harry, who was sitting not too far from them with a sulking Ron and an angered looking Hermione.

"It seems like something's going to happen there," she told them, "I'll have to go check"

The twins looked over to the Golden Trio and smirked.

"Good luck with that," Fred told her

"They fight like an old married couple," George added

"Don't jinx it," Zoey warned, "You and Echo might turn out like them. After all you both _are _older"

Before George could reply Zoey turned around and walked towards the Gryffindor fourth years. If she stayed a little longer she could have probably heard George telling Fred to ask her to dance while there was still time, sadly Zoey was far from earshot by then.

By the time Zoey reached the trio Hermione was storming away from Ron while Ron followed her, seeming to want to continue their fight. Harry just sat there, looking away from his friends.

"A little drama on your side of the friendship wheel?" Zoey asked, sitting beside her god brother.

"What?" Harry asked

Zoey shook her head. "Just me and my euphemisms," she told him before looking at the dancing crowd, "Parvati leave you?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, with some Beauxbatons bloke," he told her gloomily, except the gloom didn't seem to come from the fact that his date left him.

"That's too bad," Zoey whistled a bit before getting an idea. She quickly stood back up and took Harry's hands in hers. Harry looked at her with wide eyes when she brought him to his full height.

"What are you –"

"Let's dance," Zoey told him with a smile, and without waiting for an answer, dragged him to the dance floor and guided his hands to her waist as she placed hers on his shoulders. She then led him to a sway.

"Zoey," Harry sighed, "I don't want to dance. I'm not in the mood"

"Aww," Zoey pouted, "It's just one dance," she then caught sight of Cedric and Cho dancing not too far away. She looked back at Harry and saw him looking at Cho. She gave a sympathetic smile.

"You're not in the mood because you aren't dancing with the person you want to dance with," Zoey told him, slowing down their already slow sway.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Harry looked away from Cho and to the ground.

"No need to hide things," Zoey said, "You like Cho and you want to dance with her but the thing is she's already with Cedric"

Harry grumbled. "So what?"

Zoey leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. "Don't be such a grumpy wumpy. You'll get wrinkles faster. Just enjoy the night and see what's in front of you"

"You mean you?" Harry let out a smile, "I'm sorry, Zoey, you aren't really my type"

"What's up with types these days?" Zoey rolled her eyes, "And no, not me"

"Then, Fred?"

"What?"

"Hullo, Harry!" Fred's voice came from behind Zoey and she gasped in surprise, "Don't mind if I take Zoey away from her do you?"

Harry shook his head and placed his hands at his side. "She's all yours," he told him with a smirk and stepped away. Zoey gave him a questioning look before feeling Fred's hand wrap around hers. She looked up at him with a blush already on her cheeks.

"Care to have the last dance of the night with me?" Fred smiled at her.

"That would be nice," she returned his smile and followed him as he led her to another place in the dance floor. She placed her hands on his shoulders while he placed his on her waist. They began to sway. The song had no lyrics yet the tune spoke to them. Zoey began to hum along and placed her head on his chest.

"I'm so happy for Echo and George," she told him in a quiet voice, listening to his heart beat and blocking out the song.

Fred hummed in response. "First couple among the friends," he said to her, "Lee is going to be next."

Zoey nodded and looked up at him. "It could have been us," she told him, "Do you regret it? You know liking me? Cause… I have so many problems and those problems keep us away from each other and I was being selfish telling you to wait for me and all and I don't want you to do that – Well, I do but it isn't fair and I'm so helpless and pathetic causing drama here and there and –" and began to go on and on her words spewing out faster and faster and it seemed like she was beginning to get dizzy from her own words.

"Zoe… Zoey… Zoey!"

"What?" Zoey's head swirled a bit, Fred laughed.

"You're rambling… or maybe babbling. Either way. Stop, you're going to hurt yourself," he grinned.

"Sorry," Zoey blushed.

Fred laughed again and twirled her before bringing her back to him.

"And no, I don't regret any of this," he whispered to her, "I know there are things that stop us from being you know together, I don't care. It's not your fault and I still believe that we can overcome them"

"But –"

"Let's not do this right now," Fred said, "I think we've had enough drama as it is"

Zoey laughed, "I suppose you're right," she then leaned her head back on his chest and listened to his heartbeat mixing with the music.

* * *

**OH. MY. GOD**

**LONGEST**

**CHAPTER**

**EVER!**

**First and before most. I want to thank HAYLEYPARADOX and ZOOMSAKTER14 for helping me out and ZOOMSKATER14 for the awesome idea for the GECHO moment**

**Also, I want to dedicate part of this chapter to OddSakura for requesting a Harry - Zoey moment. Hope you liked it**

**I hope you ALL liked this chapter.**

**To be honest, I thought this would be shorter than most but turns out it is now the LONGEST chapter I have.**

**O_O**

**Also, there is an error in the dress links so I want to tell you guys that those are unavailable and I have to delete them so... yeah... Sorry**

**ISolemnlySwearIAmUpToNoGood = Thank you for the offer. I'll message you whenever I need help :) It's very kind of you**

**Well, there's nothing more to say I guess seeing as this is long enough as it is.**

**Now for my final words:**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter**

**Please excuse the typos and the like**

**Please DO tell me what you think**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter**

**and **

**I only own what I own  
**


	66. Chapter 64: The Second Task

**Chapter 64: ****The Second Task**

Zoey gave a loud yawn as she woke up from her slumber. The sun was up and most of her dorm mates were still asleep yet Zoey found herself awake and ready to move. She swung her legs of her bed and was about to stand up but found her legs failing her and she fell to the floor with a soft _thump. _Maybe not _that_ ready. She gave a low groan and blinked her eyes. Her feet were still painful from her heels and all the dancing. Her eyes were still blurry from the sleep and Zoey just wondered what she was doing awake_____._

"It's too early," she mumbled to herself and tried to bring herself up from the floor. She slumped against her bed and rubbed her eyes. She looked to the foot of her bed and saw her black heels scattered.

"I'm guessing you're not one to clean," came a voice.

Zoey looked over to one of the beds and saw a girl sitting up and scratching the back of her head. She, Zoey, reached over to her trunk and took her glasses, not really caring on _how i_t got there, and placed them on. She saw Jane smiling at her.

"Not a morning person?" Jane asked.

"Nope. Not at all," Zoey said groggily, "How could you be up and about?"

"Well, I am a morning person," Jane laughed, "How did you find the Yule Ball? There was quite a scene after your song"

Zoey gave a small moan at the memory. "Yeah… glad it didn't end too bad."

"It was very entertaining"

"But still. A fight. I hope I didn't ruin it for anyone," Zoey blinked the remaining sleep away

"Ruin?" Jane stood up from her bed and stretched, "I for one found it quite entertaining"

Zoey hummed in response

"But besides all that," Jane began, "It seemed like you were having fun with your little boyfriend near the end"

"Boyfriend?" Zoey's brows shot up.

"It's okay to admit it," Jane urged, "I mean, I have one too. He's boy from Ravenclaw. You know –"

"No, I mean I don't have a boyfriend," Zoey told her.

"That's a lie. Then who was the one you were getting all smitten with?"

Zoey bit her lip in thought. "You mean Harry?" she asked, "No, he's like my –"

"Not Harry Potter," Jane grinned, "The red head you were dancing with. What was his name? George?"

"Fred," Zoey corrected.

"So you admit it!"

"I admit that he's not my boyfriend," Zoey gave a laugh

"Lies!"

"Why are you so keen on knowing who I'm with a relationship with?" asked Zoey.

Jane shrugged. "I just want to get to know you better. Six or maybe seven years we've been dorm mates and the first we've spoken was last night? Where has all the time gone?"

"It's alright to get to know each other," Zoey said, "I'd like to get to know you more too but starting with my relationships?"

"You've got to start somewhere," Jane grinned.

Zoey laughed, "True"

Jane smiled at her before walking into the bathroom to get changed. Zoey climbed back into her bed and threw her pillows and blankets to the side. She wasn't going to go back to sleep anyway. She ran a hand through her hair, often stopping to get her tangles fixed before Jane walked back out. Jane's hair was held back by a hairband and she wore light make up. She fixed her laundry before walking to the door of the dorm.

"How about we get to know each other later?" she asked, "I'm meeting up with Mr. Boyfriend for breakfast, you see"

"Do I get to know Mr. Boyfriends real name?" Zoey raised an amused brow.

"Nope," Jane stuck out her tongue, "You'll get to know that later today"

And with that, Jane left.

Minutes passed by before Zoey stood up from her bed and got ready for the day herself. She would shiver at the water touching her skin and would lazily dry herself with a towel. When she looked in the mirror she would always see her morning face before a proper wash and brushing of teeth. The last of her morning activities always ended with putting on her uniform and leaving her hair to dry on a towel that hung on her shoulders.

When Zoey finally left the bathroom she saw the rest of her dorm mates begin to wake up. Even so, she quietly made her way to her suitcase; she never liked to unpack fully, and pulled out a pair of socks and her yellow leg warmers. She pulled on the socks before the leg warmers and wore her school shoes. She wrapped her scarf around her neck and threw her towel onto her bed before picking up her wand and leaving the room.

Zoey walked out of her Common Room and headed out to her favorite spot. The sun was up and the air was cold. She hugged her robes closer to her body as she sat down on her spot. She looked up at the sky and closed her eyes. Sounds of birds and chattering filled the air and Zoey didn't even realize her friends approaching until they took a seat and called for her attention.

"Hey"

"Uwah!" Zoey exclaimed in surprise and fell from her slab of rock and to the grassy floor. Laughter came afterwards. Zoey opened her eyes to see Fred sitting nearest to her with Bridgit at his side. Beside Bridgit was the new couple, George and Echo. George had an arm around Echo and she was leaning into him. Zoey smiled at all of them in greeting.

"Okay, who was the one who nearly gave me heart failure?" Zoey asked and Fred raised his hand response she stuck her tongue out at him and poked his side. She didn't want their feelings for each other to make things awkward and resorted to having a sort of teasing friendship between them. Zoey knew that sooner or later she would have to give in, she just chose later.

"So, Bridgit," Fred began, facing the Ravenclaw, "We've been wonder about Mary Sue –"

"And what you have done to her –" George continued

"During the Yule Ball," Fred ended.

Bridgit smirked. "Let's just say, a certain someone got confunded back at the garden"

The twins laughed. "Brilliant"

* * *

"Thank goodness Harry made it in time," Zoey gave a sigh of relief, placing a hand over her beating heart. Weeks had passed and it was now the day of the second task and the Emeraude found herself standing beside Fred with the rest of the student body surrounding the Black Lake. Zoey gave a small gulp. She never liked the Black Lake.

"What do you think kept him?" Fred asked

"Didn't you say that you last saw him in the library?" Zoey looked at him curiously

"Yeah," Fred nodded, "He couldn't have stayed there the entire night though. Pince would have thrown him out"

"How do you know that?"

Fred grinned, "Experience," he said making Zoey role her eyes at him. The Hufflepuff then looked around and saw that everyone's attention was focused at the Black Lake. She continued to scan the audience and saw that George and Echo weren't too far from them while Bridgit wasn't too far from Echo and George. Ginny was a few seats below Zoey and Fred but Ron and Hermione were nowhere to be seen. Zoey's brows shot up.

"You and George were told to get Ron and Hermione last night…right?" she asked Fred

"McGonagall told us to," Fred replied, "Why?"

"Do you know why they were called?"

"Well, no – Blimey! What's Harry doing?" Fred exclaimed, pointing at the Hogwarts Gryffindor Champion.

Zoey instantly directed her attention to where Fred was pointing and saw that Harry was the only one standing. The others had already jumped into the lake. She saw his hands shoot up to his throat and he seemed like he was having a hard time breathing. Zoey began to worry. She didn't know what was happening to Harry and she didn't know what was going to happen to him in the lake. Zoey deeply regretted not asking Bridgit about the events planned for the second task.

All of a sudden, Harry dove into the deep part of the lake. Within seconds, he was out of sight.

"What do you suppose they're going to be doing down there?" Fred asked, "First task: Fight a dragon and get the golden egg. Second task: Fight the giant squid and get a pearl?"

Zoey gasped. "You don't think the Giant Squid would get hurt, do you?"

Fred gave her an amused look. "Zoe, it's a _Giant Squid _– aren't you more worried about Harry and the rest?"

"Fred, they're _wizards _– I'm sure they can take care of themselves but a squid –"

"Who is of a ginormous size can take care of itself too"

"It's a _Giant squid, _Fred, not ginormous," Zoey paused, "Why are we even talking about this? We don't even know if they're going to fight the squid or not!"

"I know," Fred grinned, "But it's fun"

Zoey raised her brow at him in an amused manner before looking back at the lake. The lake was as calm as ever and not even a ripple in the water could tell them what was happening. Zoey began to play with the ends of her scarf that no longer gave a cold soothing temperature, as she waited for something to happen. Minutes passed and soon everyone was watching had gone into restless curiosity. Murmurs filled the air with guesses and bets.

Zoey tried to block them all out, she wanted to focus on her own thoughts, but couldn't stop her curiosity. She began to listen in on the student's guesses on what the contestants were going to do in the lake. As Zoey tried her best not to think of the worst-case scenario, a student suddenly exclaimed: "Look! Someone's coming!"

All heads turned to look at the center of the lake and indeed someone was coming up. It was Fleur. Zoey watched as the Beauxbatons champion gasped for air and began to swim back to shore where she was helped out of the lake and onto the bank where the judges stayed.

"Hmm… No pearl," Fred spoke, scratching the back of his head.

"And no suction cup marks on her skin," Zoey added, "It couldn't have been the squid"

"Then what could they be fighting down there?" Fred asked

"Well, be open-minded. What makes you think they need to be fighting something down there?"

"What else could they be doing? Answering trick questions?" Fred raised a brow, "Come on, Zoe, they can be doing that than on land where everyone can see what's happening"

Zoey bit her lip. He had a point. "Okay then. Maybe they have to go against merpeople or grindylows"

"Grindy –" Fred paused, "I think Madam Pomfrey is calling for you"

"Huh?" Zoey looked towards the bank where Fleur was standing with a towel and shivering. There, standing beside Fleur was Madam Pomfrey who was beckoning Zoey over.

Zoey, out of habit, began to walk away from her seat to get to the school nurse but before she could pass three feet, Fred caught her hand. Zoey turned around and raised a brow.

"You're going to leave me all alone?" Fred pouted.

"I need to help Madam Pomfrey treat Fleur and the other champions," Zoey offered a smile, "Besides George and Echo are coming this way"

Fred looked behind him and indeed his twin and his twin's girlfriend were making their way to him, pushing the occasional student out of the way. Fred gave a laugh.

"I'll meet up with you guys later, okay?"

"Alright," Fred turned to Zoey and without thinking, leaned down and gave her a peck on the cheek. Fred didn't know what made him do such an affectionate action. Sure, he likes her and she likes him back but they came to an agreement, well he didn't have a choice in the matter seeing as there was nothing he could do, that they would not and could not be in a relationship. Within a second after realizing his action, Fred's eyes widened and straightened up

"Zoe –"

"It's alright," Zoey blushed, "I don't mind"

"You don't?" Fred's brows shot up

"It was a kiss on the cheek, an impulse, a – a," Zoey paused, "Let's face it, you – I can't help it."

Fred opened his mouth but closed it again and nodded his head. "Zoe, you're right, I can't help it, you can't help it. Why stop _it?"_

"Because, Fred, this _it _will end up hurting us in the end," Zoey said, "I don't want to hurt you"

"What makes you think I'll get hurt? I'm a macho man," Fred told her.

Zoey gave a laugh. "Are you sure?"

"I work out. You know, Quidditch and all," Fred grinned

"Yeah right, the broom does all the flying," Zoey grinned as well.

Fred feigned hurt. "Ouch, Zoey, you hurt me," he said to her, "What do you think hits those nasty Bludgers away?"

"Hmm," Zoey pretended to think, "The bat?"

"And who's holding the bat?"

Zoey opened her mouth and closed it. "Fine, Fine, You win!" she laughed before poking Fred in the stomach, "But your arms do all the work. You're still as mushy and soft as mashed potatoes right there" she then stuck out her tongue at him before running away, not letting Fred get a say on anything, and heading towards the bank where Madam Pomfrey and Fleur were.

Zoey approached the Beauxbatons champion and saw the many scratches on the beautiful girl's face. Zoey gave her another towel and took the wet one away before handing her a robe to at least stop the shivering.

"What happened down there?" Zoey asked in a small voice, she never spoke the Fleur before and she hoped that she wasn't the same as Mary Sue.

"You… you're ze girl who zat Mary Sue yelled at ze ball," Fleur looked Zoey up and down, scrutinizing her. Zoey blushed.

"Well, yeah," Zoey answered, "She yelled at me, Echo, the twins and Bridgit"

"Who?"

"Nothing. My friends," Zoey said simply, giving the French girl a smile, "Are you friends with Mary Sue?"

Fleur scoffed and wrinkled her nose. "Friends? With 'eh? Of course not!" she said, "Zat Mary Sue. Pretty on ze outside but a 'ideous woman in ze inside. I wouldn't dream of associating with 'er" Fleur paused, "In fact. I was very – 'ow you say it?- astonished zat you and your friends angered Mary Sue," she sniffed, "She is, as you say, very prissy"

Zoey snorted at what Fleur had said and Fleur wrinkled her nose at the sound of the snort.

"You can say that again," Zoey said, "Do the scratches hurt?"

Fleur shook her head.

"Alright. So, if you don't mind me asking, but what happened down there?" Zoey asked as she played with the ends of her scarf once more, she really wanted to know. She wanted to know what Harry was going against.

At her question, Fleur directed her gaze at the Black Lake and her expression read worry. Zoey's brows knitted together. "What happened?"

"I was attacked by ze Grindylows… zey – Oh! Gabrielle!" Fleur said worriedly, searching the lake for any signs of someone coming out.

"Gabrielle?"

"My little sister. She's down there. What would zey do to 'er? What would 'appen? I was suppose to save 'er!"

Zoey rubbed Fleur's back. "Don't worry. I'm sure she'll be fine," she told her, "The headmaster wouldn't take any chances on getting one of the students hurt"

Time passed and there was still no sign of any other champion coming. Soon, the one-hour time limit had ended and the crowd continued their restless guessing and chattering. A minute went by and Cedric emerged from the water, whipping his face with his hand while Cho was gasping for air and doing the same.

Zoey ran to a table to get the towels while the two began swimming towards the bank. By the time Zoey returned Cedric and Cho were already lifted onto the bank and had already taken the Pepperup Potion. She gave them each a towel and inspected them for any wounds.

"Are you alright?" Zoey asked them; maybe they could have a sprained ankle or something she missed. Cho gave her a shaky nod while Cedric just grinned at her an said a "I'm fine, thank you"

"What happened down there and where did Cho come from?" Zoey looked at Cedric.

Cedric was just about to answer her questions but a loud cheer came from the Durmstang group and Zoey and Cedric directed their attention back to the lake to see Viktor come out of the water with Hermione, who was brushing her hair away from her face and gasping for breath.

Zoey waved her wand and summoned two more towels, which flew to her in an instant. Viktor had no problem in getting out of the lake and helped Hermione out as well. He, Viktor, didn't seem to need one of the big, thick towels and instead settled with a small one to wipe the water away from his face and a roe to cover his body. Zoey looked back at Hermione and offered her one of the towels.

"Hermione, are you okay?" Zoey asked, seeing the girl's lips turn blue.

"I – I'm fine," Hermione said through chattering teeth, "Just a little cold is all"

Zoey gave a small laugh and handed her the second towel before standing up and reaching for a bottle on the table. She gave Hermione the Pepperup Potion and waited patiently for the girl to finish.

"What were you and Cho doing in the Black Lake?" Zoey asked, taking the potion in her hands, "Fleur was the first to come out and was pretty worried that she wasn't able to save her sister… Gabrielle was it?"

Hermione nodded her head.

"It's the task," Hermione said, "They have to save the thing – err – person they will miss the most. For Fleur was her sister, Gabrielle, and for Cedric was Cho. Viktor –"

"Would miss you the most," Zoey grinned at her before looking over at Fleur and saw that she was near hysterical with the absence of her sister. "But what would happen to Gabrielle?"

"I don't know," Hermione said, "But surely they wouldn't just leave her there?" she then paused, "Where could Harry be?"

"He should be up by now," Cedric said from behind the two girls, making them jump a bit. He apologized. "He was there when I saved Cho, I think he was the first to come"

"The first," Zoey said in disbelief, "But he should be up by now! Who was he saving?"

"The Weasley boy, I believe," Cedric replied.

"But what would take him so long? I'm sure Ron wouldn't be putting up a fight if Harry was saving him," Zoey cried.

"He's playing the hero," Hermione told her, "I bet he saved Gabrielle too"

Zoey looked at Hermione and to Fleur and to the Black Lake. Her gaze lingered at the body of water. She bit her lip in worry. He was supposed to save Ron and if he indeed saved Fleur's sibling would he be able to make it to the surface? Was he even allowed to do that? Zoey gasped. What if it was against the rules and some magic-mutant-seaweed was now chocking him.

Zoey felt like it was her turn to go into a hysterical worry but before she could even start Harry, Ron and a blonde girl, whom she guessed was Gabrielle, burst out of the water, all gasping for breath. Zoey instant bent over at the edge of the bank and waited for them to come closer while Percy right out ran towards the three. Zoey looked back and saw that Madam Maxine was holding on to Fleur, stopping her from moving from her place. Fleur was in hysterics, trying to fight her way to her sister.

She, Zoey, looked back to the lake and saw Percy bringing Ron back to shore, though Ron was trying to stop him, and Harry was trying to help Gabrielle. Zoey, at the clear sight of her god brother, ran to him while Gabrielle ran to her sister.

"You're alright," Zoey hugged the black haired boy and kissed his forehead, "You're alright"

Harry hugged her back and tiredly patted her back. "It's alright, Zoey. I'm alive. You can let go now"

Zoey gave a laugh and held him at an arm's length. She looked at his face, arms and legs before grabbing a hold of his hand and leading him to the bank. There, stood Hermione who held a towel in her hands. When Harry was close enough she quickly ran to him, giving him a hug before wrapping the towel around him. Zoey summoned the potion and told Harry to drink it, she laughed a bit at his reaction but hugged him once more; she was so worried.

"You really love being the hero don't you?" she asked him

"The what?"

"Nothing," she smiled and shook her head, "Listen, their going to announce the score now"

In the end, Cedric came in first with forty-seven points and Harry was in second, having forty-five points. This came to a shock for all, even for him, seeing as he came in last but due to his "moral fiber" the judges reconsidered. Viktor was in third, forty points, and Fleur came in last place with twenty-five points though claiming she deserved zero.

Zoey was clapping with the rest and when she turned to congratulate Harry her eyes widened. There stood Harry with Fleur kissing both of his cheeks. Zoey gave a small laugh and watched as Fleur moved onto Ron next. Ron's entire face flushed and Zoey shook her head at him before looking over at little Gabrielle. Zoey bent down to her height.

"So, are you alright?" Zoey asked her with a smile, "You aren't hurt are you?"

Gabrielle shyly shook her head.

"Was it scary down there?" asked Zoey

"I was asleep," Gabrielle spoke.

Zoey gave a laugh. "I see," she said, "What about before that?"

"I was summoned by Madam Maxine. I didn't know what zey where going to do to me," Gabrielle told her.

"Well, you're alright now," Zoey smiled and patted her head before stretching. She looked over to Harry and laughed. She took another towel and ran to the boy and enveloped him in a hug and the towel.

"Come on, Moral Fiber, let's get you properly dried up," Zoey said to him before dragging him away.

* * *

**Chapter End**

**Thank for all the reviews and the like~**

**I really appreciate them **:)

**Oh, sorry for the short chapter. It's been long since I updated and usually I make up for it with an extra long chapter. Here, I'll make up for it with two updates :D**

**And**

**I want to apologize for the delayed update.**

**About two days ago, April 28, was my birthday and I couldn't update.**

**The Next day, April 29 (duh), was Zoey's birthday but I was still in a hotel so I couldn't use the Internet then**

**So I hope you can accept my apology and I also hope you enjoyed the chapter.**

**What I also hope is that I got Fleur and Gabrielle speaking alright. I don't really know how to type in a French accent and what not.**

**I apologize.**

**So with my final words:**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter**

**Please tell me what you thought**

**Excuse my typos and the like; I'm not good with a chapter not having any… though I would want one**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter**

**And**

**I only own what I own**


	67. Chapter 65: Auctor sanitatis

**Chapter 65: ****Auctor sanitatis**

_A ten-year-old Zoey laid quietly on the hospital bed in St. Mungo's. She woke up not to long ago but she found herself unable to speak or comprehend what the healers were saying from outside her door. The Emeraude was tired and her head pounded but she couldn't call out for help, no, she couldn't find the voice to say anything so she remained silent, trying to understand what the healers were talking about. They have been talking about Zoey's current state for a while now and Zoey had listened to each and every word that came out of their mouth but even if she tried to understand, she couldn't. The only words she did know were._

_"Probably permanent"_

_"Could last years before a cure could help"_

_"Giver her some time. She's a strong girl"_

_and_

_"She'll have to continue taking these if she wants to interact normally with the outside world"_

_Zoey didn't know what 'these' meant. She vaguely though it was a type of potion that the healers would give her. She wished it didn't taste bad. Zoey closed her eyes and tried to remember what had happened to her. She recalled being in the same room as her aunt and her aunt being very angry. She remembered feeling a familiar pain in her head and blacking out. Zoey opened her eyes to stare at the blank ceiling. Though she didn't know all the details, it all made sense to her._

_The door opened and revealed a kind looking woman. She wore the healers clothing and had a plump body. Her dirty blonde hair was held up in a bun and her eyes read kindness. Zoey tried to sit up but winced as black spots appeared before her eyes causing her to fall back down to her pillow. The plump healer was quickly at her side._

_"Are you alright, Miss Emeraude?" the healer asked, helping Zoey sit up and placing a pillow at her back. Zoey slowly nodded, the black spots still invading her vision._

_"You gave us quite a scare, you know," the healer spoke after a long pause, "We almost thought you wouldn't make it"_

_Zoey's eyes widened at what she said. She almost died?_

_"Yes, quite a shock. I know," the lady continued, able to read Zoey's expressions, "But you're a strong little girl, yeah? You held on and look at you now! In tip top shape!"_

_Zoey raised a brow at the woman._

_"Ignoring that you're bed ridden at the moment," the healer laughed and waved her wand. Different types of potions appeared on Zoey's bedside table. The healer picked up a bunch of different bottles and jars and looked at their label. Several times she would shake her head and make a disapproving sound before she finally came across what she was looking for. At the sight of the potion she gave a small grimace_

_"At such a young age… to be taking a potion like this," the healer said to herself with a sigh, "But I guess it would have to do"_

_The healer then faced Zoey and held the potion in her hand. She opened it and showed it to Zoey. Zoey's eyes widened. It was not a potion at all. It was pills._

_"You know what this is?" the healer asked the ten-year-old. Zoey shook her head. "This is called 'Auctor sanitatis'," the healer said, taking out one pill, "If you take this everyday and visit us every month or so, you'll get better"_

_She gave the pill to Zoey._

_"You want to get better right?" the healer asked, "So you'll be a strong witch and would defend the good"_

_Zoey looked at the pill curiously and back at the healer, but the healer was too busy fixing the rest of the potions that she didn't catch Zoey's gaze. Instead, she continued to talk._

_"If you be a good girl and follow these instructions you'll be fine in no time. The kind of sickness you have is something that could affect your way of viewing things and interacting. We don't want that now do we? You may not see anything wrong with you now but in time, it will start to show," the healer told her, "So if you start taking those pills now, you don't have to worry about your future. You can have friends, a normal job, and children. Ah! Especially children. That kind of sickness could affect your child birth you know"_

_The healer gave a laugh._

_"Oh, look at me. You're only ten-years-old and I'm talking about you giving birth to little Zoey Emeraudes!" she gave another laugh and looked at Zoey, "but we all love children don't we? So, take that pill today, rest and tomorrow you'll take another one, alright?"_

_Zoey looked at the pill in her hand and at the woman. She gave a gulp and placed the pill in her mouth, swallowing it. She made a face and felt a buzzing in her head, that she didn't know was there till that very moment, disappear. She took the container from the healer and looked inside. There was a small gap in the container showing that one pill was already used. In a month's time, Zoey would need a new supply. _

_"Now, that's a good girl," the healer said before waving her wand and making the other potions disappear, "I'll leave you know to rest. Good bye"_

_Zoey silently watched as the healer left and looked back into the pills. A month's time. A normal future. Children and the like. All that would happen if she would take the pills. One a day, that's all it takes. It wasn't a hassle and the pill didn't even taste bad. Zoey could do this. She needed to do this._

Zoey silently sat in the library looking at the pills container she held in her hand. It had been six years since the day she first got it and since then she only took one pill. The day she got it. When she was released from the hospital the next day, she kept the pills in a safe place but never took them out again. The day she packed her things for Hogwarts was the first time she took the pills out of the safe place. Today, was the first time she remembered she even had them. Zoey looked inside the container and took one pill out. She studied it before placing it back inside and closing the container.

_"Auctor sanitatis," _Zoey said, turning the container in her hand, "Sanity giver"

The pills were made to stabilize her. To have a normal future, she needed to be sane. To be able to have children she needed to be able o handle the thought of conceiving them. Zoey did not take the pills and she felt normal. She was able to have friends, even a crush, and was able to live normally. Then again, the healer did say that the effects weren't noticeable to begin with. In time, Zoey knew, she would regret not taking the pills. Zoey gave a sigh and kept the pills. She knew what the effects were and she knew what it did to her.

She was unstable. Her personality was unstable. Whatever she tried to do she would always revert back to her shy self. Prim and proper at all times. She couldn't be wild or out going. She couldn't be too angry or too sad either. If she did, the next day she would revert back to herself. Sure, she could be friendly but that was just about it. She couldn't approach people unless it was part of a task like if she needed to heal them. No, Zoey would always be shy, friendly, and_ nice _and she would always keep her word. She could not give a convincing lie but she could avoid certain truths.

It was like she was programmed that way.

Made that way

And she couldn't do anything about it.

Zoey bit her lip in thought. "Is it too late?"

"Too late for what?" came a voice. Zoey felt herself jump and turned around to see Ginny standing behind her with a smile. She pulled out a chair and sat beside Zoey. "Come off it. Did you do something bad? Are you wondering if it's too late to fix it?"

"Where's all this coming from?" Zoey gave a laugh, holding her hands up in defense; she pushed the thought about the pills away from her mind.

"Hmm, that's right. You're Zoey. You couldn't possibly do anything bad," Ginny gave a grin and Zoey rolled her eyes. "You know it's true," said Ginny.

"And what's wrong with not being able to do anything bad?" Zoey raised a brow, "I'm quite happy staying out of trouble"

"And I find that really amazing seeing as two your best mates are my brothers," she paused, "Fred and George no less! How could you _not get in trouble when they're your friends? Tell me, what's you secret?" Ginny pretended to hold a quill and a piece of parchment in her hand acting as if she were a reporter._

Zoey gave a laugh. "Enough of that. What brings you here?"

"Huh? Oh! I almost forgot!"

"Looks like you completely forgot"

"Shut it," Ginny laughed, "Madam Pomfrey wants you at the Hospital wing, ASAP"

Zoey stood up from her chair with great speed. "Why? What's happened?"

"Don't get your knickers in a twist," Ginny said.

"But she said 'ASAP'. Surely, it must be –"

"I asked her what was the problem," Ginny held her hand up, "She said she wanted you to look after two patients while she busies herself with an antidote"

"What happened to the patients?" Zoey asked.

"Fever and puking," Ginny wrinkled her nose.

Zoey bit her lip. "I see," she mumbled, "Well, I got to go check up on these puking and fevering patients"

"Good luck!" Ginny laughed as Zoey ran out of the library in a rush.

When Zoey finally reached the doors of the Hospital Wing, she was out of breath. She placed a hand over her heart and the other on the door. She took several deep breaths and winced when she felt her side hurt. She was _not _athletic in the least. A real shame seeing as she found herself running all over the place as of late. The Emeraude then decided she wasted enough time as it is and pushed open the door. She was greeted by the sound of someone hurling into a bucket. Zoey wrinkled her nose.

"Ah! Miss Emeraude," Madam Pomfrey greeted her, her wand in her hand, "I was beginning to wonder. But never mind that, Miss Beaumont is with the patients right now," she jerked her head towards one of the curtain – covered beds at the end of the room, "You better check up on them"

"Echo?" Zoey raised a brow, stepping closer to the healer, "Madam Pomfrey, who are the patients?"

Madam Pomfrey gave an eye roll. "They're those Weasley boys. The twins," she told Zoey, returning to the bubbling cauldron in her office, "Came here with Miss Beaumont with one having a fever and the other spewing out his breakfast," Madam Pomfrey made a disapproving noise, "Honestly. Well, what are you waiting for? Go check up on them"

"Echo?" Zoey raised a brow, stepping closer to the healer, "Madam Pomfrey, who are the patients?"

Madam Pomfrey gave an eye roll. "They're those Weasley boys. The twins," she told Zoey, returning to the bubbling cauldron in her office, "Came here with Miss Beaumont with one having a fever and the other spewing out his breakfast," Madam Pomfrey made a disapproving noise, "Honestly. Well, what are you waiting for? Go check up on them"

"Right," Zoey nodded, took out her wand, and walked towards the beds where Fred and George were said to be. She drew the curtains and saw Fred lying in one bed tiredly laughing at George who was bent over a bucket, Echo rubbing his back. Zoey began to worry but couldn't help but wrinkle her nose once more.

"What happened?" she asked.

"They used themselves as guinea pigs for their products," Echo looked up.

"Hey, you didn't want to try it so we had to take them ourselves," Fred pointed out before groaning and resting his head back on his pillow. Zoey waved her wand and a basin and towel appeared at his bedside table. She dunked the towel before wringing it and wiping the sweat of Fred's brow.

"I promised myself that I'd make my own pastilles!" Echo cried out

"Speaking of pastilles," Fred grinned as George made another hurl, "How are you holding up Georgie?"

"Shut it," George said in a raspy voice though Zoey could hear a slight laugh in his tone.

"I don't follow," Zoey said, dunking the towel back into the basin, "What exactly did you guys take?"

"George took a Puking Pastille, while Fred ate a Fever Fudge," Echo said, sitting down on the space between the twins' beds.

Zoey's brows furrowed. "Puking Pastille… Fever Fudge? This isn't like that Ton-Tongue Toffee you gave Harry's cousin is it?"

"Yes and No," Fred replied

"But it sorta has the same idea," George said, laying back down on his pillow with a nauseating color of green to his face, "These, young Zoey, is part of our Skiving Snack box"

"Your what?"

"Skiving Snack Box," Fred repeated as George bent over again, "Sweets to make you ill and to get you out of class"

"Why in the world would you want to do that?" Zoey's brows shot up.

"Well, people want to avoid Snape's class, be out of that Divination Classroom faster than you can say 'Trelawney' and rather spend sleeping the whole day – among others," Echo sighed as she placed her chin on the palm of her hand.

"Exactly," the twins chimed.

"Uhuh," Zoey raised a brow, "You," she pointed at Echo, "Shouldn't be supporting them and you two," she gestured towards the twins, "Are now sick in bed and look miserable. How does this seem better than being stuck in class?"

"It still has some bugs in it," George told her

"In a matter of time. We would have perfected it and perfected the antidote as well," Fred grinned, "We already got Nosebleed Nougat done. Fever Fudge is close to perfection. We just need to be able to control it"

"Control it?" Zoey asked, placing a hand on Fred's forehead. Fred flushed, though no one could tell.

"Yep, the Fever wasn't meant to go this high. Only high enough to get you out of class," Fred said.

"Why shouldn't I be supporting them? They have reason, Zoey, and implore you to see it," Echo said, before clamping her hand on her mouth to stifle laughter.

Zoey squinted her eyes at her. "Just take care of your puking boyfriend," she told him.

"So what else is in this Skiving Snack box of yours? You have Nosebleed Nougat, Fever Fudge, what's making puking-mc-pukerson puke?" Zoey asked.

"Ah! Caught your interest now have we?" George laughed before hunching over once more.

"Yes…Quite," Zoey said blankly before looking over to Fred, wiping his sweat once more.

"Well, as Echo said, George had taken the Puking Pastille and is now, currently, suffering from it," Fred gave a laugh, "There's also Fainting Fancies and that's what we've got so far"

"Fainting – isn't that dangerous? What if you go into some sort of coma?" Zoey asked worriedly. She did not want to come back to the Hospital Wing to see the twins on their deathbeds.

"Hey, Fred, when did you think Zoey began being your mum?" Echo turned her head.

Fred and George let out a laugh before turning silent at Zoey's glare.

Fred then shook his head. "You worry too much, Zoe," he said, "We wouldn't go that far"

"Anyway, it's a two way thing. You have to eat this candy, you see, one half makes you ill and the other half cures you," George said long enough before letting out a groan. It seemed like he already emptied the contents of his stomach, Echo continued to rub his back.

"Smart," Zoey smiled before furrowing her brows in thought, "But how do you expect to eat the other half if you're too busy emptying your guts and you know, unconscious?"

"Don't look at me, I'm not the mastermind," Echo said.

Zoey nodded before walking over to George and placing a hand on his forehead and waved her wand at him. She then looked away to check on Madam Pomfrey.

"Well, while you're trying to figure that one out, I think Madam Pomfrey has just about made something to cure you two," Zoey said.

"I hope it doesn't taste like that potion we took when we grew those beards," Fred made a face, "That tasted like platypus shi –"

"Okay!" Zoey said with a loud clap, "I don't want to hear that word," she said before leaving the trio to get the potions from Madam Pomfrey. Madam Pomfrey handed her two goblets and wiped her brow after. The woman was simply too tired after thinking up a potion to help the twins.

"I'll take care of them from now," Zoey told the witch with a kind smile, "You go on and rest first"

"I couldn't possibly –"

"No, really, Think of it as training me," Zoey said, "I mean, you aren't always going to be there to tell me what to do"

Madam Pomfrey gave a sigh. "Alright then," she paused, "But only for ten minutes"

"Twenty"

"Fifteen"

"Thirty"

"Twenty five"

"An hour," Zoey gave a laugh, "Please, Madam Pomfrey. You need your rest"

Madam Pomfrey was silent for a while before finally giving a sigh. "Oh, alright. But I'm not that old, you know," she told Zoey with a wave of her finger.

"Of course not," Zoey smiled before leaving the healer and walking back to the trio. She gave one goblet to Echo to help George and held the other in her hand as she helped Fred sit up.

"That smells worse than the other one!" George said, pushing the goblet away.

"Oh, belt up, George. It's pain before pleasure," Echo sat beside George.

"I'm already in pain," George moaned out.

Zoey rolled her eyes at him. "Just drink in George or you won't stop puking."

"But I can no longer puke"

"If you eat, then you'll puke"

"What if I don't eat?"

"Like that would happen," Zoey said with a scoff

"Point proven," George paused, "What if I like puking?"

Zoey bit her lip in thought but then smirked. "Then you can no longer kiss Echo," she told him, "Seeing as you'll be too busy puking and all."

"Oh, she got you there, Georgie," Fred laughed

George gulped and looked towards Echo, the goblet and back at Echo.

"Come on, George, it's really not that bad, is it?" Echo looked at the goblet.

"It's worse"

"Just drink it," Zoey told him.

George made a face and took the goblet from Echo. He swirled it around a bit before making a face. His skin tone looked greener than ever whether from being sick or the thought of drinking the potion, Zoey didn't know. All she knew was that it was a laugh to watch George's expression make multiple changes as he downed the potion one gulped. By the time he finished it all he looked like he wanted to hurl it all back out.

"Ah! No, you can't throw it all back out," Zoey told him, "Or you will have to drink another one"

"And I might leave you forever," Echo said with a fake hurt tone

George then mocked shock. "You wouldn't"

"Oh yes, I would," Echo crossed her arms over her chest.

"Not if I have anything to say about that!" George got up from his bed and threw Echo over his shoulder, laughing as he did so. Zoey rolled her eyes at the couple.

"Seeing as you're all better now," she began, "Do that outside! This is a Hospital Wing for goodness sake!"

Fred laughed causing Zoey took look back at him. She looked at his hand and saw that the potion was still there. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot. Fred looked at her with raised eyebrows. He then looked at the goblet in his hand and gave her a sheepish smile.

"Now it's your turn Freddie m'boy!" George laughed at his twin as he placed his girlfriend back on her feet.

"I hate you, George Weasley," Echo spoke as soon as her feet touched the floor

"I love you too," George said, swiftly pecking her on the cheek

"Well, you see, I think I'm glad that I have a fever," Fred said, ignoring the PDA, "and seeing as I'm not puking and have no one to kiss. I don't need to drink that potion"

Zoey furrowed her brows. "Then no one would want to go near you then," she said to Fred, "If you have a terminal fever then you would be bedridden for the rest of your life. You can't play Quidditch and you're not allowed to interact with other people. Also, you can't help George with the inventing now because he won't be allowed near you. You'll grow up to be a grumpy old man with a fever," Zoey paused, "And alone. A grumpy old alone man"

"Oh, she got you there, Freddie," George said, repeating what his twin had said to him.

Fred grumbled in thought and, too, swirled the potion around in his goblet. He glanced at it and then to Zoey, George and Echo and back at the potion. He pinched his nose and took a breath of air. "If I die, stay away from my grave," he told them lightheartedly before taking in every single drop of the potion on one gulp. When he finished he instantly dropped the goblet to the floor and covered his mouth. He stayed like that for a few seconds before lowering his hands and making a face.

"Never," Fred said in a loud voice, "Never again will I have to drink that rubbish!"

Zoey rolled her eyes at him and picked up the fallen goblet. "If you fix that Skiving Snack box of yours, you will never have to"

"Well then," Fred began with a grin

"Let's get back to work," George said with an identical grin before kissing Echo once more and dashing out of the Hospital Wing with his twin. Zoey shook her head at them and smiled.

"Now, I have to get back to DADA or else Moody'll give me detention," Echo sighed as she picked up her things and started her way out the door.

"_Professor _Moody," Zoey found herself correcting the girl. She laughed after; it had been so long since she corrected someone for simply calling their teacher by their last name.

"Still Moody nonetheless," Echo shrugged, "Wanna come with?"

"I don't have DADA next"

"I'll just drop you off, then"

Zoey shook her head. "I have to clean up," she told her, "You go on ahead"

Echo nodded and left Zoey alone in the Hospital Wing.

* * *

It was already about three o'clock in the afternoon when Zoey found herself walking near the outskirts of Hogsmeade Village alone. She placed her hands in her pockets and kicked a pebble in her way. The weather was milder than before and it was getting too warm for her to wear a robe so it now hung on her shoulders like a cape. She bit her lip and looked around. She didn't particularly know why she was here. She had been walking around a few hours ago until she caught sight of the Golden Trio shopping for the oddest of socks in one store before loosing them. The next time she saw them, they were heading to the outskirts of the village. When Zoey lost sight of them once more, she found herself patrolling.

"What am I getting so worried about?" she then asked herself after a few minutes passed, "They can take care of themselves. I shouldn't always be worrying about them"

She then looked away at the distance. "But… it's already getting late… and they _are _on the outskirts of Hogsmeade…," she paused, "But I'm not their mother. I shouldn't be acting this way"

Suddenly, there was a bark. Zoey jumped a couple inches before shakily looking behind her to see the Golden Trio and a big black dog. Zoey raised a brow at them and the dog approached her and licked her hand. She looked at the dog curiously but then her eyes widened with realization. She knelt to the ground and brought the dog, whom she found out was her father, into a hug.

"Dad, what are you doing here?" she asked him before giving him a good look, "You're so skinny!"

"He's been living of rats," Harry spoke

Zoey wrinkled her nose. "That's not a very good meal"

"We brought him food," Hermione said

"For him and Buckbeak," Ron chimed.

"Buckbeak," Zoey asked, "Wait, what are you and Buckbeak doing here? Where are you staying?"

Sirius barked. She looked at him questioningly but Harry answered for him. "We'll explain back at Hogwarts," he said to his godsister, "Come on, it's getting late"

He, Harry, grabbed hold of Zoey's arm and brought her back to her feet. Her brows furrowed. "Okay," she said slowly before petting her dad on his head. "Nice seeing you again, dad" she told him before heading back to Hogwarts with the Golden Trio.

* * *

**And here's the second part of my update~**

**I hope this makes up for my absence.**

**Oh, and I must tell you know but I will be absent from May 2 – 6 so you guys won't be hearing from me for that long.**

**I would like to thank HayleyParadox for helping me out and also for all of you who reviewed!**

**Love you guys**

**I have nothing more to say, sadly and my head is pounding like crazy so I must end it here.**

**So with my final words:**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter**

**Please tell me what you thought**

**Excuse my typos and the like; I'm not good with a chapter not having any… though I would want one**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter**

**And**

**I only own what I own******


	68. Chapter 66: The Broken Promise

**Chapter 66: The Broken Promise**

Months passed since the last task and before Zoey knew it she had finished all her exams and was now standing with Fred, George, Echo and Bridgit, looking over at the giant maze in the middle of them all. Zoey bit her lip and hugged her robes closer to her body. The night sky was already spooky, add in the cold night breeze and a maze filled with who knows what, that could only spell disaster for the young Emeraude.

The four champions stood near the gate with their parents; Harry with Mrs. Weasley and Bill Weasley. Zoey played with the ends of her sleeves as she watched him and Cedric. Her two closest friends were going to enter the maze. Who knows what could happen to them?

"I'm scared for them," Bridgit said, breaking the silence that surrounded the group.

"Do you know what's going to happen in there?" Zoey looked at her, "Anything in that maze?"

"Yeah, and nothing is gonna be pretty about it," Bridgit answered, releasing a breath into her palms. It was cold out tonight.

"One thing for sure," Echo spoke silently, "There's something bound to happen"

"Wonder what could be in there," George told Fred, "Wanna bet some of those animals Hagrid keep are in there?"

"No doubt about it," Fred grinned.

"Nope, no animals. The maze is gonna be jinxed to control them and turn them against one another," Bridgit whispered, but only Zoey and Echo heard her.

Zoey gulped and looked back at the champions. "I think… I'll have a chat with Harry and Cedric before they enter the maze and all."

She walked passed Bridgit and Echo and made her way passed the other students. Several times a student would grunt in annoyance but Zoey could care less, all she wanted to do was to reach her friends in time. She bit her lip when she finally reached the grassy grounds and made her way to Harry first. She enveloped him in a hug, bringing the attention of Mrs. Weasley and Bill to her.

"Oh, Hello dear," Mrs. Weasley gave her a smile, "Here to wish Harry good luck?"

"Hello, Mrs. Weasley, Bill," she nodded at the respective Weasley in greeting before looking back at Harry. She gave him a smile before wiping some dirt of his face. "The task hasn't even began and you're already dirty," she said to him fondly. She really did have a connection with the boy.

Harry gave a laugh and wiped his face, though it did nothing. He then looked back at the maze. "What do you think is in there?"

"I don't know," Zoey told him, "All I know is that nothing good could be in there"

"The school won't put anything in there that could kill us, would they?" Harry asked with worry

Zoey felt her worry rise at the idea but instead of freaking out she took a deep calming breath and placed a shaky hand on Harry's shoulder. "I'm sure they won't," she said to him, "I mean, it's a school. They aren't suppose to do that"

"I guess you're right," Harry said

"But, even thought. Just… just be careful okay?" Zoey asked him, "I want you to be back in one piece"

"Of course," Harry offered a smile, "I'll be careful," he paused, "I'm sure you would want to give the same words of wisdom to Cedric?"

"If you don't mind"

"Go ahead," Harry gave her a little push towards the direction of Cedric. Zoey gave him a wave before making her way towards Cedric. Zoey looked up at the audience and saw that a handful of them were focusing their attention at her. No doubt about it, they were wondering why she was even down there in the first place. Zoey felt self-conscious. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to be there. She was just about to turn to go back up to her place when a hand caught hers. She whirled around to see Cedric.

"Hey," he greeted her.

"Hey," she replied before enveloping him in a hug, she had to stand on her tip toes, "Promise me you'll come back alive?"

Cedric gave a laugh and patted her back. "Of course," he said, "I wouldn't want to come back in a different state"

"That's no joking matter," Zoey said to him seriously, "There are a lot of things there that you might not expect to see and if –"

"I'll be fine, Zoey. I have my wand at the ready at all times and I studied and practiced a lot of good spells before this day. I'll say I'm well prepared and I promise you I will come back alive," Cedric smiled, though he looked slightly worried at the concept of going into the maze, "Now, would you give me one last hug and a wish of good luck before the task begins?"

"Good luck," Zoey breathed out, hugging him once more before smiling at his parents and heading back to the stairs. She gave her friends one last wave and once again squeezed her way through the other students to get back to Echo and the others. She stumbled a bit and tripped over several feet but she reached her placed just in time to see Cedric and Harry enter the maze. A few minutes after, Viktor was let into the maze and soon it was Fleur's turn. Now, all champions were in the maze and once again, no one would know what was going to happen.

"I just wished Harry doesn't win," Bridgit said, putting her face in her hands. She really hated knowing what was going to happen.

"What?" Fred asked in outrage, he was pro-Harry, "Why?"

"Cause if he does, something horrible is going to happen," Bridgit answered, her answer barely understandable because her face was in her hands.

"What horrible thing could possibly happen?" George asked, looking at the maze

"Things that you could never imagine," Bridgit answered, praying to Merlin that Harry would lose. At her vague answers, Fred and George directed their full attention to the maze, blocking out every unnecessary sounds.

Zoey looked at Bridgit. "What's going to happen in there?

"The cup… it's not a normal cup," Bridgit answered, facing Zoey, "It's a portkey"

"A portkey?" Zoey tried to keep her voice quiet, "A portkey to where?"

"To a graveyard… where they'll be waiting for him," Bridgit answered, "They need him to bring him back. They… they need his blood."

"They? Him? Whom are we talking about exactly?" Zoey lowered her voice even more.

"The other Death Eaters…. They'll bee there and they need Harry's blood to bring Voldemort back," Bridgit answered, her eyes getting teary. "I should have warned him," she added.

"Oh now," Zoey said with worry lacing her own voice. She looked back at the maze and her eyes widened when she saw a bright light coming up from a certain part in the maze. It looked as if someone had casted a patronus charm. As soon as it came, it left and there were still no signs of any other activity going on inside the maze. The crowd began to chatter and guess on who had casted the spell. Zoey blocked them all off. Her main focus was on what was happening inside, she didn't need the audience's guesses. They were never that good.

Minutes passed and the air was now filled with loud spells that were used to either fend off something or break apart a wall. Zoey didn't know, all that was on her mind was what Bridgit had told her. Twenty to almost thirty minutes has passed and everyone's attention was directed to the red sparks that flew to the sky. Medi-Wizards and other authorities entered the maze with a stretcher.

"Who do you think would be out first?" Bridgit asked, trying to get a better view.

"Fleur. It's not likely she'll last long," Echo breathed out, rubbing her hands together for warmth.

Zoey looked over at her friend and saw George wrap his arm around her waist to share his body warmth with her, Echo looked up and gave him a smile. Zoey smiled at the couple before looking back at the maze. Echo was right. It was Fleur. Zoey wondered if she should have stayed with the other healers. Maybe she could help like during the second task but something inside Zoey told her that these kinds of injuries were something she couldn't heal with her training.

She gulped. How long till the next champion sends out red sparks?

Ten to fifteen minutes had passed since Fleur sent red sparks and soon, the sky was decorated by it once more. Zoey felt her heart give a leap. What if it was Harry? Or even Cedric? If it was, were they all right? Were they still alive? She didn't know. The only time Zoey found herself being able to breath again was when she saw Viktor Krum laying on the stretcher.

Fred gave a whistle. "Never thought that he would go out that fast"

Zoey gave him a look. "Even Viktor isn't invincible," she told him before looking over at Bridgit. "Harry and Cedric are still in there," she told her with worry.

Bridgit didn't say anything. She was too worried to mind everything else around her. She was sweating despite the cold weather and Zoey and Echo noticed it. Bridgit wished that Harry would be one of the first to come out, but it seemed as if luck was against her.

Five to ten minutes had passed and her head suddenly began to ache. She reached up to her temples and rubbed them. It was as if she was being hit by a rock. An image suddenly flashed in her head. It was an image of Harry and Cedric landing on the graveyard.

"Are you alright?" Zoey asked, noting Bridgit's problem.

"No…," Bridgit whispered, not referring to Zoey's question. It was the scene that was playing in her head.

"No…," she whispered again, as she saw Pettigrew and Voldemort come out.

"No…," she said again, now a bit louder as the Death Eaters began to arrive.

_"Cedric!" Harry shouted, as they were now being surrounded._

"Cedric!" Bridgit suddenly shouted, causing her to fall to the ground, Zoey sat down beside her and was starting to panic.

"Bridgit, what' s happening? Zoey asked, as all the students, who had heard Bridgit's scream, were staring at them"

"Cedric…," Bridgit whispered, as she saw his body laying dead on the ground. She saw Pettigrew begin the ceremony and cut off his hand. She was crying now.

"Stop…," she whispered.

"Bridgit," Zoey said, shaking her friend but nothing was getting her attention. She looked over at Fred, George and Echo but they were as confused and worried as she was. Something unexplainable was happening.

She, Bridgit, saw Pettigrew cut Harry with a knife and added a drop of Harry's blood into a cauldron that stood before him.

"No…," Bridgit whispered again. They were gaining attention, but they didn't really care about that now. Dumbledore, hearing the commotion, was making his way towards them, but Bridgit's shout stopped him.

"No!" Bright said, now sobbing.

She saw Voldemort rise, she saw him threaten Harry and she saw how he started to torture the Death Eaters. As the vision vanished, she could only see him releasing Harry from his bound state.

"Maybe you should take her to Madam Pomfrey," Echo said, getting Zoey's attention, but Bridgit snapped out of her trance.

"No…," she said once again and Zoey turned back to her.

"Bridgit's what's wrong?" Zoey asked, and Bridgit suddenly hugged her.

"He's gone… He's back…. Harry," was all she could manage to say

"What?" Zoey asked, her panic rising.

"Cedric… he's…," Bridgit was saying but was stopped when the band began to play. Zoey released Bridgit's hold on her and took a look at the arena. Harry and Cedric were back. Suddenly, the band had stopped playing and there was a collective gasp amongst the crowd nearest to the maze. Zoey's eyes widened.

An ear piercing and heart-breaking scream filled the air and it all came from Zoey. Everyone in the area looked towards her and others at Cedric's corpse but Zoey didn't care. She felt tears well up in her eyes as she pushed every student out of her way and collapsed near Cedric's dead body. She took ragged breaths and touched his face, it was cold and unfeeling. His eyes staring at nothing. She bit her lip as more tears welled up in her eyes. She slowly closed Cedric's and fell to his body, sobbing.

Zoey couldn't believe it; she didn't want to believe it. Just moments ago she was hugging him and wishing him good luck but now, here he lay dead and unmoving. She didn't care what was happening around her, she listened to the cries of those close to him but she didn't care. She licked her lips and looked at Cedric once more. Without knowing, mist began to form at her feet. She had no control over it, not like she did before. She felt her back begin to ache but paid no mind to it. She didn't have control over her own.

"Oh no," came Hermione's voice, "someone stop her!"

"What?" Fred's voice asked.

"Fred, take Zoey away from here," Hermione pleaded the Weasley twin.

"He can't do that," came George, "Can't you see that this is heart breaking enough as it is –"

"No, you don't understand," Hermione cried, "Fred, please, take her away from all this"

Fred, confused and panicked, followed Hermione's request and made his way towards Zoey. His eyes widened when he saw a suspicious sort of mist forming at her feet but shook his head. That was not important right now. The Weasley walked to the Emeraude and scooped her into his arms. He watched as her eyes widened and began to thrash about.

"No! No!" she said in a voice so familiar to him yet foreign at the same time, "Put me back! Don't take me away!"

"Sorry, Zoe," Fred apologized; fixing his hold on her and ignoring the violent hits she gave him. She wouldn't have harmed him anyway, even if she wasn't hysterical. Zoey continued to scream; fight and sob but Fred kept his hold on her. Not ready to let her go. He looked towards his twin and gave him a quick nod before heading back to the castle, away from all this.

They passed by Harry, who was wounded and giving off dry sobs. He was being dragged away by Professor Moody. At the sight of the two, Harry fought his way out of the Professor's grip and ran towards his god sister. He held onto her hand and Zoey's hysterical cries seemed to calm down a bit.

"Zoey… Zoey… Cedirc… he – he," Harry said with ragged breaths, "He wanted me to tell you that he's sorry. Sorry for breaking his promise"

Zoey's eyes widened at his words and a new batch of tears filled her eyes. Fred fixed his hold on her, pressing her closer to his body. Zoey no longer cried out, she was left speechless and trembling. This seemed to worry Fred more; he needed to get her back to the castle. He saw Moody make his way towards Harry but before he could drag him away, Bridgit came to view.

"Stop!" Bridgit said, taking hold of Harry's hand, stopping him from going anywhere with Moody. "You're not taking him anywhere," she continued, making Harry glare at her.

"Let me got you traitor…," Harry whispered, making Bridgit turn to him, still not letting go, "I know you don't trust me at the moment, but please don't go with him," she continued

"Let me go," Harry said again.

"Listen to him, Ms. Parker," Moody said, making Bridgit turn up and glare at him, She let go of Harry's hand and let Moody drag him away. She turned towards Professor Dumbledore, who had made his way towards them not long ago, and he nodded towards her.

She, Bridgit, ran up to Moody and took his drinking container. She opened it, and took a drink. Everyone saw how she started to change and when the transformation was done, she looked exactly like Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody.

"That's polyjuice potion," Hermione, who had followed Dumbledore, shouted, looking as shocked as everyone else in the area.

"Yes," Bridgit answered, in Moody's voice. "This man is not Alastor Moody," she said, pointing at 'Moody'. Harry began to struggle out of his grip, but he held on to him firmly.

Suddenly, the man started to change. His form was starting to morph and he was clutching onto the magical eye. As the others remained silent, Zoey suppressing her sobs, and watched, they saw that he wasn't indeed Moody… he was Barty Crouch Jr.

The man let released Harry and he ran towards Hermione and Ron. When the eye dropped to the ground, Professor Dumbledore walked up to the students as the officials took hold of the criminal and dragged him to one of Hogwarts' many towers, for questioning.

"I think that it's time for you to go to the Hospital Wing," He, Dumbledore, said, referring to Zoey, Harry, Fred and George, Echo, Hermione, Ron and Bridgit (the entire gang had gathered to the spot, planning to head to the Hospital Wing but got caught up in the scene on their way). "The rest of you, go to your dormitories and wait for further instruction"

* * *

Zoey sat on one of the Hospital Beds beside Harry as the entire Weasley Family and close friends surrounded them. Dumbledore had entered the Hospital Wing shortly after they all arrived and trailing behind him was Professor Snape and a big black dog. Madam Pomfrey was just about to shoo the dog away but Dumbledore told her otherwise. The dog gave a bark before making his way to Harry, licking his hand before approaching Zoey and whimpering. Zoey swallowed hard and brought a shaky hand to pet the dog as Dumbledore began to give orders to Madam Pomfrey and the others.

"Zoey, are you fine now?" Echo spoke quietly

"Fah – Fi – F –" Zoey closed her mouth. She didn't trust herself to speak. Instead, she just shook her head and continued to pet the dog. She tapped the hospital bed softly and the dog jumped onto it.

Echo swayed slightly to and fro from her heels, nodding. "I'm sorry about Cedric, we all are," she bit her lip.

Zoey looked at the Veela before looking at everyone else in the room. They were all looking at her expectantly. Most, hopeful that she would speak while others wondered if she would break down crying again. Zoey did neither. She continued to pet the dog.

"Well," Dumbledore began after a few more minutes of silence, "I think it's time for two of our number to recognize each other for what they are. Sirius… if you could resume your usual form?"

The dog Zoey was petting looked up at Dumbledore and in an instant transformed into a man who instead of being petted by Zoey, was holding his daughter's hand comfortingly. At the sight of him, Mrs. Weasley let out a scream and leapt of Harry's bed.

"Sirius Black!" She pointed at him while Ron tried to calm her down. Everyone in the room, save for those who already knew, were in shock at the sight of the man. Snape; however, was not pleased at the sight and began an argument. Sirius had left Zoey's side to resume Dumbledore's.

Zoey looked at her father and everyone else in the room before standing up from the bed. Fred made a move towards her but Zoey shook her head. "I think I'll be going to sleep now," she said and Mrs. Weasley offered her the Dreamless Sleeping Potion but Zoey politely declined, "I'll be in my dorm if anyone would need me," she said softly before making her way out of the Hospital Wing and closing the door at her exit. At the sound of the click, Zoey made a mad dash for the Hufflepuff Common Room.

By the time she reached her destination, she was out of breath and sweating. She hurriedly said the passwords, entered the room and collapsed on one of the couches. She hugged her knees to her chest and looked straight at the fire. Many times, when she was troubled she would find herself in this exact place, looking in the fire and Cedric would come down and talk to her. Zoey felt her heart clench. That would never happen again. . He was gone… forever.

Zoey let out a sob.

"Hey," came a greeting

She, Zoey, looked up with hope but her face fell when she saw it was Jane. She was already in her pajamas and she had her wand in her hand. She gave Zoey a small smile before making her way towards the couch and sitting beside the Emeraude.

"I'm sorry about… Cedric," Jane began, "I hear you were pretty close to him"

Zoey shook her head. "He was my nest friend in the Hufflepuff house… my first and only friend…," she said softly.

"Hey, that's not true," Jane said, "I'm your friend"

"But he's been with me since… the beginning," Zoey felt her voice cracking, "And just to have him taken away like that… it hurts" Zoey let out another sob and brought her face into her hands. She felt Jane move closer to her and wrapped and arm around her, bringing her closer so Zoey's head would rest against her shoulder.

"Shh… there there. It would be alright," Jane said in a soft voice.

"Alright? _All _right? How could it be alright?" Zoey cried, "He's gone! Dead! Not coming back! Nothing could be all right! You don't understand. You didn't know him like I did!"

Jane rubbed Zoey's back. "I may not know how you feel but I know other people who do," she said, "Think about Cedric's parents? Losing a son? How about his girlfriend Cho? How do you think she feels? They all lost someone close to them. You aren't alone in this"

Zoey said nothing for a while but soon took a breath. "It just… hurts…. I mean… how would you feel when your boyfriend, Aiden – was it? Was suddenly taken away from you? What would you do if you just lost him?"

"I would do the same thing I did two years ago," Jane spoke, "I would do everything in my power to get him back"

"W – What?" Zoey looked at Jane with wide eyes.

"Me and Aiden. We had our tough times before we began dating," Jane began, "I don't want to get to detailed on the topic but long story short. I come from a pureblood family, he's muggleborn and they didn't approve of him."

"But if they didn't approve?"

"What do I care? It's my life. I only get to live it once and I never accepted the pureblood ways anyway. At first, I would avoid Aiden but soon, I found it impossible. Sure, there were certain people who would get in our way, tear us apart but then I realized I didn't care. One life and I only had one chance with him," Jane paused, "I didn't want to lose that chance. No matter how much he said he loves me, I knew he wouldn't wait for me forever so I took that chance and you know what? It as worth it"

Jane held onto Zoey's shoulders. "I know losing Cedric is tough but do you really think he would want you to be crying over him? Sure, I didn't know him as well as you do but I know for certain he would not want you to be this way. I know it's healthy to show how you feel but don't let that eat you up. Live a little," Jane bit her lip, "Sorry if what I said was a bit insensitive…I was just saying things from the top of my head"

Zoey eyes widened with realization and she felt her heart beat faster and faster with each passing second. Jane was right, she couldn't just keep crying over Cedric. He wouldn't want that. He would want her to live the rest of her life, freely. Jane was also right with only having one life and one chance. Zoey stood up from the couch.

"Whoa, feeling better now?" Jane asked, shocked at Zoey's sudden movements.

"There's something I have to do," Zoey said before smiling at Jane, "Thanks for the help. I'll see you again tomorrow" and she, Zoey, left the Common Room without giving Jane a chance to reply. Faster and faster Zoey ran as she tried to make her way in time. She dodged statues and suits of armors and skidded past corners. She was already huffing and puffing but was still nowhere near the Hospital Wing. She was just about to slow down her pace when she caught sight of a red head walking her way.

Zoey felt her face light up at the sight and ran faster than ever. The red head took a step back in shock and stumbled a bit when Zoey launched herself into his arms.

"Whoa, Zoe, what's the rush?" Fred asked her, careful with his words. Zoey said nothing but simply inhaled and kissed Fred full in the mouth. Fred, who was shocked by the sudden action, took several steps back before finally registering what had just happened. When the gears in his head finally began to turn, he smiled into the kiss and his eyes fluttered close, returning it.

As cheezy as is may sound but slowly, Zoey's right leg popped up a bit as any princess would in the muggle fairytales. The pair didn't know how many minutes had passed and frankly they didn't care all that mattered was that it was just the two of them. Them.

"I want to be with you," Zoey said, breaking the kiss, "I don't care about the others anymore. I just want you"

Fred grinned. "Same here," he said to her, "And I'll be with you no matter what"

* * *

It was now the last day of school and every student of Hogwarts were told to gather in the Great Hall. Zoey knew the reason behind this; Dumbledore was going to make a speech about Cedric and would most likely tell everyone the truth. Zoey didn't attend. She couldn't handle it. As she watched everyone gather into the hall, she sneakily broke free from the crowd and took refuge at her favorite spot near Hagrid's hut.

Zoey sat in silence and had her own tribute to Cedric in her mind. She would remember the times she would spend with him. Just talking and playing around. She felt a pang in her heart. She would never have those moments again. She took in a shaky breath and opened her eyes to the sky. She heard the chattering of students fill the air. How long has it been since she closed her eyes? Did she lose track of time that fast? She looked over at the castle and saw her friends, and boyfriend, Zoey grinned at the name, approach her. She waved at them.

"There you are! We've been looking all over for you! You're the only one who can wipe the disturbing grin off of Fred's face. I mean, I know you're both together and all, but I've already had enough lovely dovey moments from George and Echo to scar me for a lifetime," Bridgit said, making the others laugh.

"My grin isn't disturbing, is it?" Fred faced Zoey.

Zoey feigned thought and tapped his cheek. "Sadly it is. But, I'm your girlfriend so I learn to look past that," she gave him a smile before looking over at George and Echo, "Never saw you two as the lovey dovey type"

"Yeah, well, that makes both of us," Bridgit suddenly said, making George glare at her.

"Oh, don't' be just a jealous git, Bridgit," he, George, said, making Bridgit laugh.

"Me? Hahaha! Jealous? I don't need to be jealous of any of you!" Bridgit said between fits of laughter. "I have my own little guy to look after!" and as if on cue, Shinji appeared out of her cloaks pocket, barking cutely at him

"So you're in a relationship with a dog?" Fred asked, making Bridgit glare at him

"You do know that this dog hates you and even if he is small, he has sharp teeth," Bridgit stated, making Shinji growl at Fred.

"Good Boy!" Echo started petting Shinji.

"Yup, he always is!" Bridgit answered, petting the little dog as well

Zoey gave a laugh at the sight but before she could say anything there was a girlish clearing of throat. The five looked back and saw Mary Sue standing there with her hand at her hip, glaring at each and every one of them.

"Would you look at that. Aren't you all so precious," Mary Sue sneered, "Too bad it isn't going to last long"

"You're just jealous, Mary Sue," Echo scoffed.

"Jealous? Why would I need to be jealous? After all, I'm not the one who would be locked away from the world after her seventh year in this school," Mary Sue looked at her nails

"What are you on about, Bitchy, I mean, Mary Sue?" Bridgit asked, glaring at the girl.

Mary Sue's glare intensified at the sight of Bridgit. "Oh? Didn't Zoey tell you? I would have thought she would," she said in a vague voice

"Oh my gosh! Did you say thought? So you actually think under that head full of hairspray?" Bridgit retorted.

"Tell us what?" Fred suppressed his laugh and darted his eyes from Mary Sue to Zoey, who had yet to speak.

"You aren't making any of your lies again, are you, Mary Sue?" George asked.

"Oh, but Georgie, dear. This is all the truth," Mary Sue smiled, "You see, ickle Zoey here had made a certain promise to her auntie. A promise that says that after she graduates… she'll have to leave all of you and crawl back into that dumpsite she calls a house forever"

"We'll see to that, Bitch," Echo spat, "think that aunt of hers can keep her away from us?"

"Come on, Mary Sue, do you seriously think we'll let her go? I mean if that really is try then we could break her out you know," Bridgit added, smirking as she saw Mary Sue's glare

Mary Sue opened her mouth to speak but before she could Zoey tackled her to the floor. Zoey angrily pulled at her hair and said vicious words before Fred, who was laughing under his breath together with George, pulled her away. Mary Sue yelled in disgust when she saw grass in her hair and ran away from the five, forgetting what she was even doing in the first place. Zoey snarled at her before looking at her friends sheepishly.

"I really don't like her," Zoey spoke.

"Yeah, well I'm sure Crabbe just loves her," Bridgit suddenly said, laughing to herself.

"Say, what _did _you do to her at the Yule Ball?" Fred asked out of the blue, "I mean. Full details and all."

"You really want to know?" Bridgit asked, smirking as she did.

"Of course," the twins replied, grinning.

"Well, when Zoey told me she needed me to keep that no good excuse of a girl away from George, I was having a hard time thinking on how. So I decided that if I needed to keep her away I might as well have a little fun," Bridgit started, making the twins want to hear more.

"So I brought her out to the garden and I put a confundus charm on her," she continued, making Fred and George stare at her.

"That's it?" they both asked, earning whacks at the head from her.

"Do you two know me at all? Of course that's not it!" Bridgit answered, while the two rubbed their heads.

"Anyways, so I put the charm on her and I had her spinning around the garden and basically ripping her dress, but I didn't expect a drunk Vincent Crabbe to come along. She practically pounced him and started calling him Georgie-poo"

Bridgit then said, making the other's laugh.

"But the night-maker was that she actually kissed Crabbe smack on the lips!

" She added, making the burst out in fits of laughter. The twins were having trouble standing up.

"So when I heard the song ending, I took the confondus charm off and she opened her eyes and found herself snogging Crabbe! I swear the face she had was priceless!" Bridgit continued, now the twins rolling on the floor.

Zoey rolled her eyes. "Brilliant," she said before looking over at the distance, "I think it's about time for us to go now"

"Finally!" Echo cried out

"I can't say I'm excited to go home… but I'm totally looking forward to next year!" Bridgit said smiling, waving her wand in the air and summoning her luggage. Zoey watched as her friends did the same and followed Bridgit, heading towards the carriages.

Zoey did the same and was just about to take a step forward when Fred grabbed her hand stopping her from following her friends and bent down to kiss her. Zoey returned the kiss and pouted when Fred pulled away to whisper into her hear.

"Was what Mary Sue said true?" he asked, "Are you really going to be taken away?"

Zoey didn't reply for a few seconds. She moved to look at Fred in the eye. "Let's not end the year like this, okay? I'll tell you all about it soon" she made a move to intertwine her fingers with his.

"And when is soon?"

"This summer," Zoey paused, "I promise"

* * *

**And that concludes their 6th Year~**

**Yey~**

**Zoey and Fred are an item now~**

**I would like to thank ZoomSkater14 and HayleyParadox for helping me out here**

**also**

**I would like to thank everyone who reviews, favorited and alerted this story**

**I really appreciate it :)**

**Also, I would be leaving for Singapore tomorrow, May 2, and will be gone until May 6 so you won't be seeing me for some time. I hope that's okay.**

**The next chapter would be their, Zoey and the others, final year at Hogwarts. That would be up either later today or when I get back...**

**I have nothing more to say so**

With my final words**:**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter**

**Please tell me what you thought**

**Excuse my typos and the like; I'm not good with a chapter not having any… though I would want one**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter**

**And**

**I only own what I own**


	69. Chapter 67: The Adopted Girl

**Chapter 67: The Adopted Girl**

_Sirius lay bored in his bed as he twirled his wand in his hand. It was once again his summer vacation and he was back in the Noble House of Black. He hated it. He pointed his wand in the air and sent small sparks out of it for his own amusement. He and his mother had once again got into a fight and he ended up being sent to his room, not that he minded though, he spent most of his days up there anyway. He made a quick scan of his walls and a smirk played in his lips. Muggle girls on motorcycles and Gryffindor colors decorated his room. His parents hated it; he loved it._

"_You know you aren't suppose to use magic right? You're still underage. You could get expelled"_

_Sirius jumped at the voice and quickly turned towards his door to see Lucy leaning against the doorframe with a grin gracing her lips. Sirius let out a sigh and smirked at her._

"_Oh? And what do you care, Miss Emeraude?" he asked with a brow raised. Lucy laughed._

"_Well, if you must know, Mister Black. It would be a great loss if the player of the century gets expelled," she said, "All the girls would be devastated"_

"_Would you happen to be one of those girls?" Sirius wiggled his eyebrows_

_Lucy scoffed. "I get the privilege to actually go to your house," she told him, "Like hell I'll miss you"_

"_You hurt me, Luce," Sirius swung his legs over his bed, "and speaking of privileges to my house… how did you get it?"_

_Lucy closed the door behind her and began looking around Sirius' room. Smiling at the photos and wrinkling her nose at the posters. "Well, I am a pureblood –"_

"_And a Gryffindor," Sirius added, "My family loves purebloods but hates Gryffindors"_

"_And blood traitors, half breeds, 'mudbloods', muggles and the list goes on," Lucy exaggerated with hand movements, "But they let me in anyway"_

_Sirius brows shot up. "You don't mean they're going soft?"_

"_No, the trick is that you shouldn't mention you're a Gryffindor. You should imply you're a pureblood and it helps that you know Regulus"_

"_My brother?" Sirius' eyes widened_

"_No, my pet platypus," Lucy laughed, "Of course your brother!"_

"_I can't believe it," Sirius collapsed back to his bed. Lucy furrowed her brows and sat at the edge of his bed, watching him._

"_He isn't that bad," she told him._

"_It's not that," Sirius said, "I can't believe you named your pet platypus Regulus!"_

_Lucy slapped Sirius' leg and laughed. "I'm being serious here"_

"_I doubt that. I'm Sirius," Sirius chuckled and sat up, supporting himself with his hands. "But with all seriousness aside. What brings you to the Noble House of Black?"_

"_Well, believe it or not," Lucy laughed, beginning to blush, "I missed you"_

Zoey sat in the middle of a small, dark room. The only light source was from a hanging light that flickered every five seconds. The room was cold and lonely as the only furniture that decorated it was a small, wobbly wooden chair that stood in the middle of the room. Zoey crossed her legs as she sat on the chair and stared at the tall metal door that stood in front of her, it had no handles. She heaved a sigh. Not to long ago she returned to the Emeraude Suburb with no bags in her hands. She just wanted to check up on her house when she was hit by a spell from behind her. When she woke up, she was already in the room.

The door opened with an eerie sound.

"I see you're back from school," Damiana said as she entered the room, her arms crossed.

Zoey uncrossed her legs. "I was just checking up on my house. I wasn't going to stay long," she paused.

"Oh? But why? Stay a few days. After all you _are _family," Damiana rolled her eyes.

"I just couldn't," Zoey said with a smile. She knew Damiana meant nothing with what she said; she was just acting like Mary Sue, feigning politeness and hospitability. "After all, my things are over at a… friend's house. All I have with me is just the clothes on my back"

"Not even your wand?"

"Of course I have my wand. I would have thought it was obvious that I would have it with me. After all, I am of age," Zoey told her.

Damiana wrinkled her nose. "Seventeen already, huh? Oh how time flies," she looked at my nails, "So this friend of yours… are they, perhaps, the Weasleys?"

"Of course not," Zoey smiled, "I couldn't be a bother to them. They simply have too much to handle. I don't want to be a burden" She then stood up from the chair and headed to the door. "Speaking of burdens… you are a busy woman. I shouldn't be wasting your time. I should just leave right now –"

"Nonsense," Damiana took hold of Zoey's wrist and dug her long nails into her flesh, Zoey suppressed a yelp of pain, "You are family"

"But I just couldn't –"

"Enough!" Damiana exclaimed, her patience worn thin, and pushed Zoey back to the small wooden chair. With the force, the chair screeched against the floor as Damiana drew out her wand and pointed it at Zoey, at once, invisible binds trapped Zoey to the chair.

"I do not have time for this," Damiana sneered, "Where are you going?"

"I told you. To a friends house," Zoey's voice wavered. That was it, her little moment of braveness had run out. She was now terrified. Damiana smirked; she noticed the fear in her voice.

"Which friend?"

"I… I don't remember," Zoey said lamely as her eyes darted.

Damiana's smirk disappeared and she glared at the girl. She pressed the tip of her wand to Zoey's throat. "I don't like that kind of answer, Zoey," she said slowly, "Who are you staying with for the summer? The Weasleys?"

"I can't stay with them. They have to much to worry about –"

"That's didn't stop you last time!" Damiana pressed her wand further. Zoey chocked. "You – Those Weasleys – In the house. You invited them over! And that Ministry fool was with them. Arthur was it? You were trying to get me caught in the act! Trying to put me behind bars were you? So you'll be free"

"I wasn't!" Zoey cried out, she felt a wave of shock pass through her body. Damiana had sent a spell through her body.

"Then what were they doing here?"

"They were just picking me up!" Zoey said with a strained voice, the waves of shock and changed to pain, "For the Quidditch World Cup!"

Damiana removed her wand. "The Quidditch World Cup," she said slowly, "Did you have fun?"

Zoey's eyes widened. "Yeah, at first," she paused, "Why do you care?"

"Oh? Hmm, why do I care? Well, seeing as this is going to be your last year of freedom I might as well have you remember the good ol' days when you were able to do those kinds of things," she smirked, "You do remember your promise, don't you?"

"Of course… how could I forget?" Zoey looked down and struggled against the binds. She gasped for breath. The more she struggled the tighter they became.

"Good girl," Damiana said, looking out the door, "Now tell me, who are you staying with over the summer?"

"That's none of your business," Zoey told her, trying to be brave.

"Really now," Damiana looked back to her, "I have you know that I'm you legal guard –"

"I'm seventeen now. I don't need a legal guardian"

Damiana squinted at her, walked towards her and grabbed her jaw. She forced Zoey mouth to open and sniffed her breath. "Have you been taking your pills?" she asked her, "You're acting unusually… brave," she wrinkled her nose, "I don't like it"

Zoey moved her head away from her Aunt. "Those pills won't work on me"

"Right, you're a hopeless case"

"They won't work on me," Zoey stressed, "Because they're probably expired. I've had them for years."

"Then what's gotten into you?" Damiana raised a bored eyebrow. She didn't really care. She knew that Zoey could never be brave or courageous for more than a day. It always wore thin and she always reverted back to her shy, scared self.

Zoey shook her head. In truth, she didn't know herself. She closed her eyes and images of all her friends flooded them. Damiana was right. This was her last year of freedom. The moment the school year ends, Zoey could say good-bye to her new life forever and find herself trapped within the walls of her house. She felt a pain in her heart. She wouldn't see her friends every again, nor her dad, her godparents and worse, Fred. Zoey's eyes opened with fear written all over them. This couldn't be happening. The more she stayed in the small room the more time was being wasted.

"Let me out of here!" Zoey began to struggle, the binds tightened.

"But why?" Damiana asked in a baby sort of voice.

"Get me out!" Zoey yelled, "Get me out! I want out! You're going to have me trapped after my final year anyway! Get me out!"

"I don't like your tone," Damiana said and flicked her wand at Zoey. Zoey screamed as several cuts appeared all over her body, blood gushing out. "Ah, how I missed this," Damiana said with a demonic sort of smile, "The blood in the air, your screams of pain filling my ears. I would do the physical pain myself, but you're right. I am a busy woman," she paused, "Just one more thing though,"

"_Crucio!_"

* * *

Zoey let out a groan as she opened her eyes only to see blurred images instead of actual objects. Her head pounded. That was the usual after math, well the milder version of it, when she acted out of line. When she acted brave instead of scared. Spoke her mind rather than keep quiet. When she was out of character. Zoey ignored the throbbing, trying to build a resistance to it though ineffective, and tried blinked several times, trying to clear her vision. She then tried to shake her head but met with a stiffness in her neck. She winced and brought her head back to its original position.

_How long have I been unconscious? _She wondered when she realized she was no longer strapped to the chair but chained to the wall with her wings spread out. _When did – _

"Not to long ago," a voice said making Zoey jump. A laugh came next. "Nothing to be scared off," the someone, who Zoey guessed was a woman, said, "I'm a friend"

"Wh – where are you?" Zoey croaked out, her heart pounding. Could she really trust this 'friend'?

"Over here," the girl said from Zoey's right side. Zoey stiffly looked towards the source of the voice and saw the girl come out from the shadows, a wand in her hand. The girl had a kind smile on her face and long auburn hair on her head. Her eyes were a simple brown but when Zoey squinted, she could see gold specs in them. The girl waved. "How are you doing?"

"F – Fine," Zoey stuttered out, surprised by the kind face and struggled against her binds, "But – err – one question though –"

"When were you trapped? How did your wings come out? Well, I don't really know anything about the wings. I'm guessing it's your Emeraude gift," the girl grinned, "You were unconscious for some time. Damiana ain't that nice is she?"

"Tell me about it," Zoey looked at the girl, calming down a bit, "What's your name?"

"Audrey," the girl raised her wand and waved her wand at her, Zoey fell to the ground, "Sorry about that"

Zoey groaned and pushed herself up from the floor, running a hand through her hair. She looked down at her hand and saw dry blood on them. She looked down at her body and saw several wounds and bruises. She made a face before looking back at Audrey. "Audrey…. No last name?" Zoey paused, "Sorry. That was rude of me"

"No, it's alright and yeah. No last name, I was adopted," Audrey pocketed her wand, "You might want to keep your wings out. So you can go to that friend of yours"

"My wings?" Zoey asked, looking behind her and blushed, "Right… my wings. Flying and all"

"You could always use floo powder but I'm sure this friend of yours isn't someone you want your aunt to have the ability to track down," Audrey took out a clip from her pocket and clipped up her bangs, a few strands falling to frame her face.

"Right, but –"

"And seeing that long gash on your arm. I'm guessing you got splinched," Audrey continued, "You know how to apparate don't you?"

"Yeah, but –"

"You rather not. If I had the same experience you got, I wouldn't want to apparate unless really necessary too, but this is a necessary kind of situation isn't it?" Audrey then brought out rectangular glasses and waved her wand, summoning a book, "And we don't have any brooms that you could use as well. Best to go with flying with what you have"

Zoey furrowed her eyebrows. "You're – You're really smart," she said, a blush forming at her cheeks, trying to remember what Audrey had just told her. Audrey had spoken with great speed, though understandable, and was able to fix up as she was talking. Now that Zoey looked at her, she looked a bit like a muggle business woman or in other terms, or other figures Zoey would like to describe her as, someone who would work in the Ministry of Magic.

"Simple logic, really," Audrey smiled before looking at her wristwatch and bringing out her wand once more. "We're running out of time. Your aunt might come back any minute now"

"Right," Zoey said once more, standing up and stretching her wings, "Speaking of my aunt. She was not really that brutal today and I'm used to her walking out after I go unconscious but right now. How she was today… rather odd"

"That's because she has a meeting today. A friend of hers came a few minutes before she… you know… met up with you," Audrey told her, pushing her glasses further up her nose.

"Who's her friend?" Zoey couldn't help but ask.

"I think you know her," Audrey began, "Pink woman, uncanny resemblance to a toad. Freakishly girly laugh"

Zoey's eyes widened and she gripped her wand in her pocket. "I have to get out of here"

Audrey nodded. "Just what I was thinking," she pointed her want at the wall and it began to break apart, "Perks from being trusted in the family" Zoey smiled at her and prepared to take flight but Audrey stopped her by saying: "You should take those pills o yours"

"How did you –"

"When you were with Damiana, you weren't acting shy. You were taking everything that she threw at her. It's not you," Audrey explained.

"I had no choice," Zoey interrupted, "I can't fight her. All I can do is endure what she throws at me"

"I know but what happened earlier, when you weren't cowering with fear. That was supposed to be the expected result if you took your pills. You know, 'normal', but from what I heard from St. Mungo's your pills only last about a month or so and you never came back to get you know… more"

Zoey bit her lip as her heartbeat quickened. "Who are you exactly?" she asked, scared, "Why do you know all this? Why were you adopted into the family? It's very rare for that to happen"

"I was the first and only one to be adopted," Audrey explained, "According to them… I had something special. I don't know what it is. They just said I had certain qualities that Emeraudes should have"

"But you aren't like them," Zoey's brows furrowed, "Are you?"

"I just helped you escape didn't I?"

"Right," Zoey smiled, "Thank you for that."

"It was no problem. Now get out of here!" Audrey told her, "Run away. Live your life. Take those pills!"

Zoey looked at her, her face emotionless. "Right," she said before looking up at the sky and taking flight.

All seemed well, the wind in her hair and determination in her eyes. 12 Grimmauld Place was her destination. In a matter of hours, she would see her dad, her uncle, the order and much more familiar faces. Harry, Hermione, Echo, Bridgit and the Weasley will be there too. Fred's face appeared in Zoey's mind. She gave a faint smile and was just about to put more effort so she would reach the Noble House of Black faster but just as she thought she was free there was a loud sound that echoed through the air. It sounded like a gunshot.

Zoey looked back and her eyes widened as she saw a bright light heading her way. She had no time to wonder what the spell was. All she wanted to do was get out of range. She turned and was just about to move when the spell hit her square on the back, pushing her forward and making her scream in pain. Zoey felt her wings falter and before she knew it she was pummeling to the ground.

She didn't know what she encountered through the fall but all she remembered was the harsh force she felt when her body encountered the pavement below her. She felt her head throb and knew that she was bleeding. Her vision was beginning to blur and all she could make out was the sounds of footsteps and shoes making their way towards her. She thought it was someone from the Emeraude clan but the person who owned the shoes placed a tender hand on her head and lifted her up. Zoey knew she was in good hands. Her world blackened out.

* * *

Fred held his suitcase in his hand and looked up at Grimmauld Place. He let out a low whistle at the sight. Just a few days before, his mother came bursting into the house, telling everyone to start packing for their things for the rest of their summer, together with their luggage for Hogwarts, for they would be staying somewhere else. He didn't know where this 'somewhere else' was but now looking at it, he began to cross out previous ideas of what he thought it would have looked like.

"Cool," George said from beside him, he took let out a whistle in awe, "To think we'll be staying here for the rest of the summer"

"I know what you mean," Fred then grinned, "Think of all the ideas we can come up with here"

"Just what I was thinking," George returned the grin, watching his mother reach for the doorbell.

"So, dad, this is where we'll be staying for the entire summer?" Ron looked over to Mr. Weasley. He nodded.

"12 Grimmauld Place also known as The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black"

"Black? You mean Sirius lived here?" Ginny asked.

Mrs. Weasley looked away from the doorbell. "And so will Zoey," she told them, "She is a Black after all"

George smirked and nudged his twin in the ribs. "Hey, hey, you here that? The Missus is living here"

Fred laughed and pushed George away from him. "What are you going on about?"

"Oh nothing," George stuck out his tongue; Fred did the same.

"I still can't believe you're dating Zoey," Ron said, "Gave me quite a shock"

"And why's that, Ickle Ronniekins?" Fred raised a brow, daring his brother to continue

Ron shrugged. "It just did"

Fred opened his mouth to speak but was stopped when Ginny spoke up.

"But to think that Zoey was a Black all along," she said, "_That _was a shocker"

"Now, Ginny. She's still the same person," Mrs. Weasley told her

"I know. It's just that –"

"Enough of this chitter chatter," Mr. Weasley interrupted, "I'm sorry, Ginny but we just have to continue this inside. They'll be expecting us. Now, Molly, dear, if you could just open the door and avoid ringing the –"

But it was too late. Mrs. Weasley had already rung the doorbell. The ring echoed from inside the house, so loud that every single Weasley could here it as well. Followed by the doorbell was a loud screeching yell that came from inside. The words were slightly muffled but they could make out the words "Filthy half breeds" and "Blood traitors" followed by a shout of "Shut up!"

"What the bloody hell is going on in there?" said Ron.

Before anyone could reply, the door opened revealing Sirius who looked a little distraught. He stepped aside and let the Weasleys enter before looking over to Mrs. Weasley.

"Do you happen to know any good healing spells?" he cut to the chase, trying to keep his voice calm though his eyes said different. Mrs. Weasley released her hold on her suitcase and brought out her wand.

"Who's injured?" she asked

"Zoey," Sirius said hurriedly, noticing the shock and panicked look on Fred's, he guessed, face, "I think you should see her."

"Your rooms are on the upper floors. Kreacher can show you to them," Sirius added, implying that no one should get in their way. A loud pop was then heard as a house elf, who looked extremely unhappy, angry even, appeared.

"Take them to their room," Sirius ordered, not happy to see Kreacher, the feeling was mutual. Kreacher bowed to the groan, though looking in pain as he did so, and muttered things under his breath as he began to climb up the stairs. Mr. Weasley began to follow the house elf, the other suitcases levitating behind him, but the other Weasleys remained standing.

Sirius, who just wanted someone to help his child, ignored them and turned around, leading Mrs. Weasley to Zoey.

The Weasley children watched in silence, Fred using everything in his willpower to keep him glued to the floor, as their mother and the framed convict disappeared into another room. Not even ten seconds later, they heard their mother scream. That triggered everyone to run up to the room.

When the Weasleys reached the door, Fred immediately opened it and was greeted by the worst sight that he could possibly imagine. His eyes widened at the scene in front of him and even questioned himself, was he awake or was this all just a bad dream. After pinching himself, wincing at the sting, he accepted the horrible truth that what he saw was true. Zoey lay on a bed was covered with her own blood. She was battered and beaten and had cuts all over her body. By the looks of it, she could bleed to death if no one acted now.

"What's – ?" Ron began to ask, trying to see passed Fred and when he finally got a glance at what his brother was seeing, he let out a yell of shock, waking the portrait of Sirius' mother. A scream of 'Blood traitors!' rang in the air but no one paid it any mind. Everyone's attention was focused on the injured girl who lay unconscious in front of them.

"Merlin's pants!" Ginny gasped, making the Weasley boys turn to her. They saw that she was looking wide-eyed at Zoey, but at the same time her attention wasn't entirely focused on the Emeraude as well. They followed her gaze and to their surprise, they saw a pair of majestic wings attached to Zoey's back. They were battered as well but just seeing its faint glow made them wonder how it looked when it was healed an unharmed.

"I – Is she going to be o – okay?" Fred asked with a hoarse voice. He didn't trust himself to speak. He looked over to his mother who was yet to move forward to help the girl. She was still in shock.

At the sound of Fred's voice, Mrs. Weasley snapped out of her trance and blinked, once, twice, three times. She looked over at her children and then at Sirius, who held Zoey's hand in his. Her eyes widened and rushed towards the injured girl, her wand in her hand.

Everyone watched in silence as Mrs. Weasley began to wave her wand in the air, muttering spells under her breath as Zoey's wounds began to heal, her cuts becoming simple red lines on her face. She then faced Ginny and ordered her to get a basin of water and a towel. Remus, who was in the room, stood up and offered to show the youngest Weasley the way to the kitchen. They both left without question. Mrs. Weasley then told her sons to wait in a different room. Ron slowly nodded, still in shock, as he left the room in silence. Fred and George remained, Fred still looking at his girl friend. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

"We should leave mum to it," George said with a serious voice for once.

"I'm not leaving," Fred told his twin, his attention still focused on Zoey and her healing wounds.

"Fred, I'm sure she'll be fine. Mum knows what she's doing. Why –" George began, but his twin cut him off.

"You wouldn't want to leave if it was Echo on that bed, bleeding for who knows what reason," Fred pointed out, looking over at his twin. "George, I'm staying here," Fred said sternly, not leaving George to question. George sighed, he had a point, he then took his hand away from Fred's shoulder and walked out of the room, leaving his twin.

_Damn it, Zoe, you got to be okay. You just got to! _Fred's thoughts took over his mind as he watched Zoey and hit mother. As Mrs. Weasley continued to work, Ginny coming back into the room with the basin in her hands, Fred directed his attention to the wings on Zoey's back. He stared at them and wondered how she could have possibly kept them hidden for so long. He decided that if..._No. She will get better_. Fred said in his mind, stopping his train of thought.

Fred knew for a fact that when Zoey woke up, they needed to talk. Sure, they, the adults, would say she needed her rest but after that or whenever possible, Fred knew that he couldn't avoid asking her. He couldn't help but feel that he knew nothing about Zoey. Yes, they have been friends for six almost seven years now, so why did he feel that way? Fred hated it...the feeling of not knowing anything. Being helpless. And to make it worse he was helpless to his own girlfriend...he just couldn't bare it.

As Fred continued to watch his mother, the worry inside him just began to grow. He felt his heart beating faster and faster by every millisecond that passed. Fred gripped his hair and let groaned. Just at that moment, he had begun to pace the room. He walked left and right, left and right like a broken wind up doll with a stuck key.

"Come on Zoey." Fred whispered as he turned his gaze towards Zoey once more.

_How could you let this happen?_ The voice inside Fred head said, making Fred sigh.

_I don't want to fight with you right now,_ Fred answered, as he continued to pace. _And besides, I had nothing to do with this,_ Fred continued, convincing himself.

_You didn't do anything to prevent it either!_ The voice shouted, angering Fred.

_How could I prevent what I didn't know?_ Fred now asked, not noticing that the energy of his anger was causing the room to shake as if an earthquake was hitting. Sirius and Remus looked at him, Mrs. Weasley continued to work on healing. A small earthquake triggered by magic couldn't bother her. Ginny looked over at her brother, wringing the towel in her hands.

_EXACTLY! You didn't know! You know nothing, absolutely nothing about how she is without you, and how she's treated, if she's even okay! '_The voice screamed, and Fred couldn't contain his anger anymore. He, not really meaning to, he couldn't help it, punched nearest wall and let out a shout: "_SHUT UP!_" Hanging items, like pictures, in the room fell and some of the vases fell to the ground. Ginny quickly held the basin in place. Fred was causing all this. His magic was being controlled by his emotions. He couldn't control it.

"GEORGE!" Mrs. Weasley called, not wanting to make a mistake on the healing and wanting the earthquake to stop. Sirius and Remus pulled out their wands and waved them in the air, stopping the earthquake and fixing the fallen objects. At that moment the other Weasley twin entered the room, looking around in shock. He saw Remus and Sirius' wands in the air and a few broken shards on the ground. Near Ginny was a small puddle of water and Mrs. Weasley looked stressed out. He, George, then turned his attention to his twin and his eyes widened at the sight of Fred's bleeding knuckles.

"Get him out of here!" Mrs. Weasley told her son. George nodded and reached over to Fred. Fred shrugged him off.

"I'm not going anywhere!" Fred said, making George take hold of his arm and he finally pulled him out of the room.

"Don't you get it Fred? The magic that you're making is being controlled by your emotions and to be honest it's not helping anyone" George said, knocking some sense into his brother, "In fact, it could be making things worse. You don't want that do you?"

Fred furrowed his brows, thinking about what George had said. After a few seconds, realization dawned on him and he bowed his head in defeat. He once again felt helpless. As he felt George release his hold on him and leave him in the hallway, the voice in his mind came back.

_Do you love her or not?_The voice asked.

_Of course I do, more than anything,_ Fred answered, defeated.

_WELL THEN START FIGURING IT OUT! You can't wait for her to tell you! You need to care; you need to worry, YOU NEED TO KNOW!_ The voice started, not giving Fred any mercy. _You need to be able to protect her. She can't win a battle all by herself,_ the voice continued, and Fred had had enough. He needed to wait till Zoey was ready to tell him. He needed to trust her; he needed to show her that he was willing to wait.

_Yeah, and if she dies while you wait? _The voice asked, and Fred couldn't answer anymore. He knew what he needed to do, but he wondered if it was the right thing.

Suddenly, the door to Zoey's room opened and out came Sirius, his wand still in his hand. He looked over to Fred and scrutinized him. Fred felt his heart gave a leap. He was in the same room, hallway, as his girlfriend's father. He did not know how to feel about that.

"We should get that healed," Sirius said, pointing at Fred's bleeding hand. Fred looked over at his hand and studied it.

"It's no big deal," Fred told him, deciding to act normal, "I'll just get mum to do it later or maybe even Zoey, when she wakes up"

"She's studying to be a Healer right?" Sirius asked, after a few seconds passed. He didn't know why he came out to speak to the Weasley boy. Not even a month ago did his, the Weasleys, entire family think of him as a criminal. This was awkward.

Fred nodded. "She hangs around the Hospital Wing in her free time," he told Sirius, rubbing the back of his head with his non-bleeding hand.

Sirius opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it afterwards, scratching the back of his head. "Look here, kid. This is awkward enough as it is. So I'm going to cut to the chase," he began

"Yes sir," Fred answered, laughing a bit after he said it. Sirius chuckled a bit.

"So, from what I saw in there, you really care about my daughter, huh?" Sirius pocketed his hands.

Fred looked over at the door from which Zoey was being healed behind. "Yeah," Fred replied, "I do"

"Good," Sirius nodded, "Good"

Silence hung in the air. Sirius cleared his throat. "Look, Fred is it?"

"Yes"

"What I'm trying to say is –"

But Sirius never got to finish for before he could even get his words out the front door was banged open, awakening his mother once more, and revealed a tall woman with long auburn hair and bright blue eyes.

"Where is my goddaughter, Sirius?"

* * *

**And Chapter End!**

**I stayed up till 2 something to finish this with ZoomSkater14, who was a great help :)**

**I came back to the Philippines around 9 or 10-ish in the evening. Unpacked, bathed, and updated.**

**Singapore was lovely and the only time I got to use the internet was in the Airport going home**

**There was a crying and kicking baby behind me... not as bad as I thought it would be. I fell asleep during the whole thing. **

**Thank you all for your lovely reviews. I love you all to bits. You're all so nice. **

**Also, thank you for being patient during my absence. I really appreciate it (Along with all your reviews and the like. I mega appreciate them)**

**So, this is the beginning of the Twins, Zoey, Echo and Bridgit's final year of Hogwarts. What's going to happen? Any guesses? Suggestions? I'd love to hear them :)**

**Also, Audrey is not my OC. I repeat NOT my OC. if you know who she is then you must know that she's NOT my OC**

**I just placed her in the story, gave her a small background and gave her a personality and appearance that I thought she would have but I do NOT own her**

**Just thought you'd want to know :D**

**I have nothing more to say so**

**With my final words:**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter**

**Please tell me what you thought**

**Excuse my typos and the like; I'm not good with a chapter not having any… though I would want one**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter**

**And**

**I only own what I own**


	70. Chapter 68: The Three Bears

**Chapter 68: The Three Bears**

_It was a sunny day at Godric's Hollow and Lucy spent the day in the house, folding laundry with her friend, Maria Natalie Hunter. Sure, they were witches and yes they could use magic whenever they wanted and of course they knew a few laundry related spells but Lucy wanted to do things the muggle way saying that she should work on her skills and shouldn't be to dependent on magic. Natalie says she's lying and is just using it as an excuse to do something since she was bored. Lucy didn't correct her, it was true._

_Lucy was humming to a random tune as she brought out clothes from the drier and waved her wand in the air so it would levitate in front of her. Each time she did this she would bite her lip and furrow her eyebrows in thought. "Was it always this small?" was always the question she would ask whenever she did this. Natalie would look over at the shirt, or pants, and let out a laugh. Personally, she didn't care. After all, Lucy was doing Sirius' laundry first._

_Natalie then looked over to Zoey, who was playing in a basket of Lucy dirty clothes, giggling whenever she came across something silky, and took her. Zoey looked at her godmother curiously before letting out a giggle and blowing out spit bubbles, a habit she developed. Natalie felt her eyes widen at the sight and before she knew it she placed Zoey on her lap._

_"She's such a cutie!" Natalie gushed as she began to bounce Zoey on her lap. Zoey gave a cry of joy, clapping her hands with every bounce. "I want one," Natalie added_

_"You were terrified to even carry her not even a month ago and now you want one for your own?" Lucy laughed, folding a shirt, "I thought you hated children?"_

_Natalie pouted. "But Zoey is such an angel. She doesn't cry that much and knows when to poop –"_

_"You're over exaggerating on the poop part"_

_"Oh! I know!" Natalie ignored her, "How about I keep Zoey and you and Sirius could just get another one!"_

_ "You think you can just buy babies off the rack?" Lucy raised a brow._

_"Sorry. I used the wrong word there. I meant to say: 'How about I keep Zoey and you and Sirius could just make another one'," Natalie said with a grin._

_Lucy blushed and took Zoey away from her godmother. "I think I liked you better when you still thought babies came from the stork"_

_"Hey, in my defense it was a pretty convincing story," Natalie scoffed, "And it couldn't be that hard. In fact, when Sirius comes back, you and he can just scootle your bootles out of here. Up to your room and get on with the… baby process while I pack Zoey's things and get out of your hair?"_

_"Uhuh," Lucy turned away from Natalie, hiding her blush, "And you actually think you can handle taking care of a baby?"_

_"Yes"_

_"Feeding her, changing her, bathing her, keeping her happy?" Lucy continued, looking back at Natalie, her blush under control._

_ "We – I can use magic," Natalie said, her voice faltering._

_"You can't always use magic," Lucy pointed out, wearing a smug look._

_"Then I'll ask Remus to help me out!" Natalie grinned, "He loves helping and he loves Zoey so he wouldn't mind at all"_

_Lucy shook her head. "Why don't you just ask Remus to give you that baby you want? A non – crying, scheduled – pooping baby?"_

_It was now Natalie's turn to blush. "You know Remus and I aren't like that," she told her, "It just doesn't work that way between us"_

_"I was meaning to ask you about that," said Lucy, readjusting Zoey in her arms, "What happened with you and Remus? You made such a cute couple in school"_

_"It was nothing. We just decided that we were better off as friends," Natalie told her curtly. _

_"Is that really it?"_

_"Yes," Natalie replied and before Lucy could get another word in there was a loud pop coming from somewhere in the house. "Looks like Sirius' is back," Natalie said and at that moment the door to the laundry room opened revealing the man himself._

_"Hey, teddy-bear," Sirius grinned at the sight of his wife and kissed Lucy on the lips in greeting. He planted one on Zoey's forehead too before looking to Natalie and made a face. "Grizzly bear," he nodded to hear._

_Natalie wrinkled her nose. "Teddy bear?"_

_"Lucy's teddy bear. You're Grizzly bear," Sirius told Natalie with glazed eyes, as if what he said was very obvious that everyone in the world knew it._

_"Like I care," Natalie scoffed._

_"And what are you wrinkling your nose for then?" Sirius raised a brow, taking Zoey away from Lucy._

_"The couple nickname thing," Natalie said, "What's up with that?"_

_"He's been doing that for the past week," Lucy answered, "He's trying to get the perfect nickname. Don't know why though"_

_"Cause it's cute," Sirius said_

_"Not it's not," Lucy looked at him, "It's odd and uncomfortable"_

_Sirius shrugged. "I guess you're right. Luce sounds better than any nickname"_

_"Way the hell better than 'Teddy bear'," Natalie snorted._

_"Whatever you say, Chubaca," Sirius stuck his tongue out at her._

_Natalie glared at him. "Shut it you tosspot," she said to him before reaching over and getting Zoey in her grasp. Zoey let out a squeal, "And get your dirty paws off of my daughter"_

_"Your what?" Sirius asked with his brows raised._

_"Yeah you heard me," Natalie said to him, bringing out her wand, "She's mine now and you and Lucy can just make another one"_

_Sirius looked over to his wife. "What is she going on about?"_

_"Well, if you must kno – whoa!" Lucy exclaimed and Sirius made a surprised shout as a force tugged them out of the room. They fell to the floor and watched as Natalie stood beyond the doorframe with her wand in the air, laughing._

_"Now, go on! Head upstairs and do your business while I pack up Zoey's things and take her out of here," Natalie laughed as Zoey looked at her parents with wide eyes, not knowing what was going on. "Oh, and take your mini laundry with you," Natalie added, flicking her wand towards the clean clothes and making them fly towards the married couple. The shirts and pants flew out of their baskets and landed all over Lucy and Sirius. They paid no mind to them, just continued to look at Natalie oddly_

_Natalie blinked at them, half expecting them to enter the room and tear their daughter away from her but nothing, they simply stared at her. She, Natalie blinked several more times before giving the Blacks a peace sign before waving her wand once more, closing the door and laughing._

_Sirius, who snapped out of his confused trance when the door slammed, looked over to Lucy and picked up the shirt that lay on her head. He looked at it and held it at an arm's length, scrutinizing it. He then gave a chuckle._

_"Muggle laundry?"_

_"Yeah"_

_"You did mine first?"_

_"Yup"_

_"Luce?"_

_"Yes?"_

_"Stick to doing things with magic"_

_"But why?"_

_"This," Sirius held the shirt to Lucy, "Could fit Zoey when she's five."_

Zoey groaned and turned her head to the side. Her head was pounding and she refused to open her eyes in fear that she would come in contact with a bright light. The light. Something she didn't want to see. After all, people did say when one comes near death they'd see a bright light at the end of a tunnel and walk towards it. Zoey did not want to do that. Though at times she felt like giving up she still stayed strong, she didn't want to let go just yet. The Emeraude, now revealed as a Black, tried to move her limbs but met with a numbness. She knew she was moving them, it was just hard. Zoey tried to bend her arm but felt like there was something restricting her, almost like a thick string wrapped around her elbow area, stopping her from folding her arms.

She gave up. She wanted to know what had happened to her. The last thing she remembered was the harsh contact she made with the pavement before blacking out. The Hufflepuff slowly opened her eyes and felt relieved that there was no blinding light to harm her vision. Her mouth twitched a bit as she tried to smile in relief. No use, she guessed her lip was cut as well. Zoey turned her head and looked over to her arm, she was right; it was wrapped in something, gauze. She then turned her head once more and winced in pain. What happened?

Suddenly, a friendly and familiar smile came into view. Zoey felt her eyes widen at the sight and tried her best to get up from the bed she was laying down on.

"Whoa there, cub, you don't want to sprain anything"

"I don't think that's possible," Zoey offered a weak laugh, sitting up anyway, "I look like a mummy"

"Molly did the best she can… Actually, when I came all of your wounds were pretty much healed but she still insisted on wrapping you up. Said something about making them heal at their own pace or something"

"It's good to see you again, Aunt Maria," Zoey smiled.

"It's good to be back, cub," Natalie smiled. She was just about to go in for the hug when the door opened revealing Sirius and Remus.

"Way to ruin the moment, Black," Natalie looked over to him.

"Way to corrupt my daughter, Grizzly Bear," Sirius shot back, "What's up with this 'Aunt Maria' thing going on?"

"What can I say? The kid knows who the mature adult is? I mean, 'Maria' is _way _more elegant than 'Natalie'. The kid knows her stuff," Natalie said, her hands on her hips.

"That's not what you thought back in school, Natalie," said Remus with a tired smile. Natalie grinned at him in greeting before running up to hug him, he returned it.

"Elegant?" Sirius scoffed, "In what way?"

"In every way. In fact, I'm Zoey's role model," Natalie grinned, "Ain't that right, cub?"

Zoey simply blinked in response.

"See," Natalie looked back at Sirius, "She agrees with me"

"Agrees with you? Yeah right and where did this 'cub' nickname start?" Sirius asked with a role of his eyes, before advancing towards his daughter, checking on her wounds. Zoey simply smiled and gave an "I'm fine dad".

"It was always there," Natalie told him, "She _is _my daughter after all"

"Since when?" Sirius asked in disbelief while Zoey looked at her aunt with her brows raised.

"Since I kidnapped her from you and 'Teddy bear'," Natalie told him.

"Oh, so by calling her cub, you accept that you're a Grizzly Bear," Remus said, making Sirius snigger.

Natalie looked over to the werewolf. "That's not fair, Remmy~ You're supposed to be on my side"

"And you're supposed to be the mature adult," Mrs. Weasley came into the room, a rag hanging on her shoulder, "I asked you to check up on Zoey, Maria, and here you are arguing with Sirius like a bunch of kids."

"It's just child's play, Molly," Natalie grinned, "And call me Natalie"

"What happened to being elegant?" Sirius scoffed but was silence when Natalie rammed her elbow into his ribs. He, Sirius, hunched over in pain while Remus just watched with an amused expression. Zoey looked over to her dad and rubbed his back.

"I'm fine, Mrs. Weasley," Zoey looked over to the red head, "I just woke up and Aunt Maria was already in the room"

"But did she look at your wounds like I asked her too?" Mrs. Weasley raised a brow.

"Erm –" Zoey began, not knowing what to say

"Well, as you can see, Molly," Natalie cut in, "She isn't bleeding and has regained consciousness without any problems. So, no problems there"

Mrs. Weasley shook her head at the girl before smiling at Zoey. She approached the girl and enveloped her in a hug, not to strong but all the while comforting. "I'm so happy to see you alive and healthy," the Weasley mother said, "You gave us all quite a scare"

"I'm sorry," Zoey bowed her head and felt the wrappings all over her body unravel so she could see her wounds which weren't even wounds anymore. Just light red scratches and fading bruises. Nothing to worry about anymore. She looked up at Mrs. Weasley, who had her wand in her hand, and gave her a smile in thanks. At that moment, Zoey's eyes widened in realization.

"Pardon me, Mrs. Weasley, but are – erm – the Weasley kids here?" Zoey asked, a blush crawling on her face.

"Weasley kids," Mrs. Weasley gave a chuckle, "So they already have a title"

"It's hard not to give a title," Natalie butted in, "It's cute actually."

"Oh, she just wants to see Fred," Remus chuckled making Zoey's blush darken.

"Oh?" Natalie wiggled her brows, "And who's this Fred… hmmm?"

"One of Molly's kids," Sirius replied, "Good bloke. He and his brother remind me of when James and I were still boys"

"They mean well," Remus said

"What? You mean James and I never meant well?" Sirius raised a brow.

"James, yes. You is another question," Natalie smirked before looking over to Zoey, "So which of the Weasley kids is he? The one with the blue eyes?"

"They all have blue eyes," Mrs. Weasley laughed, "The ones that are here, I mean"

Natalie shook her head. "No. That girl has brown eyes," she said.

"You mean Ginny," said Remus, "And what Molly meant was the Weasley boys that are here have blue eyes. You don't honestly think Zoey would be with Ginny"

"I'm not stupid, Remmy," Natalie said with a straight face, Remus rolled his eyes at her, "So which is it? The one with the freckles?"

"And here, I'm beginning to question your mental state," Sirius said, receiving a glare from Natalie.

"Aunt Maria, they all have freckles," Zoey smiled.

"Then you aren't making it any easier for me to guess!" Natalie laughed.

"You don't really have to guess, dear. It's quite obvious which is Fred," Mrs. Weasley gave a laugh of her own.

"No, it isn't. There are two boys and any of them could be Fred," Natalie scoffed.

"You mean three boys," said Mrs. Weasley

"No, two. One who was playing Wizards chess and the other one who was playing with his reflection," Natalie nodded.

"Playing with his reflection?" Zoey raised a brow, "are you sure?"

"Quite sure, really. When I entered the living room the one playing chess –"

"Who was probably Ron," Mrs. Weasley cut in.

"Looked over to me together with Ginny while the one playing with his reflection stopped playing with his reflection," Natalie paused, "Come to think of it. Do you have any charmed mirrors around here, Sirius?"

"Nope," Sirius replied.

"How come?" Remus asked.

"Well, the odd thing was that the kid had a troubled expression while his reflection looked relatively normal," Natalie explained, "Maybe I'm just seeing double"

"Or you just saw Fred and George," Mrs. Weasley chuckled before turning around, "I better start on dinner. Zoey, you should wash up first before heading to the dining room, okay?"

"Yes, Mrs. Weasley," Zoey replied before Natalie held onto her shoulder.

"Wait, so I wasn't seeing double?" she asked the Emeraude. Zoey gave a small laugh at her Aunt's confusion. Natalie was a curious thing. Sometimes she was fierce yet at others she was just confused with things. She was truly an odd fellow.

"You saw Fred and George. Their twins," Remus said.

"Oh, you see. Now that makes sense to me," Natalie grinned.

"Took you long enough," Sirius muttered and dodged another hit Natalie aimed for him.

Natalie then turned to Zoey. "So, twins. Not easy for me to tell apart. Which one was Fred?"

Zoey's blush returned. "Uhm… I'm not sure… I haven't seen them yet," she said, "So I wouldn't know what you saw."

"Fred was the troubled looking one," Sirius supplied, "He was worried about Zoey"

"Eh? Is that so?" Natalie then nudged Zoey softly in the ribs, "So you got a little admirer do you?"

"Actually, if I am correct. He, Fred, is Zoey's boyfriend," Remus smiled softly.

"What?" Natalie exclaimed, "My little cub is dating? No way! You're far too young! You could get pregnant and die!"

Zoey looked at her aunt with wide eyes, speechless.

"You're over reacting," Sirius groaned, stretching. It had been a long day. "She's of age now and he looks like a pretty good bloke. He wouldn't do anything to hurt her"

"What is wrong with you? Have you gone mental?" Natalie jabbed a finger towards Sirius

"He really is a good man, Natalie. Pulls a few pranks with his brother here and there but nothing to serious. Just like what the Marauder's did," Remus placed a hand on Natalie's shoulder.

Natalie smiled at Remus. "I trust your judgment, Remmy and I trust Zoey's taste in guys but what I don't trust is Sirius' mental state," she looked back at Sirius.

"What did I do now?" Sirius asked, used to Natalie's accusations.

"Simple. What kind of dad is extremely mellow after finding out that their own daughter is dating?" Natalie said, sounding like a know-it-all, "I mean, don't you read those books or watch muggle movies? The dad is _never _this cool with the idea of his baby girl in love. You should be all blown up or very suspicious. .For all you know they could have been dating since she was thirteen or an unreasonable age"

"They started dating not too long ago. If I'm correct, just when school ended," Sirius looked over to Zoey who nodded, though still flushed.

"See! You're so cool on this! I mean, when my dad found out about Remus and I he –"

"Harassed me and interrogated me. Also said he would chop of my – ahem – if I ever broke his little princess' heart," Remus continued.

"Now, that was the reaction I was looking for and you," she looked towards Remus, "Should have acted the same way too! What's up with you and Sirius being… well…. Being like that! Fred should be chained up and kept away from Zoey"

"A – Aunt Maria. I think you're going a bit far," Zoey's blush never went away. To think her godmother was telling her father and godfather what to do when they found out she was dating. Honestly, was it really a big deal?

"You're going a bit over the top, Natalie," Remus told her before looking over to Zoey, "Fred's upstairs with George but I think they're sleeping. It's been a tough day for him, seeing you in that state"

"Yeah right, if he was anything like me when Luce was like that, he wouldn't shut an eye until he knew she was fine," Sirius said, frowning a bit at the memory.

"You're saying that you're allowing her to be in the same room with a boy?" Natalie asked, trying to get Sirius' mind away from Lucy. Up until then they were talking, well _mentioning,_ about their deceased friends but now seeing as they reached a touchy topic she, Natalie, didn't want to discuss it in front of Zoey. Not just yet.

"Nat, you're over reacting," Remus said, wanting to distract Sirius as well. So far, he's been doing well. They had mentioned James and Lily here and there but now getting on the topic of Lucy, that was another story.

"Well, someone has to!" Natalie grinned, "But you're right. Zoey, you can go visit Fred"

Zoey made a small cheer and blushed right after.

"But you two," she then pointed to Remus and Sirius, "Are coming with me. I'm going to give you both a stern lecture"

"On what?" Sirius groaned

"On how to be a dad," Natalie nodded.

"And we're going to get that… from you?" Remus said slowly

"Yup," Natalie grinned before turning to Zoey, "What you still doing here? Get your chicken butt up those stairs!"

"M – my what?" Zoey stammered

"Don't think I don't know," Natalie winked before pulling out her wand, waving it in the air and making Zoey get dragged out of the room by and invisible force before the door closed in her face.

"Now, where shall I begin?" Natalie turned back to her two friends.

* * *

Zoey slowly climbed up the stairs, looking around as she went. She saw dozens heads that once belonged to house elves on plaques. She gave a shiver and moved away from them. She hated what they do to house elves and though she knew that they enjoyed working, beheading them seemed to be too extreme. Zoey made it to the first floor. In a distance she caught sight of ginger hair entering one of the room. She hurried towards it.

"Fre –" she began but paused when she saw that it was not Fred, far from him actually. "Ginny," Zoey smiled, "It's so nice to see you"

Ginny whirled around and her eyes widened at the sight of the Hufflepuff. She hurriedly jumped over her suitcase and right into Zoey's arms. Zoey let out a puff of air from the added force and stepped back a little, laughing while doing so.

"Someone missed me," Zoey said, hugging Ginny.

"More than missed. I was bloody worried about you!" Ginny looked up to her.

"Watch your tongue," Zoey smiled, "But as you can see. I'm all fine now"

Ginny squinted at her, looking all over her body before taking a step back. "What happened to you anyway? You gave us quite a scare, Fred especially. You know, he even punched a wall!"

"He what?" Zoey eyes widened and heartbeat quickened.

"Third floor," Ginny told her, "He and George are on the third floor"

Zoey bit her lip. "Thanks," she said to her, "Oh, and dinners almost ready, I'm guessing"

And with that, Zoey went back to the stairs and began to climb higher. She looked back to the walls and after a few more house elves heads she decided to look the other way. She noticed the paint was peeling and that almost everything was covered with dust and spiders. Ron wouldn't like that. Speaking of Ron, Zoey thought as she reached the second floor watching Ron walk out of his room before looking at the wall and walking back. Zoey squinted at the wall and saw a spider hanging on it.

"Poor Ron," Zoey muttered, "He probably just wanted to head down to dinner" she then brought out her wand, which was kept deep within her pocket and pointed it at the direction of the spider. She sent a soft blasting spell that threw the spider away. She then pocketed her wand and walked further up the stairs.

She avoided tables and the like and tried to sneak her way passed snoozing paintings, not wanting to experience the after math. She then entered a hall with several doors on each side. She bit her lip. No one told her which door they'd be in. Zoey looked around and began to walk down the hall, trying to see if there were any signs that would tell her which room was the twins' room. Before long, Zoey passed by a room where a large booming sound emitted. She jumped a bit from the surprise noise before turning towards the door and seeing smoke seep out from under it. She furrowed her eyebrows.

Zoey crept closer to the room and sniffed the air around it. She made a face; it smelled like gunpowder. She kept a hand on the pocket with her wand in it as she used her other hand to knock on the door. There was a crashing sound from behind the door followed by scrambling footsteps.

"Coming mum!" came a voice

"We were just getting ready for dinner!" came another

Zoey raised her brow a bit and took a step back as the door opened revealing George with ruffled hair and dirty cheeks and clothes. He looked down at the Emeraude and a grin graced his lips. He reached down and pulled her into a hug.

"It's good to see you awake," he said to her. Zoey patted his back.

"It's good to see you too," Zoey said to him, "But you know what would be better? Seeing you clean and fresh!"

George released his hold on her. "Mean," he then sniffed his clothes, "But true"

"Very true," Zoey laughed before standing on her tiptoes trying to see beyond George.

"So, what were you doing in there?" she asked making George laugh.

"You just want to see Fred," he pointed out.

Zoey blushed, "That obvious?"

"Not really," George chuckled before walking back into the room, "Hey, Freddie – boy, mum wants to talk to you"

_Mum? _Zoey thought with confusion as the door swung close. She then heard footsteps approaching and took another step back as the door opened once more. She saw Fred standing in front of her though he wasn't looking at her, he was still looking in his room, he looked like he was sending George some sort of telepathic message before he closed the door behind him and looked at Zoey. His eyes widened.

"Hey," Zoey weakly greeted him, offering him a smile.

Fred stood frozen to the spot, blinking several times. Zoey furrowed her brows and looked at him curiously. She even waved a hand in front of his face, but Fred still didn't move. She then bit her lip, thinking of one way of waking him up from his trance. She took a few steps towards him and stood on her tiptoes, laying a kiss on his check. Fred faltered.

"Hey," he looked to Zoey before his eyes widened once more. "Hey! Hey! You're awake!"

"Yes I am!" Zoey said with a laugh as Fred enveloped her in a hug and planted a soft kiss on her lips. Zoey blushed. "I heard you punched a wall?" she asked in a whisper.

"Yeah, about that…" Fred began when a sudden thought entered his mind, "Hey Zoe, could I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"It's about a certain pair of wi –"

But Fred never got the chance to complete his question for a voice, which came from all the way downstairs, echoed through the walls, waking up Walburga Black's painting.

"Honey, I'm home!" said the echoing voice.

"What the –" Zoey began but was stopped when Fred and George's bedroom opened once more, revealing George.

"Welcome home, Sweetums~" he said, battering his eyelashes to no one in particular, "I'll be right down~"

"WHY AREN'T YOU DOWN HERE YET?" the voice shouted back. Zoey had guessed it was Echo, who else could it be. She and Fred looked over to George as he saluted them and disappeared with a loud pop. Zoey blinked several times before looking back at Fred.

"Who wears the pants in their relationship?" she asked him with a smile, he laughed.

* * *

**And here's chapter 68~**

**I hope you enjoyed it. I certainly had fun, a lot of dialogue :P**

**Hmm... what more can I say? Well, I want to thank HayleyParadox for the help**

**I also want to thank everyone who reviewed and the like.  
I really appreciate them and I enjoy reading them. Long, short, any review is fine :)**

**Also, the little "Teddy bear" "Grizzly bear" bit was from "Good Luck Charlie" I just found it funny and wanted to add it in. Just so you know, I don't own the idea :P**

**I want to say and Advance Happy Mother's Day to all Mothers as well!**

**and Mine too :)**

**I love you mum!**

**Now, some chat time with my reviewers~ (Oh, how I miss this :P )**

**"The Singing Mockingjay" = Yes, that was Natalie :)**

**"mcgonagiggles" = Yes, Audrey's Percy's future wife. **

**About Zoey's medicine, well I mentioned it in a previous chapter and I sort of explained it a bit. I know it's rather confusing and I will explain more about it in future chapters.**

**Also, about that estimate on how many chapters till the end... I don't have one. I write almost everyday and I truly don't know how many chapters Crossroads would have. What I do know is that this is going to be LONG story and it will still have a sequel :)**

**"YukiKyoMomiji" = The woman is Natalie :P**

**I have nothing more to say so**

**With my final words:**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter**

**Please tell me what you thought**

**Excuse my typos and the like; I'm not good with a chapter not having any… though I would want one**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter (Which would feature the little "Lecture" Natalie is going to give Sirius and Remus)**

**And**

**I only own what I own**


	71. Chapter 69: The Right

**Chapter 69: The Right**

"_Now where shall I begin?" Natalie turned back to her two friends._

"Question is: When will you end?" Sirius asked, slumping on one of the chairs, scratching the back of his head, "Why do we even need a lecture on how to be a dad?"

"And why am I part of this?" Remus raised a brow, "I'm not her father"

"But you're her godfather," Natalie pointed out, "And I wasn't really going to lecture you"

It was Sirius' turn to raise a brow, "Really? Then what are we here for?"

Natalie didn't reply at first. She waved her wand in the air and summoned several chairs; she poked each and every one of them until she found the perfect one to sit on. She took a seat on it and let out a loud cough when dust lifted from the chair, surrounding her. Sirius laughed. Natalie glared at him and looked over to the werewolf who gave a sigh and flicked his wand towards her, making the dust disappear and clearing her body from any dirt. She smiled at him with thanks.

"What you both are here for is to continue where we left off," Natalie said, in a different tone of voice than what she used when Zoey was around, "I'm just wondering, what's with the lack of reaction? Sirius, from day one when Zoey was born you swore her off all men and the concept of dating," She then turned to the ex-DADA professor, "And Remus, you turned particularly protective when you played with her in the local park when a few boys came to ask her to play with them"

Remus had a slight tinge of pink on his graying skin. "That's different," he cleared his throat, "They didn't look like very nice fellows"

"Remmy," Natalie began with a raised brow, "They were wearing bonnets"

At this, Sirius let out another bark of laughter but was silence when Natalie looked over at him next. "Don't think I forget that easily," she told him, "Remember that speech you made when Lucy went over to Molly's place?"

Sirius wince. "I wasn't there," he said

"Yeah, but I was. I even told you what happened and you launched into this large speech!"

_The night was young and the moon shined brightly over the Burrow. Sirius over at James's house with Remus having a guys night out while Lily was visiting her parents for a family reunion, much to her sister's annoyance and Natalie had opted for Lucy and her to go visit a fellow Hogwarts/Gryffindor alumnus, Molly Weasley. Natalie was well acquainted with the ginger haired woman while Lucy, at first, just knew her by face, name and love for children but after graduating, and with the help of Natalie, Lucy and Molly had gotten into great terms._

"_So these are the twins huh?" Natalie asked, peering over the two red heads who shared one crib, sleeping. She was in the nursery, which later would be the twins' room, looking curiously at the newborn babies. She was not a "person under legal age" kind of person and the concept of being near children was foreign to her. In truth, if she had it her way, she would stay at least ten meters away from all kids until they reached seventeen. Sadly, Lucy, Lily and Molly were very fond of kids and Natalie had no choice but to go along with them whenever they helped First years or baby sat for relatives._

"_Yep, Fred and George," Molly said, standing next to the girl, "They remind me a lot of my brothers"_

"_Fabian and Gideon?" Natalie asked, "They were twins too weren't they?"_

"_No, they just happened to look alike and be born on the same day," Molly said sarcastically before laughing, "Yes, they were twins too"_

_Natalie hummed. "Interesting," she said before looking over to the mother of now five children, "But aren't you a little worried?"_

"_No, why should I?" Molly raised a brow._

"_Well, they were born on April first weren't they?" Natalie began, "For muggles, that's called April Fools Day"_

"_April Fools Day?"_

"_Yep, a day where they pull pranks on each other and the like," Natalie shrugged._

_Molly bent over the crib and carefully fixed Fred's blanked which he kicked off in his sleep. "I don't think that's anything to worry about," she said before straightening up and looking towards the door. There was a soft thumping sound that was approaching the nursery. The thumping ceased when a pregnant Lucy stood by the door with and eight year old Bill at her side._

"_Thank you, Bill," Lucy smiled at the boy before looking over to her friends, "At least someone was kinds enough to assist me up the stairs seeing as I'm pregnant and tend to waddle now and could have fallen off"_

_Bill blinked at her before grinning. He didn't sense the message Lucy was sending to the other two women in the room and frankly, he didn't care. He gave a small "No problem," to the pregnant woman before walking over to the crib, looking at his two newborn brothers who slept behind the bars._

_Natalie looked over to Bill before looking back at Lucy, smiling. "I'm sorry. It' just that you're a size of a whale right now and I for one don't think you should be climbing up stairs in your state"_

"_Right, every girl wants to be called a whale," Lucy said with a role of her eyes, "Lame excuse by the way," she looked over to Molly, "And what's your excuse?"_

"_Hey, I just gave birth," Molly held her hands up._

"_Yeah, a week ago," Lucy let out a laugh before waddling over to the crib, looking at the twins, "They're so cute"_

_Molly smiled before bending down to Bill's height. "Where are Charlie and Percy?"_

"_I was playing Wizard's Chess with Charlie before Lucy asked if I could help her up," Bill told his mother, "Percy was on the couch with one of daddy's ministry books when I left"_

"_Ministry books?" Natalie asked, "Aren't two year olds suppose to be reading, I don't know, picture books with all the animals and what sounds they make?"_

"Ministry books?" Sirius interrupted, "What the bloody hell was he doing with those?"

"I was getting to that! Don't interrupt me!" Natalie swatted him

"But he does have a point," Remus said, "I mean, it was rather odd for Arthur to leave them around the house"

"Not really," Natalie looked over to him, "I'm sure it was given to him and he placed it somewhere reasonable but… well, it was probable for Bill to be showing signs of magic by then so maybe he levitated the book down?"

"You don't sound so sure," Sirius snickered earning another swat from Natalie.

"Wait, I thought you were telling us this story because you were making a point," Remus began

"Yeah, what point were you trying to make again?" Sirius dodged another hit from the girl.

"If you would stop interrupting me then you'll know!"

"_I'm sure Arthur just left them lying around somewhere and Percy just got his hands on them," Molly said, patting Bill's head and telling him he should finish up his game with Charlie before heading off to bed, "I should have a word with him about doing that"_

"_Yeah, those things are mega huge," Natalie said, using her arms as emphasis._

"_They aren't that big," Lucy let out a laugh before placing a hand on her belly, "Look, Zoey, those two are going to be your friends. They're just a few days older than you"_

"_Zoey?" Molly raised a brow_

"_Yeah, Zoey if it's a girl," Lucy smiled._

"_And if it's a boy?"_

"_It's going to be a girl," Lucy said._

_Molly laughed. "But in the off chance that it isn't?"_

"_Then one of your boys will have to turn gay," Lucy paused, "And I don't know any boy names that I could call the baby. I was going to go with Regulus but Sirius wouldn't like that and I also thought about… well, Harry but Harry Black doesn't sound too good so it has to be a girl"_

"_Why does one of my boys need to be gay?" Molly asked._

"_There's nothing wrong with gays," Natalie said_

"_I didn't say there was. I'm just asking Lucy why," Molly told her before looking back at the pregnant woman, "Please elaborate"_

_Lucy blushed and smiled sheepishly. "Well, because I wanted little Zoey here to end up with one of the Weasleys," she said, "Maybe one of the twins, seeing as they are in her age range"_

"_When is are you due?" Natalie asked_

"_Soon," came Lucy's answer before she looked back to Molly, "So what do you think?"_

"_I think it's very cute," Molly smiled, "But why the twins and why the Weasleys? Not that I mind. I love the little imagination you thought up."_

"_Well, the twins because like I said they are in her age range but Percy wouldn't be too bad. But don't think I'm going to force them into anything. No," Lucy said, "And Weasleys because well. I love you guys and I think it's cute and your boys are perfectly perfect gentlemen"_

"_I wouldn't say that," Natalie wrinkled her nose, she was looking over at the twins during the entire conversation, "Molly, I think someone… well – err – just – uhm – well – what's the word – I need a good euphemism"_

"_Why?" Molly asked_

"_Well, you see, I'm not that good in euphemisms"_

"_Not that. Why do you need a euphemism? What are you trying to say?"_

"_What I'm trying to say is one of those two," Natalie pointed to the twins, "pooped"_

_Molly calmly walked over to a table in the far corner and picked up a new diaper. "Really?" she made conversation, "Which one?"_

_Natalie looked back to the crib. "Err – Fre – no – Geor – nope – Twin number one?"_

"_And which is Twin number one?" Lucy laughed along with Molly._

"_I'm not good with twins!" Natalie said in a loud voice, waking the babies, "If I didn't know better I would think you had one child and just placed a mirror beside him!"_

"_You aren't good with babies in general," Lucy told her when Fred and George began to cry. Molly, who was used to this, hurriedly went to her sons and picked them both up, at the same time sniffing both of their bottoms. "Here, take Fred for a moment," Molly handed baby Fred to Natalie who quickly gave him to Lucy while Molly went back to the table to change George._

"Okay, you've lost me," Sirius interrupted once more, "Why are we going to the topic of poop?"

"What's the first thought that comes to your mind when you think baby?" Natalie shot back at him

"I don't think that's what he meant," Remus interjected, "How about you hurry along to your point? You can skip the changing of diaper part"

"My word, Remus! I didn't know you knew what a diaper was!" Natalie feigned shock as to which Remus rolled his eyes at her, in amusement.

"Just go on with the story! I'm getting hungry. Molly probably has dinner ready," Sirius groaned.

"You're always hungry," said Natalie

"You're always talking," Sirius yawned, he acted as if he didn't particularly care where the story was going but in truth he enjoyed listening to it. True, it hurt to listen to something that mentioned his wife seeing as he could never see her again. But just the thought that Lucy had once had this comical discussion and odd imaginations that their daughter would end up with a Weasley, which came to be true, amused him. After all, that was her Emeraude gift. Sirius felt a pang in his heart. The realization of his wife gone was not new to him but it still ached to think about it. "Just get to the point," he added, tearing his mind away from the painful feelings.

"Fine," Natalie huffed, "I'll skip to the part where you enter"

"Beautiful," Sirius grinned.

"_And that's what happened while you were having your guys night out," Natalie ended with a clap. She was over at Sirius and Lucy's house and had told Sirius everything that had occurred during their stay at the Burrow while Lucy had headed upstairs to prepare for the night. Natalie looked over to Sirius and waved a hand in front of him, checking if he even heard what she had just told him._

"_Yoo-hoo," Natalie asked in a singsong voice, pocking Sirius' check, "Anybody home?"_

"_This is unacceptable!" Sirius suddenly exclaimed, standing up from the couch, his wand in his hand. _

"_Whoa there," Natalie let out a laugh, moving away from the Black, "What's got your knickers in a twist? What's unacceptable?"_

"_The very thought of my little princess being whisked away by a boy," Sirius said, looking over to the auburn haired girl, his wand held tightly in his hand, "I can't let this happen!"_

"_And what are you going to do about it?" Natalie raised a brow, "Jinx the boy? That's pretty cruel and it's also child abuse"_

_Sirius dropped his wand to the couch. "I wasn't going to go that far," he rolled his eyes, "But my little Zoey isn't going to go anywhere near a boy, even if he is a Weasley. Nope, she's staying right here where she belongs. No boy will be allowed within three feet of range and will go under a stern interrogation of what his business is with my little girl and –"_

"What happens next?" Remus asked, "You just stopped in the middle of his rant"

"Well, I sort of zoned out," Natalie said sheepishly, "Besides there isn't much to say. He just went on and on and on about the same thing and frankly, I think he was just repeating words"

"True," Remus nodded.

Natalie smiled and then turned to Sirius whose brows were furrowed in thought. "Now, do you see my point?"

"You made me very obnoxious in that flashback," Sirius said, "Are you sure it wasn't someone else?"

"Git," Natalie muttered, "My point was what happened to that obnoxious soon to be father? You were saying stuff about restraining orders and all that jazz but now you're just," she paused, "Mergh!"

"Mergh?" Remus raised a brow at her

"Yes, Mergh!" Natalie clarified, "What happened?"

Sirius gave a sigh. He didn't like where this was going. He liked it better when they were just conversing like when they were back in Hogwarts, back when everyone was alive an well, not jumping from topic to topic when they ended up touching very delicate wounds in their past. He ran a hand though his hair. He missed the good ol' days when he would pick verbal, and slightly physical and magical, fight with Natalie, converse and flirt innocently with Lucy, help James, well supporting James, in getting Lily, convincing Remus to let him copy off his potions work, tell Peter tips on how to get girls, having girls flaunt over him and prank Snivellus and the rest of the Slytherins. Where did those days go?

Might as well get it over and done with, he thought to himself.

"What happened? What happened was I was locked in Azkaban for twelve years for a crime I did not commit," Sirius hid a wince, he did not like remembering those times, "I lost years, Nat, years of getting to know my own daughter. When I saw her again, I thought she was Luce but no, she's dead. Not a happy wake up call when you escape that blasted place"

"Sirius –" Natalie began

"No, I want to finish this," Sirius said, "And when I saw her, she was afraid. No, she did not run away but I can see it in her eyes. I didn't know her. The only memories I have of her was when she was born up to when she was two years old and when I got to see her again, she was what? Fifteen? I lost twelve years and from there I realized I have no right to stop her," he paused, "I saw her share a kiss with that Weasley boy and I knew that I couldn't stop her. She was falling in love; fell in love actually. As sappy as it sounds. She's growing up and I was not part of that"

"We all weren't," Remus interrupted.

"No, you were there for her when Luce and I weren't," Sirius said to him before looking over to Natalie, "And I'm sure you spoiled her with stories, Aunt Maria"

"But we had to give her to that dreadful Aunt of hers," Natalie's face darkened while Remus looked away guiltily.

"Exactly, we weren't there we couldn't do anything so I have no right, we have no right to stop her from dating Fred," Sirius said, "She's growing up and I at least want to have a part in that"

Natalie sniffed when Sirius ended and patted his shoulder. "I never thought… you'd be so… so…. Mature! Wah!"

"Way to ruin the moment," Remus let out a soft chuckle while Sirius pushed Natalie away from him but she kept struggling to envelope him in a hug.

Suddenly, a voice echoed through the house, waking up his mother's portrait.

"Honey, I'm home!" said the voice while Sirius' mother screeched out "Half – breed!"

* * *

After George greeted Echo and escorted her to her room and Sirius, Remus and Natalie calmed down Walburga Black's portrait. Zoey felt like she could finally breathe. Sure, it wasn't the first time she heard the awful screeches of her grandmother but every time she did, she felt strange inside. The same feeling she gets whenever she was set in a place where everything was perfect. When she heard the offending screams, she wanted to tear the portrait apart if not by magic then by her bare hands. Sure, she kept that feeling hidden very well but just the thought of being related to the perfectionist who gave birth to a 'failure' just… irked her. Zoey gave a sigh; she needed to get her mind of things.

"What kept you?" Zoey asked, looking over to Echo as she helped her unpack her things to place in the drawers. They were in a two-bed bedroom that was situated right next to Ginny's, who would be sharing hers with Hermione when the muggle-born would come. It was nice of George to escort Echo and her things to the room but as soon as they entered, he apparated away. Packing and unpacking weren't really within the twins' favor.

"I was reading something then got caught up with it, missed track of time but now I'm here," Echo spoke, refolding a shirt and placing it in one of the drawers.

Zoey raised a brow at her. "Okay…" she said, typical Echo, "how did you get here?"

"Apparating, dear Zoey"

At that moment, two loud pops came and Fred and George appeared, both wearing identical grins. Zoey squinted at the two of them as she pushed herself off the floor; she had fallen back from the surprise pops. She watched as George enveloped Echo in a hug before hooking his arm with hers.

"Love to stay in chat but Mum says dinner is ready," George said before disapparating with Echo in tow. Zoey rolled her eyes and looked over to Fred.

"Help?" she asked with a smile, which Fred returned, holding a hand out which Zoey gratefully took.

"Met your godmother today," Fred began, looking around the room and picking up a picture frame from one of the bedside tables. It was off a baby Zoey with her parents, godparents and aunt and uncle and their son. He smiled as the baby Zoey waved her hands in the air, he figured he would ask his questions when the time was right or when Zoey felt right to answer them without his asking. He was a Weasley, he tended to be nosy at times but he also respected privacy… when it came to Zoey.

"Yeah?" Zoey smiled, "What'd you think?"

"She's alright," Fred scratched the back of his head, "Just a bit –"

"Overwhelming?" Zoey supplied.

"I would have said awesome"

"Then she isn't 'just a bit awesome' she _is _awesome," Zoey laughed before looking suspiciously at Fred's pocket. A flesh colored sort of string was sticking out of it. She slowly brought her hand to the string, and without asking for Fred's permission, pulled it out of his pocket only to have an ear sticking out from the other end of it. She let out a small yelp.

"What is this?" Zoey asked, her brows rose in shock.

"That," Fred took it from her, "Is the almost complete product of my added awesome to your idea"

"Added awesome?" Zoey asked.

"It's a term," Fred stuck out his tongue before laughing. Zoey seemed to have not remembered giving him the idea.

Zoey furrowed her brows. "Extendable Ears?"

"Glad to see you remembered," Fred grinned, "It's still not finished. Have to put another ear at the other end."

"Amazing," Zoey breathed out

"Not really. You just pop it on the other end –"

"Not that," Zoey laughed, "Though it is amazing as well. I was saying that you actually made the idea into reality"

"With the help of George"

"Of course"

"But you're right. I am amazing," Fred grinned.

"And have a big head," Zoey pointed out, referring to his ego.

"Making more people see how handsome I am"

"And how un-proportional you are," Zoey smirked.

"Is that even a word?" Fred smirked in return while Zoey blushed, she didn't know.

"Didn't George say dinner was ready?" Zoey asked, wanting to drift the subject away from her little blunder in the lack of a wide vocabulary.

Fred smiled, knowing what she was doing and shrugged it off. He liked poking fun at her. Her witty comebacks or her small blunders than made her cheeks turn pink. He loved them. Found them cute. They seemed to encourage him to continue to tease her in a playful act.

"I believe mum was the one who said dinner was ready," Fred said taking a step towards the door.

"But George relayed the message"

"But he didn't initially say it"

"Where did you learn all these big words?" Zoey paused, "Or learn to have a vocal argue?"

"Well, when you have Bridgit, a Ravenclaw, as a 'friend – rival'. You tend to need to know how to fight against her," Fred grinned, "That and prank wise"

"And prank wise," Zoey nodded.

Fred then held out his arm. Zoey looked at it with a raised brow.

"Side along Apparition?" Fred asked.

"I know how to Apparate," Zoey said

"Then want to see who can get down first?"

"Rather not"

Fred nodded. It was worth a try. He, of course, was not offended by his girlfriend's view on the concept of Apparation. She did have a bad past with it and he did not want to push it. She needed to heal, she needed to try and he was going to be there for her. He placed his arm back to his side and opened the door.

"Ladies first," he bowed making Zoey laugh.

"You mean you're actually going to walk with me all the way back to the kitchen?" she asked.

"Of course not," Fred scoffed, "I'm going to go there the faster way"

"You're going to forget how to walk if you keep Apparating wherever you go," Zoey pointed out.

"I think I'll manage," Fred said with a shrug before planting a kiss on Zoey's check and disappearing with a loud pop. Zoey rolled her eyes in amusement and headed her way down the stairs. It wasn't that hard to walk down the stairs but then again, just appearing in your desired location was much easier. Her eyes widened and she brought out her wand.

_"Accio Auctor Sanitatis," _She said in a small voice as she listened to the small whizz in the air and her pills zooming towards her. She quickly took it in her hand and opened it. She still hasn't touched or taken a single pill since that day. Did she regret it? She didn't know.

* * *

"You should go talk to her," Natalie urged Sirius, poking him at the side.

It was dinnertime and everyone was already sitting at the table, everyone except Zoey. Mrs. Weasley was serving roast chicken with mashed potato. Simple but delicious. Anyway, when Fred had arrived by Apparation, much to his mother's annoyance (and Sirius' amusement) telling him that just because he and George could use magic now doesn't mean they need to use it at every waking moment, everyone was already eating. Sure, Mrs. Weasley told them to wait till everyone was at the table but the past few hours, almost a day, had been stressful and she didn't want to deny her hunger. She did; however, save a large portion of food for Zoey when she arrived.

"Talk to who?" Sirius grumbled, shoveling mashed potato into his mouth, "Can't you leave me to eat in peace? You don't bother Moony"

"Remmy has enough food on his plate," Natalie said

"And I don't?" Sirius asked, stabbing the chicken leg with his fork.

"Not that kind of food and not that kind of plate," Natalie rolled her eyes, "Besides, Remmy looks absolutely starved. I want him to eat well"

"And what about me? I've been living of rats"

Natalie wrinkled her nose. "Do they taste like chicken?" she then asked.

"Leave me alone," Sirius glared. It was just like before. Natalie would always favor Remus, not that Sirius cared, while she annoyed him, Sirius, to no end. Sirius liked it, though he would never admit it. It showed that nothing much changed in their friendship, save for the absence of half of their party. Sirius found it hard to swallow his food.

"I would if you would talk to Zoey," Natalie spooned herself some mash potato as well.

"I doubt you would," Sirius said, "And I already talk to Zoey"

"Not much"

"Just enough," said Sirius drank, "Besides, there isn't much to talk about. She said enough to Snuffles"

"Snuffles?"

"Codename"

"For what?"

"None of your business"

Natalie sniffed. "You could always talk about her relationship"

"Why do you keep swerving that topic?" he paused, "That would be awkward for everyone in the room"

"Everyone doesn't have to be there"

"But the awkward air will come," Sirius then looked back at his food as the kitchen door opened once more, revealing Zoey. The girl smiled in greeting and took the only seat available, much to her appreciation, which was beside Fred. She greeted him, once again reminding him if he kept Apparating he would lose his ability to walk which the latter replied with he would always learn again as to which Zoey rolled her eyes to before picking up her utensils and eating.

Natalie nudged Sirius in the ribs, making him choke a bit on his food. He coughed and lightly hit his chest, he didn't know what hitting his chest did but it sure made him think it helped. Zoey looked at him worriedly.

"Are you okay, dad?" she asked.

Dad. It had become so natural for her to call him that and for him to here it. Sirius wondered if he had ever been with her from start till know would he hear her call him other titles like maybe daddy or papa. Sirius mentally shook his head. Dad was fine. Dad was short. Dad was him.

"Yeah," Sirius said, "Your Aunt is just being a pain"

"Heavens no," Natalie scoffed, facing her goddaughter, "Your father is just being a stubborn git"

"Your two adult figures are being childish," Remus said, placing his utensils next to each other showing that he had finished his meal, "Dinner was fantastic, Molly," he then said with politeness as to which Mrs. Weasley returned.

Natalie then looked to Sirius. "If you won't make conversation. Then I will," she whispered.

"Be my guest," Sirius said, amused.

"So Zoey," Natalie turned her attention back to her goddaughter, "Play Quidditch?"

"Uhm… no," Zoey said but didn't complete her thought. True, she doesn't play Quidditch but an ache in her heart told her she should. After all she _did _promise someone she'll try out. She blocked her thoughts.

"Really," Natalie nodded before sending a glance to Sirius as if saying 'That's how you start a conversation', "Plans for the future?"

"Whoa, Aunt Maria. Where's this coming from?" Zoey let out a laugh, "It isn't like you"

"You're right. But I'm just curious is all," Natalie grinned.

"Well, I was planning to be Healer. Well, _am _planning to be one," Zoey smiled

"That's a wonderful profession," Mrs. Weasley joined in, "I'm sure you'll do well. I even heard that you took care of Fred and George when they got sick," she then sent a look towards her sons whom which grinned sheepishly in response before looking back at their food.

"Healer? Cool," Natalie said, "But back to Quidditch"

"You want me to try out?" Zoey asked

"Both your parents were on the team! So was James! You got to have some of their talent in you!" Natalie cried, reaching over to hold Zoey's hands in hers. Zoey sent her a confused look.

"But Zoey's scared of Bludgers," Fred said

"Scared of Bludgers?" Sirius then joined, "What's there to be scared of? If you just have the bat in your hand you can whack them into kingdom come!"

"That's what we told her," George joined in.

"But she still bloody hates them," Fred continued.

"It's not my fault!" Zoey blushed making everyone in the table laugh. This was good. Everything was light hearted. Like nothing could trouble them. Sure, it was a lie. Dark times have come but at times like this no one liked to think about it. They just wanted to spend their time with love ones. For who knows how long they'll have? Depressing thoughts and feelings were kicked out of the room as the jolly atmosphere enveloped everyone. Nothing could go wrong.

Or so they thought.

* * *

**Hello everyone!**

**First, I wanna thank all of you who reviewed and the like, also HayleyParadox for helping out, I really appreciate you all!**

**Sorry if this chapter was rather short and just seemed like a filler. Please be patient with me. I assure you that things will Happen. Harry and Bridgit would be appearing in the next chapter, along with Hermione.**

**Also... hmm... what else can I say? I had a lot in my mind but now I'm like bleh. Brain dead. Oh well. When the time comes to chat, the time will come. **

**Gibberish is what I'm spewing out right now.**

**Apologies.**

**Oh, that little "added awesome" was first used in Chapter 51: How love works. If you don't remember. Just wanted to say :)**

**Also, wow now the thoughts come in, I'm glad to see that a lot of you like Natalie :) I like her too. Glad that she's finally appearing in the fic instead of that one letter she sent and flashbacks. :D**

**Well, that's about it I guess... **

**I have nothing more to say so**

**With my final words:**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter**

**Please tell me what you thought**

**Excuse my typos and the like; I'm not good with a chapter not having any… though I would want one**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter ****And**

**I only own what I own**


	72. Chapter 70: The Safe Haven

**Chapter 70: The Safe Haven**

Time passed quickly and soon everyone was now in 12 Grimmauld Place, the Head Quarters for the Order of the Phoenix, everyone except Harry James Potter. Bridgit had arrived the day after Echo and Hermione joined the group a week later. Different people went in and out of the house, some scary to Zoey while others were just another friendly face like Nymphadora Tonks, a metamorphmagus. Some of the members were also familiar to Zoey like Dumbledore, who was more like the head of the Order instead of a member, who came in once or twice, to Zoey's knowledge, and much to her surprise, and everyone else who studied in Hogwarts, Snape was part of the Order too along with Bridgit, as to which the twins retaliated with jealousy. At that point, everyone, meaning the adults and Bridgit, was well organized on what their duties were and had numerous meetings that Zoey and the rest weren't allowed to attend, much to their annoyance.

"We're of age!" always came the reply of the twins and Echo, not so much of Zoey for she did not want to get on the adult's bad side, when the doors were closed in their faces when a meeting was being held. "Of age or not," Mrs. Weasley would argue, "You are still my children and I forbid you to have any business on what's going on"

Mrs. Weasley's, in Zoey mind, word was law and Zoey did not want to go against it. The twins; however, were another story. When they got tired of the door being slammed in their face, both metaphorically and literally, and Bridgit not saying a single word or clue to them about the meetings, they gathered up everyone who was not allowed into the meetings and introduced their new invention, the Extendable Ears. When everyone knew how they worked, they took every chance they could get to listen in on the meetings, that is until they were caught by none other than Mrs. Weasley, the mum with the hawk eyes. When she found out, she threatened, and was most likely going to, to throw away the Extendable Ears. Fred and George hid them all in time.

Days were getting busier and busier but that didn't stop people from wondering about Zoey's current condition at home. Word got around and soon, everyone knew about what happened to her and her wings. Many questions were left unanswered until one faithful day; Sirius just couldn't take it anymore and outright asked her during dinner. Mrs. Weasley scolded him for being rude but Natalie backed him up saying that if Lucy could tell them so can Zoey. At the mention of her mother, Zoey faltered.

Her walls, the walls that kept her hidden, safe were crashing down. The four walls that made a large box that Zoey stayed in the middle with all her secrets and all her white lies for the box not only kept her safe but others as well. The things she kept hidden from the public and the things she didn't want to reveal yet were all kept in that box with her in the middle of it all. She thought it would be fine. Everything would be fine if no one would touch her box, her walls. But she was wrong. One by one her friends and family were able to break through them until all that was left was Zoey huddled in the middle of it all, her secrets and lies breaking free for all to see.

That was the mental image anyway.

Zoey, shaking her head into reality, then told them that her situation was nothing to worry about and they should forget that it even happened. They didn't. They continued to pester her, not forcefully though. Time passed and soon Zoey gave in on one condition, that was later over ruled, that Harry had to be there to hear. She did not want to repeat the sob story. Ginny; however, cut her off saying she was just avoiding the question. She was right but Zoey continued to press on her condition saying she only wanted to say it once. That's when Ron and Hermione cut in.

"You only have to say it once," said Hermione

"We'll fill in Harry for you," Ron continued.

At this, Zoey saw that she was losing. She couldn't hide it anymore. From the start she knew that it wouldn't take long but she still held on to the belief that she could keep things in her tiny little haven of a box. Sadly, that didn't work out to well for her. Sure, she knew that she could still keep some things under wraps but others were seeping out. Available for the public to see. Her friends and family saw the result of the abuse Zoey had to endure, one time they even saw it take place. They knew the general idea of it all, all that was left were the details and that was for Zoey to elaborate on. That is, if she would.

It hurt her to open the slow healing wounds of her past but she knew she had to some time. Things happen and life and most of the time, they hurt but we learn from them. If everything was perfect then nothing could go wrong and nothing would move forward. Zoey knew that and she believed in it, she just didn't like to do it.

Zoey felt like it was her summer before sixth year. Déjà vu was happening to her. People found out about what had been happening and now she had to tell them what was going on. When it all started. She had to explain and discuss. She had to see their expressions of hurt and worry once again. Their pity and their rage. She had to see them all. She had to go through it one more time. She hoped it was the last.

When Zoey reached the part of her wings, she was grateful to have Hermione there to help explain it. She, Zoey, even summoned the books she had lent to her to pass around to those who wanted a more detailed explanation.

The day ended with everyone knowing about her and what she went through.

Well, almost everyone

And almost everything was revealed.

There were still some things that Zoey didn't want to share.

She clutched onto her pills that she kept in her pocket. She did not take them but just having them near her was sort of a calming object. Like, just having them close to her would be the same as taking one pill a day.

Not quite.

"I SUPPOSE YOU'VE BEEN HAVING A REAL LAUGH, HAVEN'T YOU, ALL HOLED UP HERE TOGETHER –"

Zoey winced at the volume of Harry's voice. To her knowledge, he came to the Headquarters not to long ago and from what Zoey had heard, Harry was not too happy on finding out that he knew nothing of what was going on since the beginning of the summer. Zoey felt his pain, being kept in the dark but she also knew it wouldn't be too good if she came up there. He would be mad at her too. She didn't want that. Zoey then looked down at the plate in her hands. She and Bridgit were asked to do the dishes (which they were doing the muggle way even though they were already both of age) while Echo had disappeared into the library she found somewhere deep into the house. Zoey did not care to join.

_Only a matter of time till they tell him what had happened to me, _Zoey thought as she passed the clean plate to Bridgit and took hold of another one.

"SHE WAS WHAT?"

_And Bingo was his name oh, _Zoey sighed. It was a wonder how her grandmother's portrait did not wake up yet. A mystery really.

"Looks like Harry's heard what happened," Bridgit said, letting out a soft chuckle

"And he's not to happy about it," Zoey gave her another plate, "Quick question that is completely unrelated to the current situation but did you ever use magic… you know freely now seeing as the trace is off?"

"Uhm…. I've actually been using magic since before I was of age," Bridgit answered, taking the plate and rinsing it

"You mean out of Hogwarts?" Zoey's brows shot up

"Yup… I have special permission from Dumbledore," Bridgit answered, "It sort of the only upside of being a Death Eater spy, I get to use magic out of Hogwarts without getting in trouble to protect myself"

Before Zoey could reply to her Mrs. Weasley entered the kitchen and ushered her out.

"Thank you for the help, Zoey dear but the meeting will start now," Mrs. Weasley said, gently pushing her out the door.

"B – but," Zoey stuttered, "Can't I listen?"

"No," came Mrs. Weasley's reply, "And you know why. Now out you go. Dinner would be ready shortly"

And with that the door was once again closed in her face while her friend was still inside, the privilege of a Death Eater Spy.

"Seriously, the others should be allowed in this," Zoey heard Bridgit say through the door, "Especially Harry! We need to tell him these things!"

"Look dear, they will be briefed in time, but as of now leave them out of this mess," came Mrs. Weasley's voice, and Zoey heard Bridgit sigh.

"Okay…" Bridgit answered, obviously feeling defeated

Zoey gave a sigh; at least Bridgit was on their side. She was just about to press her ear against the door, to hear more, when a foul smelling sent filled the air. She looked back and saw Ginny with several Dung bombs in her hand. Zoey saw the Weasley girl raise her hand and was prepared to throw another one, Zoey dodged in time and quickly made her way to Ginny.

"Imperturbable Charm," Ginny said as she threw the remaining Dung bombs at the door, "Tonks taught me how to find out"

"Right," Zoey replied and then gasped when a lonely ear came into view. She slapped it out of her way out of reflex. She heard someone swear from upstairs. She looked up to see Fred and the others looking down from the banister, the other end of the Ear in Fred's hand. Zoey sent an apologetic smile.

"We better get up there," Ginny said and Zoey nodded in response.

When they finally reached the top, they saw everyone huddled over the other ear while the one Zoey swatted was dangling far below them. Zoey squeezed herself between Fred and Harry.

"Hello, Harry," Zoey greeted him

"Hey," Harry replied with a small smile.

"And no hello for your injured boyfriend?" came Fred's voice

"You're injured?" Zoey looked at him, brows raised once more.

"Of course I am," Fred feigned pain, "Swatting that poor defenseless ear sent a very painful frequency to mine. I could have gone deaf!"

"_Shh," _Ron hissed, he couldn't care less, "We can't hear anything"

"You won't be able to," Came Ginny's voice, "They placed an Imperturbable Charm"

"Not a strong one," George muttered, "I think I can hear something"

At that, everyone huddled closer to the ear, praying that the Charm wasn't as powerful as they thought.

The first voice they heard was Bridgit's.

_"Voldemort's planning something, and it has something to do with a prophecy located in the Department of Mysteries." Bridgit said, making the others curiosity boost to a higher level.__"I know it has something to do with Harry, but I need to know what this is about." Bridgit continued slamming her hands on to the table._

"_Look Ms. Parker, this does not go to your concern. You are here to tell us when he plans to attack, and when he decides to make his return." A voice that sounded like Remus' said._

_"What do you mean this isn't my concern? Of course it is! These are my friends!" Bridgit then said._

_"Ms. Parker, you are getting out of line. Now tell us what you are supposed to and do not meddle with things that need not to be meddled in." Snape's voice suddenly rang through._

_"Are you all seriously telling me that you're gonna let this go on? If you keep leaving me and all of them in the dark, it could be too late to do anything!" Bridgit shouted, making the listeners, Zoey and the rest, wince._

_"Ms. Parker, we know that you care, and your concern for your friends is admirable, but you must remember that everything comes all in good time." Dumbledore, much to the listeners' surprise, now said._

_"What time is better than the present? You should give them the choice to join the Order!" Bridgit now retorted, and the others could hear the collective talking and arguing about the suggestion._

_"Well, I think it's a good idea," A voice said, and the others realized that it belonged to Sirius. "Those kids should know what they're up against, and should be given a chance to join this or not. In anyway it's for their protection." Sirius added._

_"It's nice to know someone has his head screwed on straight," Bridgit suddenly said, and they heard her let out a sigh of relief._

_"What are you talking about Sirius? Those children are too young and should still be enjoying their childhood lives!" Mrs. Weasley now said, shouting as she did._

_"Oh yeah? What is left to enjoy when he returns? When Voldemort decides to attack? And you say that as if I'm not their age! I know first hand what we're up against, what they'll be up against and if they don't learn to fend for themselves now there is no chance of us winning this war!" Bridgit suddenly shouted back, her anger obvious in her voice._

"_She's right Molly," Natalie's voice came, "With this going on. There isn't much childhood to enjoy"_

_"So it's decided then! We will let them make their own decisions regarding this matter?" Sirius asked and the others waited for the reply anxiously._

_"ARE YOU –?" Mrs. Weasley was about to say, but Dumbledore had cut her off._

_"We will allow them to join if they want to, but we will still limit their knowledge on this." He said, and the others heard that Bridgit was once again about to speak but Dumbledore had cut her off though. "Ms. Parker, if you disagree, you always have the choice to tell them more, but this is not just about what they want to know, it is also for their welfare and safety."_

_"But...I...Fine." Bridgit suddenly said, agreeing to the statement._

_"Well if this is the case, then we should probably call the kids down to discuss this with them." Sirius said, once again but they heard Bridgit laugh._

Before Zoey and the rest could hear more on the meeting a little problem had occurred. Hermione was the first to notice.

"Crookshanks!" she cried, "No!"

Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, had spotted the other end of the Extendable Ear and began swatting it. Fred and George began tugging at the string but the tabby cat just didn't let go. Soon, the cat was able to detach the ear, leaving a thin flesh colored string behind, and dragged it off to someplace only a cat would know.

"Hermione…. I hate your cat," Ron said, finding another chance to express his feelings about the feline. Sure, it knew 'Scabbers' was a fraud but there were just other instances where Ron just did not favor the animal.

Suddenly, the door of the kitchen began to open and Fred and George swore as they hurriedly pulled the string back up, away from their mother's sight. Everyone stepped away from the banister and away from view as well. Zoey felt like she was holding her breath though she didn't really know why. She, Zoey, then crept back to the banister and saw Mrs. Weasley gesturing her to come down. Zoey nodded her head and looked back to her friends.

"Dinner's ready," she said to them.

"Right," George grinned.

"See you down stairs," Fred also grinned and with that they disappeared with not a pop but with a _CRACK._

They heard Mrs. Weasley let out an angry yell and Zoey saw her slap both Fred and George on the arm, they walked to the kitchen, laughing. Zoey rolled her eyes at them.

"I heard they passed their Apparation test," Harry made conversation as he, Zoey, Hermione, Ron and Ginny headed down the stairs.

"With distinction, they say," Zoey said with a smile, "How's your summer been?"

"Terrible," Harry honestly replied, letting the rest go first. He wanted to have more time to talk with Zoey before going to the kitchen. "I was kept in the dark –"

"So I've heard," Zoey interrupted, "You have quite a loud voice when you're angry"

"So I've heard," Harry repeated what Zoey had said, "But, yours was probably – most likely – _is _worse than mine"

Zoey shook her head. "Not is. Was worse. It got better when I came here," she told him.

"This dusty old place?" Harry asked, peeling of the already peeling wallpaper.

"It's better than my own place," Zoey smiled.

"Hermione and Ron told me all about it," Harry then said, "I'm sorry. I didn't know it went that far"

"Nothing to worry about," Zoey's smile softened as she messed up Harry's already messed up hair.

"But –" but Harry never got to continue for before he knew it, he and Zoey had reached the last step and Mrs. Weasley greeted them with soft whispers. She instructed Harry to carefully tiptoe his way to the kitchen, without really explaining, but it was useless for Tonks had tripped over a particular object and landed with a loud crash waking up a particularly unwanted person.

"Now she wakes up?" Zoey found herself asking, "She didn't wake up when you were yelling and she didn't wake up when Fred and George apparated and Mrs. Weasley yelling at them but when Tonks trips. She wakes up?"

"Who's she?" Harry asked

"_Filth! Scum! Blood-traitors and Half-breeds! Polluting the home of my forefathers!"_

Zoey watched as Tonks apologized over and over again and Echo emerging from the dark, coming to see who had triggered Walburga Black's yelling. Out of the kitchen came Sirius.

"Shut up! You horrible old hag!" he shouted, tugging at the curtains that were once covering the sleeping woman.

"_You!" _Walburga screeched at the sight of Sirius, _"Shame of my flesh! Abomination! An insult to the Blacks name! You and that dreadful daughter of yours –"_

"I said… shut UP!" Sirius shouted once more, tugging at the curtains again until it covered the dreadful portrait. He then faced Harry.

"Hello, Harry," he greeted him the same way Zoey did, "I see you've met my mother"

"Wonderful woman isn't she?" Zoey smiled at Harry before dashing into the kitchen, grabbing a hold of Echo as she did so, so Harry and Sirius could have a moment.

The dinner that night was the most bipolar meal that Zoey had ever had, not that she minded. First, it began casual with minor introductions and cleaning up from the meeting. Then, it went downhill when Fred and George charmed the food to levitate towards the table only to have the charm break and the food and utensils fall, a knife almost stabbing Sirius' hand. After the incident, everyone had a laugh, not Mrs. Weasley though. Then after the laughs the dinner became silent and awkward by the mention of Percy and the atmosphere changed when Mrs. Weasley began telling Sirius about the rooms that needed to be cleaned, Sirius not being too enthusiastic on the idea. The dinner returned to laughs by the girls' side when Tonks began changing her face to have a snout of a pig or the bill of a duck, much to everyone's amusement.

At Remus' side was a deep discussion on goblins and the like with Bill and Mr. Weasley while on Fred and George's side, they were having some laughs with Mundungus Fletcher, once again, to Mrs. Weasley's annoyance.

By the end of dinner the atmosphere in the kitchen rapidly changed to one that Zoey rather not have. The topic of the Order had come up when Mrs. Weasley told them it was time to get to bed. Sirius; however, disagreed and began talking to Harry about a topic that was not what Mrs. Weasley preferred. One thing led to another and a whole argument surfaced about who was too young to have their questions answered and who wasn't.

"It's your parents job to give their permission if you can join or not," Remus told the twins.

"That's not what you agreed to earlier!" George argued

"How would you know about –" Natalie began but was interrupted

"And if it really is about parents allowing," Fred was the one who interrupted, "Then what about Zoey? Why isn't she in the Order? I was pretty sure Sirius would have allowed her!"

Sirius looked over to Zoey. "Would you want to join?"

"Erm…" Zoey bit her lip; she didn't want to be dragged into the argument, "Sure"

"Then what about Harry?" it was Ginny's turn to ask.

"He's too young!" Mrs. Weasley pointed out.

"I say he should be in the Order," Sirius said

"It's not down to you to decide what's good for Harry," Mrs. Weasley then turned to Sirius.

At that, another argument had taken place between Sirius and Mrs. Weasley. It was like watching a tennis match, the argument bouncing back and forth between them. It was hard to keep up. It was scary almost.

"Mrs. Weasley!" Bridgit said, calling out to the red headed woman with a stern voice that could battle McGonagall's, "We agreed that it would be their decision and not yours or Sirius'." Bridgit continued, giving a cold stare at her.

"Bridgit dear, you must understand that we are only looking out for them," Mrs. Weasley responded, trying to calm Bridgit down. She, Mrs. Weasley, did not like to be glared at especially by someone who was years younger than she was.

"Looking out? It's more like you want them to know nothing!" Bridgit shouted, shocking everyone in the room. "If you were looking out for them you would let them fight and live! Not wait until the end comes." She continued still glaring daggers at the woman.

"Look little missy, just because you are our ticket to information doesn't mean that you have a right to say anything regarding our children and their safety." Mrs. Weasley started, finally getting irritated with the girl. "You don't know what it's like to lose a child or how hard it would be to lose anyone that you love." She continued, not realizing that every word that came out of her mouth stung like a blade.

Zoey felt her heart skip a beat. Why did the argument have to move between them? No, why did the argument have to start at all? She was getting worried, if she was not already.

"Yeah, that's right...I'm just the girl who hangs out with the scum who killed her parents to help others right?" Bridgit retorted bowing her head. "I'm going to bed." She added, walking out of the room. Shortly after, Echo came after her, most likely to comfort her, keep her company or she just wanted to get away from the tension, probably all of the above.

"Bridgit..." Mrs. Weasley began, realizing what she had just done. She moved to follow but she felt a hand on her shoulder that stopped her. It was her husband.

"Let her cool off," he said to her before helping her back to her seat.

"Right," Mrs. Weasley sighed, "Fred – George – Ginny – Ron – Hermione – Zoey – I want you out of this kitchen right now"

There was an instant uproar.

"I was allowed!" Zoey exclaimed for the first time. She did not want to start a fight but it was not fair. Days, weeks, months, she wanted to know what was happening but never got to and now, when her father gave her permission, she was being told to get out? It was not fair!

"Fine," Mrs. Weasley said, "Fred – George –"

"We're of age!" they bellowed together and Ron and Ginny's arguments followed. At that, Mrs. Weasley had the last straw, convinced by her husband and son, she allowed Fred, George, Ron and Hermione to stay as well but sent Ginny to her room. Ginny angrily left the kitchen, and she did not go quietly. As Ginny stomped back to her room, she had awoken the portrait once more and Remus and Natalie had to dash out to silence her again. When they returned, Sirius was the first to speak.

"So, Harry, what do you want to know?"

* * *

In Zoey's dreams, she would not interact with her lost friends. No, she would simply be in a dark room and wait for the memories to come. The memories would start out at the end of a tunnel and with a blink of an eye, be right in front of her. The memories would begin with the most significant ones. They held the days Zoey marked as important in her mind. They would start from the very beginning. It always began from the first time they formally met.

_Zoey quickened her pace in hopes to be able to catch breakfast but there was a slight problem. She had run into someone. Zoey stumbled back from the surprise force and her things went flying. She closed her eyes as she waited for a book to fall on her._

_Nothing happened._

_She re-opened her eyes and came face to face with gray eyes much like her own but not quite. Zoey felt herself blush. Zoey had bumped into a quite good looking boy. The boy in front of her had chiseled features with brown hair and gray eyes. Zoey could not believe that she had never seen him even though he was in the same house as her._

_Zoey blushed grew darker as the boy held out his hand. She accepted it and he brought her up. He was quite tall._

_"Are you alright?" he asked._

_"Err – yeah… sorry about that," Zoey apologized as she bent down a bit to get her fallen books. The boy helped her._

_"I didn't know anyone would be in the common room right now," the boy said as he handed Zoey her books, "With breakfast nearing its end I would think that everyone would be heading to classes"_

_"Err – I woke up late," Zoey said with her head down. She brought the books closer to her chest. The boy nodded and led her out of the common room_

_"So, Zoey," the boy began to make small talk, "What class do you have first?"_

_"Defe – wait – how do you know my name?" Zoey stopped dead in her tracks and looked at the boy curiously._

_The boy looked back at her, "About two years ago. I gave you your missed assignments, remember?"_

_Zoey bit her lip. Two years ago she almost fell to her doom. She had been asleep for days and missed school. A boy who was a year or so older than her gave her the missed homework. The gears in her head began to move. Her eyes widened when she made her realization._

_"You remember now?" the boy asked with a chuckle_

_"You're Edward then!"_

_The boy laughed, "Cedric actually," he corrected, "Cedric Diggory"_

It always began with that memory. It was light hearted and fun and even in her dream state, Zoey knew she was blushing at her little blunder over his name. She was glad that he didn't get mad; after all, it was very far from his given name.

The next memory was a sad one, happening after her fight with her dear friends. It also marked a beginning of a habit they would soon develop. Those nights when Zoey would find herself lost and staring into the fireplace in the Hufflepuff Common Room and Cedric, waking up at that ungodly hour, finding her, talking to her, helping her. Yes, that was the next memory. The first time it happened.

_She jumped a bit and let out a small yelp when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. She turned around anxiously as the footsteps grew louder. She felt her heart beat faster when the footsteps ceased._

_"Lumos," a voice came and a light appeared, "Who's there?"_

_"I – I am," Zoey said in a soft voice._

_A chuckle came, "That makes everything clearer," the voice said, "Zoey? Is that you?"_

_"That depends. Who are you?" Zoey replied._

_The light came closer to her as did the footsteps. In a matter of seconds, Cedric stood in front of her with a smile. "What are you doing up so late?"_

_Zoey blushed, "How do you know I was up late? Maybe I woke up early"_

_"Zoey," Cedric said with a look._

_"I couldn't go to sleep," Zoey puffed her cheeks. She felt like a child compared to Cedric._

Yes, a child. He was always so mature, yet he knew how to have fun. Zoey liked that about him. He was a good influence. He was fun and he helped. He was well respected and very friendly compared to Zoey. She was invisible and socially awkward. It worked; they helped each other.

The next memory that followed was back in the Common Room, in front of the fireplace. It was after Zoey's accidental kiss with Fred, her girly inner dilemma. It started out with a 'Fred Problem' but ended with a different topic. It ended with her problem. A 'Zoey Problem'

_"You alright?"_

_Zoey tensed and looked up from the fireplace. It was midnight and she was once again in the Common Room staring into the fire thinking about the things that have been happening to her. Primarily, Fred. Zoey blushed at the memory of her lips brushing against his. _

_"What are you doing up, Cedric?" Zoey asked as she looked at the gray eyes of her fellow Hufflepuff._

_"I should be asking you the same question actually," Cedric chuckled as he sat beside her and stared into the fireplace for a while. He then looked back at Zoey, the light of the fire making her skin glow a bit. "Now, tell me what's wrong," said Cedric._

_Zoey bit her lip as she looked back at the fireplace, "What makes you say something's wrong?"_

_"You're always up at the middle of the night in front of the fireplace when something's up," Cedric said with a small shrug._

_"This is only the second time," Zoey pointed out._

_"That may be so but I am right in saying that something's bothering you… right?" Cedric asked and drew Zoey's attention back to him._

_Zoey blinked up at him for her head was slightly tilted downwards. She didn't really know what to say. Cedric was her friend. In fact he was her only friend in the Hufflepuff house. He was also very loyal, heck why would he be sorted here if he wasn't? Zoey inwardly sighed. She knew she could trust him but the idea was a little awkward to her. She hasn't even told Bridgit and Echo what had happened to her. She didn't even know if she would tell them._

_"Something's bothering me," Zoey admitted as she looked back to the fire. She remained quiet._

_Cedric waited for a few minutes before deciding that Zoey wasn't planning on saying anything anytime soon. "Are you going to tell me what's bothering you or are you going to leave me hanging?" Cedric joked._

_"Why don't you guess?" Zoey broke into a small smile; might as well keep the conversation a little interesting than telling him her 'Fred problems'._

_"Is it about your friends?" Cedric guessed but then shook his head, "No, can't be"_

_Zoey blinked her eyes, "What makes you say that?"_

_Cedric scratched the back of his head, "Well, you just got back with them right? I saw you hanging out with them the other day so I figured everything was cool with you lot – unless, there was another fight… Was there?"_

_"No," Zoey shook her head, "I'm not that bad at keeping friendships"_

_"Is it because you're a little secretive?"_

_"What?" Zoey asked with wide eyes as her hear began to beat faster._

_Cedric rubbed the bottom of his chin in thought. "Well, I don't know if it's true – this from my own opinion, but you just seem to always have things going on in your head. Of course, everyone's thinking about who knows what but for you it just seems that on most times you're having a silent battle with yourself. Life, there's something you want to say but you don't really know how or when to say it," Cedric then gave a sort of shy smile, "That's just my opinion though"_

_Zoey felt her cheeks heat up as she looked into Cedric's eyes. Sure, what he said was similar to what Ginny had told her last year but when Cedric said it… it seemed different. It had a different affect on Zoey. She bit her lip and looked down at the floor. She observed the shadows and said, "Me being secretive was the reason for our fight but now… there isn't a fight."_

_"Of course there isn't. You took them back didn't you? I doubt there was going to be one," Cedric said as he tilted Zoey's chin up._

_"Then why did you say –"_

_"I just wanted you to admit you keep secrets," Cedric said, "Sure, everyone has them but it seems like yours are a little more troublesome than others. You see Zoey, I don't want to sound rude, but you aren't the type to want to fight – no don't interrupt me on this one – You are the type to do anything to please people. To make them like you and at times you also seem too good, nice even. You just seem so perfect."_

_"No one's perfect, Cedric," Zoey said with furrowed eyebrows as she took in everything he said._

_Cedric nodded his head. "I know that but at times it just seems like you're so close to it"_

_"I don't try to be"_

_"That makes it worse!" Cedric laughed._

_"Well, try looking in a bloody mirror then!" Zoey said defensively, "You're pretty close to 'perfect' yourself!"_

_Cedric wore and amused expression. "I don't think I've ever heard you say 'bloody' before," he mused, "It doesn't really seem like something you'd say"_

_"It isn't," Zoey blushed, "I use euphemisms to cover it up"_

_"Like what?"_

_"I would normally say 'Well, try looking in an eggin' mirror then!' or something," Zoey's blush deepened._

_"'Eggin'," Cedric repeated, "really interesting euphemism skills you got there…but getting back to the point, which wasn't about you being perfect because it seemed like the conversation drifted that way, you are really just the type to want to please people."_

_"I don't want to disappoint their expectations of me," Zoey said quietly_

_"And what exactly are their expectations of you?"_

_Zoey shrugged._

_"Let me rephrase that," Cedric said, "What do you expect from yourself?"_

_"I – I don't really know," Zoey breathed out at the realization, "I just want to make other people happy… I guess… make them like me."_

_"I don't want to sound mean but Zoey not everyone would like you. It's not possible," Cedric pointed out._

_"I know that, but don't you think it's better for at least some people liking you than having everyone dislike you?" Zoey asked as she watched the fire crackle._

_"I don't think anyone could dislike you, Zoey. You're too nice. There's nothing to hate," Cedric said as he patted her back._

_"Wanna bet?" Zoey looked back at him._

_Cedric shook his head and brought his hand back to his side. He looked at the fire. "You just can't please everyone, Zoey. That's all I'm trying to say. There will be times where you have to say 'No!' or 'I don't want to do that' or something. You have to speak your mind up at times. Tell them what you're thinking"_

_"I do tell them what I'm thinking," Zoey said quietly. It was true though she hardly fought for her way._

_"You have to get angry at times too. You can't always be happy –"_

_"I'm not always happy," Zoey interjected_

_" – Yes, but you're also quiet. I sometimes see you working and well when things don't go your way you don't get irritated or angry or show any negative… explosive feeling. You brush it off. You remain silent," Cedric said with a scratch of his head_

_"Anger doesn't help anyone," Zoey said softly._

_"But it doesn't help if you keep it pent up inside," Cedric said, "Zoey, I know I said that you seem that you're so close to perfect but in reality you have flaws. Not big ones but flaws just the same."_

_Zoey gave a lifeless smile. "That's why I don't want to speak my mind or get angry or whatever…. Flaws are what make us human. If I start to speak my mind and the like then… I'll truly be perfect and… that's my worse fear"_

Though at that time, Zoey realized she didn't know what her dream was. Cedric was there to help; he made her realize a lot of things. Without knowing, he made her think. Sure, saying that she wanted to be a Healer came out of the blue but that was the only job she did not consider. In fact, at lonely times, Zoey would sit and think about her dreams. What did she want? Where did she see herself in ten years time?

The next memory that came was when Zoey and Cedric were alone. Just them. Friends. It was a quiet day for them until Cedric spoke, suggesting something completely absurd but made Zoey agree to it in the end.

_"It's a shame we don't have Quidditch this year," Cedric said with a stretch of his arms. Zoey looked at him curiously._

_"But I thought you were glad that you are in the tournament?" Zoey asked after shaking Fred from her thoughts in the mean time._

_"I didn't say anything about the tournament, Zoey. I was talking about Quidditch," Cedric said with a chuckle._

_"Oh," Zoey smacked her forehead, "I'm sorry. I'm sorta out of sorts today. So why is it a shame we don't have Quidditch this year?"_

_"Well, you know we are one Beater short right?" Cedric asked_

_"Yeah, you told me – err- 'what's-his-name' graduated," Zoey paused, "Sorry, I don't follow. Isn't it good we don't have Quidditch this year since now you don't have to worry about tryouts just yet?"_

_"That's true but the tryouts are what I was actually looking forward to," Cedric scratched the back of his head._

_Zoey raised a brow. "How come?"_

_"Hmm… well, I was sort of hoping that you'll try out," Cedric smiled._

_Zoey stared at him for a while before letting out a laugh._

_"Uhuh. Me. Beater. You're joking," Zoey said after calming down from her laugh. She looked back at Cedric and her face fell._

_"I'm not joking," Cedric said as he crossed his arms over his chest._

_"You're not? Then you can't be serious!" Zoey exclaimed, her eyebrows knitting together._

_"Oh, but I am," Cedric smirked, "Why are you even worried? I do remember you saying that you grew a liking to them murdering balls of fury"_

_"And you actually believed me! I hate the Bludgers!" Zoey panicked._

_"That's a lie," Cedric said, "I saw you the other day. You were doing just fine hitting them so far that it could have founded the entire Black Lake and hit someone at the back of the head with equal force!"_

_Zoey opened her mouth to say something but soon closed it. She opened it once more but closed it again. She did this action several more times making her look like a fish._

_"Just give it a chance. I have a faith in you. I'm sure you'll do great," Cedric smiled, "Come one. Just tryout next year. Please?"_

_Zoey bit her lip and weighed her options. After five minutes of thinking she gave a sigh. "Just tryout right? I don't have to actually be on the team?"_

_"Yes, only tryout. Please? For me?"_

_"Alright," Zoey gave another sigh._

_"Promise?"_

_"Promise"_

Memory after memory passed until it finally reached to the last one she had of him. The very last thing she remembered. It began with worry and with smiles but ended dreadfully, the part in Zoey's dream that began to turn into a nightmare. A memory that Zoey wished to forget, wished never occurred. She wished it were only a nightmare, a lie. She wanted to wake up and know her friend was still there, was still able to graduate with her. Help her. Make her laugh.

She missed him.

Zoey whimpered in her sleep. The memory was starting.

_Zoey looked up at the audience and saw that a handful of them were focusing their attention at her. No doubt about it, they were wondering why she was even down there in the first place. Zoey felt self-conscious. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to be there. She was just about to turn to go back up to her place when a hand caught hers. She whirled around to see Cedric._

_"Hey," he greeted her._

_"Hey," she replied before enveloping him in a hug, she had to stand on her tip toes, "Promise me you'll come back alive?"_

_Cedric gave a laugh and patted her back. "Of course," he said, "I wouldn't want to come back in a different state"_

_"That's no joking matter," Zoey said to him seriously, "There are a lot of things there that you might not expect to see and if –"_

_"I'll be fine, Zoey. I have my wand at the ready at all times and I studied and practiced a lot of good spells before this day. I'll say I'm well prepared and I promise you I will come back alive," Cedric smiled, though he looked slightly worried at the concept of going into the maze, "Now, would you give me one last hug and a wish of good luck before the task begins?"_

_"Good luck," Zoey breathed out, hugging him once more before smiling at his parents and heading back to the stairs. She gave her friends one last wave and once again squeezed her way through the other students to get back to Echo and the others._

That was the worry and smiles part. It seemed like the other tasks, a little bit of danger but everyone comes out fine in the end, only covered with bruises and scratches that are easy to heal. Nothing too bad. But no, it didn't go that way. It at all just went down hill.

The panic rose when Bridgit told her what the Death Eaters had planned and fear came when Bridgit began to get the visions. The nightmare started when Harry and Cedric came back from the maze.

_An ear piercing and heart-breaking scream filled the air and it all came from Zoey. Everyone in the area looked towards her and others at Cedric's corpse but Zoey didn't care. She felt tears well up in her eyes as she pushed every student out of her way and collapsed near Cedric's dead body. She took ragged breaths and touched his face; it was cold and unfeeling. His eyes staring at nothing. She bit her lip as more tears welled up in her eyes. She slowly closed Cedric's and fell to his body, sobbing._

_Zoey couldn't believe it; she didn't want to believe it. Just moments ago she was hugging him and wishing him good luck but now, here he lay dead and unmoving. She didn't care what was happening around her, she listened to the cries of those close to him but she didn't care. She licked her lips and looked at Cedric once more. Without knowing, mist began to form at her feet. She had no control over it, not like she did before. She felt her back begin to ache but paid no mind to it. She didn't have control over her own._

_"Oh no," came Hermione's voice, "Someone stop her!"_

_"What?" Fred's voice asked._

_"Fred, take Zoey away from here," Hermione pleaded the Weasley twin._

_"He can't do that," came George, "Can't you see that this is heart breaking enough as it is –"_

_"No, you don't understand," Hermione cried, "Fred, please, take her away from all this"_

_Fred, confused and panicked, followed Hermione's request and made his way towards Zoey. His eyes widened when he saw a suspicious sort of mist forming at her feet but shook his head. That was not important right now. The Weasley walked to the Emeraude and scooped her into his arms. He watched as her eyes widened and began to thrash about._

_"No! No!" she said in a voice so familiar to him yet foreign at the same time, "Put me back! Don't take me away!"_

_"Sorry, Zoe," Fred apologized; fixing his hold on her and ignoring the violent hits she gave him. She wouldn't have harmed him anyway, even if she wasn't hysterical. Zoey continued to scream; fight and sob but Fred kept his hold on her. Not ready to let her go. He looked towards his twin and gave him a quick nod before heading back to the castle, away from all this._

_They passed by Harry, who was wounded and giving off dry sobs. He was being dragged away by Professor Moody. At the sight of the two, Harry fought his way out of the Professor's grip and ran towards his god sister. He held onto her hand and Zoey's hysterical cries seemed to calm down a bit._

_"Zoey… Zoey… Cedric… he – he," Harry said with ragged breaths, "He wanted me to tell you that he's sorry. Sorry for breaking his promise"_

_Zoey's eyes widened at his words and a new batch of tears filled her eyes. Fred fixed his hold on her, pressing her closer to his body. Zoey no longer cried out, she was left speechless and trembling._

"Cedric!" Zoey gasped, waking up from her dream. She took ragged breaths and looked around. It was dark and she could only make the outline of Echo's sleeping body, she turned in her sleep. Zoey looked around once more, her lip quivering. There was nothing there…he wasn't there. She brought her legs to her chest and let out a sob. She didn't want to wake Echo.

"Cedric," she whispered once more, more tears spilling out. She couldn't take it anymore. She hurriedly climbed out of bed and left the room. She stumbled over her own two feet and had to hold onto the railing so she wouldn't fall down the stairs. At the end of the step, she tripped and fell to the ground with a soft _thump. _Not loud enough to wake anybody. Zoey cried.

"Y – you promised," she sobbed, "You promised you'll come back!"

_"Zoey… Zoey… Cedric… he – he," Harry said with ragged breaths, "He wanted me to tell you that he's sorry. Sorry for breaking his promise"_

"Why'd you have to break it? Why?" she hit the wall, hard. Without her knowledge, the ground began to shake. She didn't know that it was her magic that was causing it. She just thought it was her own body shaking from trying to suppress her sobs.

"I wasn't going to break yours!" Zoey cried out, "You should have kept your end!"

There was a loud _CRACK _heard but Zoey paid no mind. She thought it was just her imagination. After all, she was in a total wreck. Would hallucinations and hearing problems really be a problem?

Suddenly, arms wrapped around Zoey and someone was whispering soothing words into her ear, rocking her back and forth. She cried harder. She painfully looked up to see Fred there, helping her. Zoey grabbed hold of his shirt and cried onto his shoulder. She had these dreams before, only now did it take an effect on her.

"What's wrong?" Fred asked, when Zoey finally got control of her sobs, all was left were small hiccups of tears, and the ground stopped shaking. He vaguely thought about the other occupants of the house and Sirius' mother's portrait. No one else woke up.

"I – I miss him," Zoey chocked out.

"Him?" Fred asked, "Him who?"

"Ce – Ced –" but she couldn't get the words out. Just his name brought tears to her eyes. Fred gave sigh and carefully picked her up, cradled her in his arms. He carefully made his way to the living room and settled himself, with Zoey still in his arms, on the couch. He took out his wand and pointed it at the fireplace, starting a small fire. Zoey loosened her hold on Fred and looked over at the fire.

She wasn't in the Hufflepuff Common Room and she wasn't with Cedric but the fire still mesmerized her. Made her think.

"Are you okay now?" Fred asked softly, rubbing Zoey's back. He had heard a soft thumb and dismissed it as nothing but when the ground began to shake, he began to worry. After all, that was what happened to him not too long ago. The moment the ground shook, Fred Apparated to the bottom step only to find Zoey in a corner, curled up and crying.

Zoey shook her head. "I don't think I'll ever be okay," she said in a quiet voice.

"Don't say that," Fred said, "This is about Cedric isn't it?"

"Yeah," Zoey let out a bitter laugh, "Funny isn't it? Whenever we're together at night… it's always about Cedric only this time… no one's mad… just upset…"

"Don't be like that, Zoe, it's okay to grieve over your friend," Fred started, going neared to his girlfriend and enveloping her in a warm hug, "Besides, you talking to me about how you feel makes me feel closer to you." Fred whispered into her ear, kissing her temple.

Zoey bit her lip, a faint blush forming at her cheeks. She then shook her head. "But how long will this last? The dreams, nightmares, memories? Will I always turn out like this after every night?" she looked at him, "Is it a sign? Is he trying to tell me something? I'm scared, confused. I just – just don't know anymore"

"Zoe, I can't tell you that I can make the pain go away because I can't. I won't tell you that I feel the same you do, cause I wasn't as close to him as you...but what I can tell you is that if Cedric were here, he would be disappointed seeing you like this." Fred answered, tightening his arms around his girlfriend. "And for how long, it will always be there. Pain is always there, but it's how you deal with it that matters. If you just sit here and mope instead of living your life the way Cedric would want you too, that would be wasting the life he gave to save a lot of us."

"Jane," Zoey said managing a smile. She knew it would hurt; it still hurts. She knew that the pain was always there and she needed to move on. She just needed someone to tell her that. No matter who or how many people told her to move one. She felt like there was really only one person she would listen to. "You sounded a bit like Jane there… she told me the same thing… in shorter sentences though"

"Well Zoey, it's the truth. What else is there to tell you?" Fred said, loosening his hug on Zoey. "And if you want me to speak in shorter sentences I could, but it's your fault if you get the wrong thing in your brain." Fred added, making Zoey laugh

"There you go! You're laughing." Fred said, smiling at Zoey. "Feels nice, doesn't it?"

Zoey nodded. "Yeah… it does," she then raised a brow at him, "What wrong thing could possible enter my brain?"

"Do you really want to know, Zoey?" Fred asked, a teasing tone in his voice.

"I asked didn't I?" Zoey grinned

"Alright then…" Fred said, leaning into her as he continued. "I'm not telling you because if your dad hears me, I'll probably walk around wobbling," he whispered.

Zoey quickly covered her mouth with her hand and snorted, trying to keep her laughter hidden. No use, she laughed out loud and covered her mouth once more, not wanting to wake anyone up. "To much information, Fred," she told him, laughter still in her voice.

It truly amazed her, how Fred could make her feel these things. Make her laugh whenever she felt like something unwanted and make her so furious that she felt like crying. It was a good thing the latter didn't happen often. Zoey's laughter died down a bit and just looked at him with a soft smile on her face.

"See, I prefer this Zoey. This Zoey I fell in love with," Fred said, pushing some stray pieces of hair away from Zoey's face. "So don't cry to much okay? I don't want to end up having a hag for a girlfriend," Fred continued, earning a whack on the head from Zoey.

"Ouch, don't worry. Even if you were a hag, I would still love you, but I would prefer to not be teased by George and Lee thank you very much," he added, not rubbing his head.

"Whatever happened to beauty is only skin deep?" Zoey laughed before realization dawned on her, "Did you just say you love me?"

"Uhm...I...no...I mean...ugh! Yes Zoey! I did and I meant it. I know that you may think that I'm a prankster and all that, but when it comes to you I'm always serious." Fred said, staring deep into her eyes. "And please don't say 'You're not serious that's my dad' cause I just practically put my heart out on the line here." He continued; his hands trembling a bit as he still hugged Zoey.

Zoey felt her cheeks flush as she looked at the wall; Fred was still hugging her. She felt her heart beat quicken. Did he really say that? Did she feel the same way?

_I love you too, _she mouthed.

Her eyes widened. He couldn't see her; he couldn't hear her. Why did she mouth it? She tried again. It didn't come out. She tried again and again but nothing. Just mouthing…no actual words. Zoey began to panic. What was happening? Why couldn't she say it? She felt it right? Of course she did! She knows she does! She tried again.

Nothing.

Her brows shot up. Was this an effect of not taking the pills? Is this a sign? Was this happening because something was wrong with her? Or was there really just something stopping her. Like knowing that she would be taken away after this year. Fred heard it from Mary Sue but Zoey had yet to clarify it.

Was that the reason? Was she trying to protect them both from the heartache or was this just an effect of not taking the medicine?

Zoey bit her lip, tears formed in her eyes.

She was going to do something that would kill her on the inside.

"Fred," she began, her voice cracking, "I can't say I love you too, cause I don't know if that's really how I feel," _Lies,_ "but...I know it's more than just friends. I just hope you can wait till I can be sure," _You are sure,_ "cause if I say it now and it doesn't mean anything," _of course it would,_ "I'll just be hurting both of us..." _I'm already hurting…_

"It's alright Zoe..." He began, even if he was a bit disappointed. He wouldn't force her though. Relationships were all about sacrifices and waiting, and that's exactly what he needed to do. "I'll wait for you...I'll wait for you even up to the point where time itself stops." He finished, now looking Zoey straight in the eye.

Zoey's lip quivered and a tear fell. "Thank you…" she whispered before looking away, she couldn't bare look at Fred right now. She gazed back into the fire.

"You know… it was because of you that I became fond of staring into fireplaces at night…" she began.

"Oh… why? Because of my hair?" Fred asked, trying to lighten up the mood.

Zoey gave a laugh. "No… but now that I think about it," she gave another laugh, "It all began after that fight we all had…"

"Oh, I see...I really am sorry about," Fred began turning towards Zoey with a tad bit of guilt in his eyes. "But I'm sure that the reason you stared into the fire was because I was so heated and riled up that it made me as hot as the flame."

Zoey whacked his head again. "Oi! What's with the head whacking today?" He asked, as Zoey rolled her eyes.

"I think that whacking you could literally whack some sense into you… it is still yet to happen," Zoey answers, as she looked back at the fire, "Maybe I should use Echo's method. With a book and all"

"Sorry, but sense and Gred don't mix." Fred retorted, smirking as he did. "But if one day sense does come into me, you'll be shocked and begin to miss me."

Zoey smiled and got up from the couch, stretching. "Maybe I will," she paused, "Or maybe I'll like sensible Fred more," she wrinkled her nose, "Not likely"

"See! You know you just like plain old Gred, as they say...Girls fall for their dads, while Boys fall for their moms...wonder how I fell for you?" Fred suddenly began to think. "OH! It's because you're bossy like my mom!" Fred continued, once again earning a whack on the head.

"Seriously stop it with the whacks!" Fred said, rubbing his head for the third time that night.

"Oh yeah? We'll you're a trouble maker like my dad!" Zoey said to him, to retracting her hand

"Exactly," Fred said smirking

Zoey huffed. "And do tell me when did I ever boss you around?"

"Uhm… oh! Look at the time. We should probably get to bed," Fred said, letting out a fake yawn.

"Liar," Zoey folded her arms across her chest and raised an amused eyebrow.

"Like I said, it's getting pretty late so..." Fred then did something that shocked Zoey. He kissed her cheek and with a _CRACK_ he was gone.

Zoey blinked several times, still processing what he had just done. After several seconds passed, a small smile grazed her lips and she shook her head. Obviously Fred would rather escape than give an answer. What Zoey would give to see a younger Fred try to escape his mother when he broke a vase or something. She let out a laugh before looking back at the fireplace. Her eyes glazed over a bit in thought. The fire was dying out.

"Good bye… Cedric," she whispered before looking away from the fire and making her way upstairs while the fire was still giving a small light.

* * *

**LONGEST**

**CHAPTER**

**EVER!**

**BEFORE EVERYTHING I WOULD REALLY LOVE TO THANK**

**ZOOMSKATER14**

**FOR HER GREAT HELP**

**CONTRIBUTION**

**IDEAS**

**FOR THIS CHAPTER**

**WITHOUT HER**

**THIS WOULDN'T BE AS AWESOME AS IT IS NOW!**

**THANK YOU SO MUCH!**

**Anyway, I would also want to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited and alerted this story. I really appreciate them and I also love reading all you reviews. Long or short I love them :) They really encourage me to write more. Gets me excited and exploding with ideas. **

**Speaking of ideas. If you guys have any in mind or any requests I'd be glad to see them :D Please, do share your amazing skills/imagination/minds/etc. (I'm not pushing you though)**

**Oh~ You know what I really miss? Talking with you guys! I also miss your questions and all. Please, share, converse~ I don't bite :P**

**Also, I'm sorry for the supreme length of this story. I didn't want to cut it in half because well, then the first half would be rather short and I feel like this story had enough chapters as it is. So I thought. Why not just make it uber long? I hope you guys don't mind. **

**Also, it is uber long because I didn't want to leave any cliffhangers. I feel like you guys have suffered from enough of my cliffhangers.**

**Another also, I, together with ZoomSkater14, made this chapter last night and I was only able to upload it now because ff. net was not letting me upload anything...**

**I think it was afraid of the length...**

**I would be too :P**

**I think this chapter is really long because of all the flashbacks... sorry about that. I really miss Cedric :(**

**Hmm... what is there to say?**

**This chapter practically has enough to last a lifetime... I can't stand a lifetime. You'd probably see the next chapter up and running later today or tomorrow :P**

**...So bored... school is getting nearer... i haven't left the house in 2 days... damn...**

**Well, this Chapter is long and so is this author's note. So I guess what's left to say is**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter**

**Please tell me what you thought**

**Excuse my typos and the like (Even though ZoomSkater14 and I beta-ed it like 3 times already)**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter ****And**

**I only own what I own**

**(I fear for any chapters to come that could beat this length...)**


	73. Chapter 71: Lucy

**Chapter 71: Lucy**

It was a regular morning in the Noble House of Black. The sky was dull and the house, dusty and old. The occupants of the house, only half were awake. Some, Fred, George and Zoey, were yawning from being woken up at the ungodly hour of seven o' clock, claiming it was too early for summer while others, Echo and Bridgit, were poking their breakfast with their forks, stomachs still not awake. Mrs. Weasley was busying herself in the kitchen while Mr. Weasley sat down with the morning newspaper, looking for any more lies that were published. Soft thumps were heard and soon, Sirius and Remus entered the kitchen as well. The only people who were still asleep were those who were under the age of seventeen, in other words, the Golden Trio and Ginny.

Zoey stifled another yawn, she was not a morning person, as she reached over for her goblet of milk, claiming it wakes her up better than regular coffee, and took a sip, downing everything in one gulp. She was just about to finish her drink when the kitchen door slammed open revealing a rather scary looking Natalie.

"Zoey Anastasia Emeraude –Black!" she said in a loud voice, waking up Mrs. Black once more, not that anybody cared. They got used to her shrieks and frankly they were more focused on the fierce godmother than the screaming grandmother.

Zoey chocked on her milk and looked at her godmother with wide eyes. Mornings never did well on Natalie. To put it in other words, she was not the picture of beauty when she wakes up. Her hair was all over the place and her clothes were baggy and wrinkly. Most days, she would still be in a zombie-ish mode with her eyes barely open but on that day, much to Zoey's fear, her eyes were wide and her nose flaring with anger.

"Whoa! What's up with your godmother?" Bridgit asked Zoey, whispering for she did not want to be heard.

"I don't –" Zoey froze, seeing the close to murderous eyes of the woman, "What ever happened, I didn't do it!"

"Yeah, it was probably Fred and George!" Bridgit added, helping her friend

"Oi! We didn't do anything!" The twins now said, defending themselves.

"Shut up, the lot of you, I don't like noise in the mornings," Echo suddenly spoke, jabbing a fork at each of them

"Of course, only Zoey could do this sort of crime," Natalie advanced; she had an object in her hand.

"What nonsense are you going on about?" Sirius asked calmly. He was used to Natalie being like this.

"And Zoey doing something wrong? Please do tell…" Bridgit added, getting curious. This of course earned a whack on her head from Fred.

"Don't bully my girl!" Fred said as Bridgit just rubbed her head.

"Belt your bloody trap, Fred, or you'll wind up with a fork in your throat," Echo said, holding the fork threateningly.

"Someone isn't a morning person," George teased, unafraid

Zoey looked over to her friends before looking back at her godmother. She let out a scream and closed her eyes as she disapparated with a _CRACK _only to Apparate right behind Natalie. Natalie whirled around and Zoey disapparated once more, appearing behind her father soon after. Zoey did not like Apparating and when she did, it was only of a short distance, just incase she needed to make a quick get away. Natalie continued to look like and angered bull.

"Natalie, calm down and tell us what she did," Remus said, putting down his fork. He, too, was used to Natalie being this way.

"What she did? What your goddaughter did is extremely unforgivable!" Natalie said, shooting a look at the werewolf.

"What did she do?" Bridgit urged on, curious. Who wouldn't be? It was rare for Zoey to do _anything _wrong.

"What did she do? Well, I'll show you," Natalie then showed everyone what was in her hand. It was a piece of folded parchment. Natalie unfolded it only to show everyone a very cute drawing of a girl who looked uncannily like Natalie herself, "Look what she did!"

"Uhm… she drew you?" Bridgit asked, totally not expecting that, "And here I thought Fred actually influenced her to prank someone," she continued, leaning back on her seat, slouching in disappointment.

"What's wrong with that?" Remus raised a brow as he took the drawing away from her and took a look at it, "Oh, I remember this…oh no"

"See!" Natalie then looked over to Zoey, "And here I thought you were an angel!"

Sirius took the drawing away from Remus and looked at it as well, he let out a bark of laughter, which made the twins curious, taking the paper and also letting out their own laugh.

"I didn't know you had it in you, Zoe," Fred looked over to the gray-eyed girl

"How old were you when you drew this?" George added.

"Zoey's not an angel, she's a chicken." Bridgit then said, referring to Zoey's wings. She stood up, walked towards the twins and looked at the drawing from behind them. "Well, she got your eyes right, Nat," Bridgit added, scanning the picture.

Zoey looked at them curiously, sending a small glare at Bridgit at the same time, and took the drawing from them. Taking a look at it herself. She didn't remember drawing this; heck the drawing itself was hard to distinguish. It was fading already. Zoey squinted at it, and indeed it was a drawing of her godmother… except there was something wrong. There was an added doodle that was placed above the drawing with a caption on top of it. Zoey's eyes widened, remembering the day it was made.

_It was a normal summer day. The sun was up and it was blazing. Zoey did not want to leave the house; she didn't even want to leave the living room. She was just happy lying on her stomach with paper and crayons in front of her. She was drawing. It was one of those rare days when Uncle Remus was home, and not out looking for a job. Zoey was young then but was also old enough to understand that her Uncle was struggling. Zoey placed down her flesh colored crayon and smiled at her masterpiece. She showed it to her Uncle._

_"Wow, this is really good," Remus commented, patting Zoey's head, "Is this Natalie?"_

_"Aunt Maria!" Zoey smiled._

_"It's very nice… can I keep it?"_

_Zoey nodded her head._

_"Can I add something to it?"_

_Zoey handed him a black crayon and Remus placed the drawing on the armrest of his chair, writing._

"Aunt Maria is a doo-doo head," Natalie sniffed, "What did I ever do to you?"

"Well… in Zoey's defense, you sort of…" Bridgit started, but then when Natalie sent a glare towards her direction, she shut up. "Zoey's drawing not mine"

"Thanks for the help, Bridgit," Zoey said, sending once again a small glare at her friend

"Don't mention it!" She said, now taking cover behind the twins for she now had two glares directed at her, both rather scary too.

"You should really learn to keep your mouth shut, Bridgit." Bridgit heard George say, and she whacked his head shutting him up. They then continued to watch the scene that was unfolding when Natalie turned her attention to Zoey again.

"Care to explain this abomination?" Natalie asked, "What triggered you to do such a thing?"

"Me? You should be asking Uncle Moony that," Zoey asked, not seeing Remus giving her hand signals, telling her to stop. "He was the one who added that bit"

Natalie froze and stiffly turned her attention to Remus, a strained smile plastered on her face. Sirius cleared his throat, hiding a laugh, as he inched away from his friend.

"Remus?" Natalie asked, "May I have a word with you?"

"Why?" Remus gulped, "Whatever you need to say can be said in front of all"

"Remus, outside the kitchen, please," Natalie continued.

"You should listen to her," Mr. Weasley urged and Remus shot him a look, "For the children's sake. This could get ugly"

"He's doomed," Sirius said to the kids with a visible grin.

It was a change. Back in Hogwarts it was always him or James that got in trouble and faced Natalie's wrath. It was never Remus, and now, when they were all fully-grown adults, life was fair. It was Remus' turn to get in trouble and, as mean as it sounds, Sirius grin widened. It wasn't like Remus was going to get hurt. Never, he was still Natalie's favorite. Sirius doubted that good ol' prefect Moony would even get a scratch from any jinx. The worst he would get was a hearing problem. Natalie was well known for the volume of her voice. Sirius suppressed a laugh; Remus was acting the very same way Sirius always imagined him to act when faced against an angered Natalie.

"I bet you both we'll be hearing screaming five seconds after they leave," Bridgit whispered to the twins.

"You're on, five galleons it is," Fred answered shaking Bridgit's hand and watching Remus stand up, forced up, from his chair and walked away, dragged, from everyone and out of the kitchen, following Natalie with a pale face.

"You people are all so loud," Echo put her head on the table.

"Five… four…" George began

"Three…. two…" Fred continued

"One," Sirius ended.

_"REMUS JOHN LUPIN HOW DARE YOU –"_

_"FILTHY HALF-BREEDS! BLOOD-TRAITORS –"_

Natalie's angered screams were mixed with Mrs. Black's screeches, the screeches that were ignored until then. The volume was so overwhelming that Mrs. Weasley even struggled to get to the kitchen door to shut it close. When she finally managed to do that, muffling the noise, she turned back to everyone.

"Poor man, I always liked him," Mr. Weasley said, almost as if Remus was just sentence to his death. By the sounds of things, he wouldn't be to far off.

Mrs. Weasley shot her husband a look that caused him to duck behind his newspaper. She then looked over to her son, "George, would you be a dear and fetch Ron and the other?"

"You expect me to walk out right now?" George asked, still hearing the muffling yells of doom, "What did I ever do to deserved such a punishment?"

Mrs. Weasley bit her lip. He was right. No one deserved to see or hear what was happening. With a sigh she said: "You can Apparate upstairs."

"She just allowed you to Apparate, Georgie," Fred slapped his brother's back, "Bask in the moment!"

George grinned at his twin and was just about to do so when someone interrupted.

"Wait a minute, my five galleons please," Bridgit said, catching George before he apparated. George looked over to Bridgit with wide eyes.

"What? That's a bet you made with Fred!" George said, staring at the girl, "You even shook hands with him!"

"Yes, well I said 'I bet the _both _of you,' so pay up," she said, sticking out her hand and gesturing them with the 'pay up' gesture.

"This is a robbery," Fred said, as he pulled out his hand from his pocket and placed five galleons on Bridgit's hand.

"I agree," George added as he placed five galleons on her hand as well and apparated away before he could lose any more money.

"Pleasure doing business with you," Bridgit said, pocketing her winnings.

Zoey shook her head at the three, well now, two, before looking over to Mrs. Weasley who shot a disapproving look at her son; she didn't like gambling but didn't say anything. She took a towel that was hanging on a chair and wiped her hands with it before saying: "Well, we should begin the house clean up now. Fred, head to the drawing room and wait for George and the others up there," Mrs. Weasley ordered and her son disappeared with a salute and a _CRACK, _"Echo, Zoey, you go to the library. That place is filthy and Bridgit –"

"Would be coming with me to the Ministry," Mr. Weasley interrupted, "Sorry, Molly dear but it's for the Order"

"Oh, is the trial today?" Bridgit asked, looking towards Arthur Weasley.

"No, but we need to prepare for it," he got up from his chair, "So…. Whenever you're ready…"

"Alright! I'm good to go," Bridgit said, walking towards Mr. Weasley.

Zoey sent her a wave before she, Bridgit, and Mr. Weasley left the kitchen and soon disapparated as well. She, Zoey, then looked towards Echo, "Ready for cleaning?"

"No," Echo spoke tiredly.

"Too bad," Zoey grinned and took hold of Echo's arm before Apparating away.

The library was a large and majestic place filled with books that covered every corner of the room and had several comfortable couches and chairs in the middle of everything together with reading lamps. The floor was carpeted and at the ceiling hung bright chandeliers. Zoey was in awe, the entire place made her at loss of words as she could only describe the general image of it all, and would have stayed her entire life in the library if not it being covered with layers of dust thicker than what Zoey had in her house. Zoey made a face as she patted one of the couches only to have a cloud of dust rise and suffocate her. She turned to Echo.

"How in the world were you able to read in here yesterday?" she asked.

"Easy, I just picked up a book and used my eyes," Echo spoke sarcastically.

Zoey rolled her eyes. "Well, pick up your wand and help me clean this place," she paused, "Know any good spells?"

"_Scourgify_?" Echo raised her eyebrows.

"Is that powerful enough for this place?" Zoey asked, picking up one of the books and quickly dropping it when she saw a spider crawl on its cover. "What about _Tergeo?_"

"Wonderful idea! How come you aren't in Ravenclaw?" Echo spoke.

"I'm too nice?" Zoey smiled before pointing her wand at the shelves, "_Tergeo_ shelves!"

"_Tergeo_ Rug!" Echo pointed her wand at a very moldy looking rug

This activity went on for a few more minutes, probably on hour, until the entire library was clean. Zoey dusted her clothes and took a look around, happy at hers and Echo's handy work, more like spell work. She took a deep breath, glad she was finally able to do it without the worry of dust, and shifted her attention to the piano that stood in a distance. It looked lonely.

"How about we search for music sheets?" Echo suggested, "Poor piano, it's probably crying for someone to play it"

"You're probably right," Zoey spoke and without thinking held up her wand, "_Accio_ Music Sheets!"

All of a sudden, Music sheets flew to her from different directions and Zoey was knocked to the ground until all the music sheets had landed on top of her, burying her. She groaned. "I guess I should have been more specific," she gave a laugh.

Echo was over at the piano, checking its tune. "For an old piano, this is in perfect condition!"

"Thanks, I appreciate the help," Zoey grumbled, sitting up and letting the music sheets fall to the ground. She picked up a random one and took a look at it. It was different from the rest, yes; it was hand written and looked like it was struggled on, like the maker just came up with it and wrote down whatever, correcting things here and there. Zoey looked at the title and gave small smile. She got up from the ground and handed the sheet to Echo, who was already sitting down in front of the piano.

Echo took the music sheet and placed it on the piano and began playing the first notes, and struggled to continue, much to the erasures and corrections. Zoey sat patiently beside her friend and waited for her to get the hang of it. After several more tries, Echo got the hang of it and began to play fluidly. Zoey squinted at the music sheet and noticed that it had words written above the notes. At the spur of the moment, she began to sing.

_"Hey Lucy, I remember your name_

_I left a dozen roses on your grave today_

_I'm in the grass on my knees; wipe the leaves away_

_I just came to talk for a while; got some things I need to say_

Zoey then began the chorus.

_"Now that it's over, I just wanna hold her_

_I'd give up all the world to see_

_That little piece of Heaven looking back at me_

_Now that it's over, I just wanna hold her_

_I've gotta live with the choices I made_

_And I can't live with myself today"_

Echo continued to play with her head bent down to the keyboard as she listened to the tune of Zoey's voice. She could not read the notes and played along with what she thought matched with Zoey.

_"Hey Lucy, I remembered your birthday_

_They said it'd bring some closure to say your name_

_I know I'd do it all different if I had the chance_

_But all I got are these roses to give_

_And they can't help me make amends"_

Zoey began the chorus again; only Echo joined in as a soft background voice that echoed Zoey's. Echo flipped a page.

_"Here we are, now you're in my arms_

_I never wanted anything so bad_

_Here we are for a brand new start_

_Living the life that we could've had"_

_"Me and Lucy walking hand in hand_

_Me and Lucy never wanna end_

_Just another moment in your eyes_

_I'll see you in another life in Heaven_

_Where we never say goodbye"_

Zoey took a breath and sang the chorus once more. Echo joining in fully for in the Music sheet, it now required two voices. Zoey closed her eyes and opened them once more, getting into the feeling of the song. It tugged at her heart.

_"Now that it's over, I just wanna hold her_

_I'd give up all the world to see_

_That little piece of Heaven looking back at me_

_Now that it's over, I just wanna hold her_

_I've gotta live with the choices I made_

_And I can't live with myself today_

_Here we are, now you're in my arms_

_Here we are for a brand new start_

_I got to live with the choices I've made_

_And I can't live with myself today_

_Me and Lucy walking hand in hand_

_Me and Lucy never wanna end_

_I've got to live with the choices I've made_

_And I can't live with myself today_

_Hey Lucy, I remember your name"_

Zoey ended with a soft voice as Echo ceased playing. She gave the pianist a smile, which Echo returned but then her eyes momentarily widened after giving Zoey the kind gesture. Zoey raised her brow at the Ravenclaw before turning around to see her father leaning at the doorframe, his arms crossed and a thoughtful look on his face. Zoey bit her lip and turned to Echo.

"I got to go," she told her before standing up and walking towards her dad. She looked back and saw that Echo moved to one of the bookshelves.

Zoey directed her attention back to her dad and he took her hand, bringing her out of the library and stopping just a few feet away from it, the door closing behind them. Zoey kept quiet, afraid to break the silence. She was no longer scared of her father; in truth she wondered if it was really fear to begin with. Maybe it was just something else, she mistook as fear. Zoey shook her head and looked back at her far. He wasn't looking at her.

"You know that was your mother's favorite song." Sirius said, getting a far away look in his eyes.

"Why?" Zoey asked, tilting her head to the side. She didn't know much about her mother and just having Sirius there to tell her made her glad. Who knew her mother better than her father? "It was such a sad song."

"It wasn't the sadness that attracted her to the song," Sirius started, putting a hand on Zoey's shoulder and looking into her eyes. "It was the love that the singer felt towards 'Lucy'. She said it reminded her of how much I loved her," He added, giving Zoey a small smile.

Zoey blushed for her father. It was a sweet thought how much love her parents shared for each other. She felt her stomach churn. Why did it have to be taken away?

There was a silence. This time, Zoey broke it.

"You know dad...I always wondered how my life would change if mom was still around and if...the three of us were...you know...together." Zoey said; turning away from her dad as she pictured drew a picture in her head, a picture of her standing in between her parents, smiling and waving at the camera. It was just one of those mental pictures she gets when she feels like nothings all right. Zoey inwardly flinched as she pictured it being stashed away with the rest of her impossible thoughts.

Zoey then looked back at her dad and her face fell. She knew that he felt guilty, not being there for her, and she didn't want him to think that she held that against him. After all, what's done is done and things are in the past. If he wasn't there for her before, he could be there for her now. It was teamwork. They would help each other.

"I know, Zoey, and I think the same way. I'm just sorry I wasn't there for you," Sirius answered, bringing his daughter into a hug. Zoey was frozen for a moment before biting her lip and returning the hug. A few tears threatening to escape her eyes.

I silence came once again. It was Sirius' turn to break it.

"Walk with me," Sirius suddenly said, releasing his daughter. Zoey nodded, not trusting her voice at the moment. Sirius put an arm around his daughter and guided her as they walked further down the hall.

Zoey noticed that Sirius was leading her to a room at the end of the hallway. She noted that this part of the house seemed maintained, as if it were a bit cleaner than the others. It was still dusty, but it felt different. Didn't feel as cold and unloving.

When they reached the door at the end of the hallway, Zoey saw Sirius take out a key from inside his pocket and opened the door. The sight that greeted her came as a big surprise for her.

The room that greeted her was simple one. The walls were ivory colored, while the floor was carpeted with a white fluffy material. It felt as if your were walking on a cloud when you stepped on it. Zoey looked up and to her amazement found the beautiful big blue sky present there instead of a roof. The day didn't look as dull as before.

Zoey continued to look around the room and saw stuffed toys of many kinds like bears and pigs and drawing materials like crayons, but what stunned her was the crib that was located at the center of the room. It was a simple gray colored crib with curtains surrounding it. She walked towards the crib and touched it. It was made of wood and it swayed from left to right. She then looked at the headboard and raised her brow at it, there was something written. Zoey bent down to read it.

On it was a shape of a black dog, and under it the name **_ZOEY_** was written. Zoey touched the headboard when she felt someone's hand on top of hers. She looked up and saw Sirius there with a smile.

"This was your old nursery," Sirius said, the smile still not leaving his face. "Lucy always loved the sky, and she said it would suit you. I didn't know why at the time though," Sirius added, making Zoey let out a little laugh.

"So mom made it into a sky because she knew I would have wings?" Zoey asked, the tears threatening to fall once again.

"Yeah, she said that it would help you get in touch with your 'gift'," Sirius answered, looking back at her. "It's actually odd how whenever we used to spend time in here with you, she would always joke about you sprouting wings and leaving us," He then said, getting the far away look once again.

Zoey looked down at the crib and saw a stuffed toy placed on it. It was a stuffed toy of a black puppy. Zoey picked it up and hugged it. Sirius laughed as he saw the scene in front of him.

"That was a gift from Moony," Sirius suddenly said. "Said it would be a bit of a joke," He continued letting out a soft chuckle.

"Well, he sure has a sense of humor." Zoey added, hugging the little stuffed toy closer

"Well, Natalie does to actually." Sirius said, walking towards a toy box and taking out a small pillow. He told Zoey to come over and she placed the puppy stuffed toy back on the crib. She walked over to her father and he handed her the pillow. There was silver writing on the pillow that read **_PUP_**. Zoey gave Sirius a questioning look.

"Just squeeze it," Sirius said, and Zoey did. Suddenly a bark came from the pillow making Zoey drop it. She heard Sirius laugh, making her let out a laugh as well.

"You loved squeezing that as a kid you know," He added, making Zoey laugh a little harder. She could imagine her younger-self squeezing the pillow as her parents watched her. It would have been a fun scene.

Zoey then looked around the room once again. She spotted a little desk on the side and walked up to it. She noticed that there was a picture frame displayed and picked it up. She smiled as the she looked at it.

"Is that you?" Zoey asked, pointing towards the picture. It was a picture of Zoey riding on a black dog. She had such a wide smile.

"Yeah, your mom didn't want a pet dog anymore, so I had to play that role too," Sirius answered, now standing beside Zoey.

"Hey dad, how'd you get my name?" Zoey suddenly asked, turning towards Sirius.

"Oh, that's a good story." Sirius answered, turning to Zoey. "Your mom actually came up with it." He added.

"Did you come up with anything for me?" Zoey asked teasingly. "My nursery, mum designed it. My name, mum thought of it. What about you?" Zoey asked, making Sirius laugh.

"Well, you can't really blame me." Sirius answered. "But yes, your mum came up with your name as I said. She said she wanted a name that would represent what you meant to both of us." Sirius continued.

"And how does 'Zoey' mean what I am to the two of you?" Zoey asked, the picture still in her hand.

"You represent the life we made, and since Zoey meant life, she thought it would be perfect." Sirius answered. Zoey smiled as she stared back at the picture.

"No offense dad, but I don't want to get onto details how you made my life." Zoey suddenly said, letting out a fit of laughter as she saw her dad's face. He was shocked and she continued to laugh.

"And I thought you would be the influence in your relationship with Fred." Sirius said, shaking his head.

Zoey's laughter died down after several more seconds as she looked at her dad. She smiled at him before looking out the door. Her face fell as she saw the dark hallway. Being in her old nursery made her forget about the appearance of the rest of the house. Made her think that her nursery was in a world of its own, away from the pureblood fanatics and the dark gloom that decorated the rest of The Noble House of Black. Sirius saw Zoey's expression and pulled out his wand, flicking it at the door and making it close softly. Zoey blinked.

"Hey, dad?" Zoey began, still staring at the door as the gears began to work in her head, "Aunt Maria and Uncle Moony told me stories about you and mum"

"Yeah?" Sirius said, letting Zoey know he was listening.

"They said that you ran away. Ran away from this house, your family, who they wanted you to be"

"I went to Harry's dad's place," Sirius looked away from his daughter, "The Potters always welcomed me in. Treated me as if I was their own"

"Aunt Maria said you and mum lived in Godric's Hollow," Zoey continued

"We lived in Godric's Hollow," Sirius corrected.

Zoey stayed quiet and looked away from the door. She walked back to the crib and picked up the stuffed dog while Sirius' stayed in place. Watching his daughter's every movement.

"Then, how was this possible?" Zoey asked him, "This entire room? Everything? Didn't you hate it here? Why? Why come back, build something so beautiful in such a place?"

Sirius stayed quiet. Thinking.

"Do you know the story of my brother, Regulus?" he began, just looking at his daughter, unmoving.

"I didn't know you had a brother," Zoey said honestly, "Where is he?"

"Dead," Sirius said flatly and Zoey bowed her head. "But, when he was alive. He was good friends with your mother," Sirius continued, "And when he found out about your birth… we made this room. With your mum's design of course, but he worked hard on this room. Spent an entire year on it"

"But wasn't anyone suspicious?"

"No one knew about it," Sirius pocketed his hands, "They couldn't see it apparently. Only he, your mother and I could. That's why my own mother didn't know I came back to this place every now and then," he paused, "That's why this part of the house is well kept"

Zoey thought about a certain room in her own house. The room where her mother's box used to be. The room Mrs. Weasley didn't see when she came to pick her up.

"But what about the house back in Godric's Hollow?"

"You had a nursery there too," Sirius sighed, "Regulus, always thought he was a nuisance. Perfect in my parents eyes and servant to the 'Dark Lord'. The only time I actually appreciated him was when he made this for you"

Zoey looked back to the ground and toyed with the dog's ears. Another thought popped into her mind. "My wings. Mum wrote me a letter, she said she didn't know what my power would be but you said she knew!"

"Lucy was great at hiding things," Sirius said plainly, "Like someone I know"

"But why didn't she tell me?" Zoey blushed at the comparison.

Sirius took out his hand from his pocket and walked towards Zoey ruffling her hair. "Maybe she just wanted you to find out on your own," he told her, "Baby steps and all"

Zoey nodded her head in understanding. Everything was beginning to make sense to her. She learned stuff about her mother and found out things that happened when they were still happy. Still a family. Before any of the madness of the world affected them. She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted when Mrs. Weasley's voice came, calling for Sirius.

"Well Zoey, I have to go see what Molly needs. Just come out when you're ready." Sirius said, patting Zoey's head and walked out of the room.

Zoey placed a hand on her head and flattened her messed up hair before placing the dog back in the crib. She walked back to her desk and picked up the photograph. She gave a soft smile. She wished she remembered that. She really did but alas, she didn't. Sucks that most people forget the events of their childhood, things they did as babies, old habits that your elders will tell you that you once had. Zoey wished she could remember. She really did so she could have one more memory to look back on when she's been stripped of her freedom and locked back in the Emeraude Suburb.

She shook her head.

She shouldn't be thinking such things.

Zoey had placed the picture back on the desk and walked towards the toy box. She hadn't seen the inside yet. Sure, it was most likely filled with toys, but what _kind _of toys was the question. She knelt down in front of it and lifted the lid. She rummaged through the toys that were once hers.

The Emeraude, as she is still most commonly referred to as, was surprised at the number of stuffed toys she owned…. owns. Was she really a fan of soft toys as a child? True, they were nice to hug and play with but this much? How was she to juggle her attention to each and every one of them? Zoey shifted through the lot of them and her eyes widened to see her collection of dog-related toys. Black dogs, white dogs, small dogs, big dogs and some even looked like Shinji! Zoey looked closely at one of them. If Shinji were to jump into the toy box, he could have been lost forever!

Zoey dropped the Shinji look – a – like into the box. Bridgit would kill her if that were to happen. The girl dug deeper into the box, almost disappearing into it like when she looked into her mother's box, she began to compare the toys to each other categorizing their cuteness to their softness until one particular stuffed toy caught her attention. Zoey reached in to grab it.

The toy she got was a dog, yes, but it wasn't black, white or gray. In fact, it was far from it. She picked up the dog and examined it. It was smaller than the others and it was also very cute, but what caught her attention was that it had a shade of fur that was similar to Fred's hair. The Weasley Ginger.

"Wonder who gave me this?" Zoey asked no one in particular, turning the dog in her hand, studying it.

Zoey was so fascinated with the dog; almost like Mr. Weasley with muggle objects, that she didn't realize the door opening and someone entering. The mystery person smiled at the mesmerized girl and crept its way her, a small surprise plan playing in its head. The person bent down and shocked her, or so it thought, by wrapping its arms on her waist.

"Fred," Zoey said calmly, not even a trace of surprise in her voice, as she looked up to the Weasley twin, the toy on her lap.

"How did you...?" Fred was about to ask, but Zoey had cut him off.

"Who else would it be?" Zoey retorted; a smile on her face, making Fred let go of her waist. Fred looked down at the thing that had caught Zoey's attention and smirked.

"Even as a kid you loved me," Fred said, making Zoey laugh.

"You know, this toy was in the bottom of the toy box, so it means I might have never played with it." Fred pouted at Zoey's words and crossed his arms.

"Or it means you were hiding it because you didn't want anyone to see it –"

"Because it would hurt their eyes"

"You're mean, Zoe," Fred said, making Zoey laugh once again.

"It's just the truth, which can hurt," Zoey now said, finally turning and looking at Fred, "But… the dog _is _cute."

"So how did you see this place?" Zoey quickly asked before Fred could twist her words to boost up his ego once more. Fred smiled.

"Your dad told me you were here. I was shocked that I never noticed this place before," Fred answered, looking up at the bright sky.

"Yeah you and me both," Zoey then said, putting the dog back in the toy box, closing the lid.

Zoey watched Fred continue to take a look around the room. He looked like a little boy loose in a museum. Always curious and wanting to touch everything. Zoey smiled at the comparison, but then tilted her head in question as she saw Fred's eyes widen. Something caught his eye.

"What is it?" Zoey asked, following his gaze. When she saw what he was looking at, she let out a laugh. Typical.

It was a toy broomstick.

"I always wanted this model when I was a kid," Fred said, walking up to the miniature version of a broomstick. He resembled his dad a bit at that moment. Except it was a broomstick he was gawking at not some rubber duck or cell phone.

"Didn't you have one before?" Zoey asked, following Fred, "You know, the one Ron broke?"

"Well not this model! This was the fastest one when we were born," Fred answered, taking hold of it, "And yes, Ron broke it. Good thing I got revenge"

"Which scarred the boy and gave him a phobia that would last him for the rest of his life, most likely," Zoey rolled her eyes.

"It looks like it's never been used." Fred commented, ignoring what Zoey had said and observed the toy.

"It probably hasn't," Zoey answered, knowing that maybe even as a kid she hated riding them. Wonder what her dad thought about it, his daughter not liking brooms and probably never joining a Quidditch team… probably.

"I swear if we ever get a kid, I will get him the best model ever made," Fred said, not thinking about his words.

Zoey's eyes widened to that of the size of saucers as she heard what her boyfriends had just said. _We? Kid? In the same sentence? _Zoey thought to herself, not making a single noise for she was still frozen in shock.

The shocked badger blinked her eyes several times. Still trying to process if what she just heard was real or just her imagination.

"F – Fred you just said 'If _we_ ever get a kid'. You know that right?" Zoey asked, feeling awkward as she did. What if it was just her imagination?

"Yeah, I know," Fred answered, still observing the broomstick as if nothing was wrong.

"Erm...how...how are you so sure that we...uhm...will have...uh...kids?" Zoey asked, her face going red. The very thought of miniature Zoey and Fred's running around, it scared her.

"I said '_if _we ever' Zoe, besides I wouldn't think of having a kid with anyone else," Fred answered, still with a calm tone.

Zoey on the other hand, was freaking out on the inside. How could he be so calm? Did he hear what he just said or was it just buzzing to him? He did know you shouldn't say something to a girl with suck a calm tone, right? _Be still my beating heart, _Zoey thought to herself, relieved that Fred was not looking at her. Zoey's face was probably as red as a tomato, if not more, and she was sure that she had a silly grin on her face, no matter how chaotic she was feeling on the inside.

"I just hope the kid would get my love for Quidditch," Fred suddenly said, making Zoey blush even more. Where was he getting these sorts of ideas?

"Yeah...well...I hope the kid doesn't. I've had enough worrying being friends with you, George, Echo and Bridgit. You lot should be the ones with wings if you love being in the sky so much," Zoey suddenly said. She covered her mouth in shock. _Did I just say that out loud? _She thought.

"So I see you _want_ to have my kid, huh?" Fred smirked, letting go of the broom and turning towards Zoey. When he did, he burst out laughing. "You're so red."

"Uhm...Erm...UGH! It's your fault you know!" Zoey spluttered, getting embarrassed.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." Fred said, stopping his laughter and looking back at Zoey. "But you didn't deny wanting to have my kid." Fred added, now dashing out of the room to save his probably endangered life.

Zoey stood there, still shocked, but when she got back to her senses, she dashed out of the room to hunt down her boyfriend.

* * *

"The child shall be named after me!" Natalie suddenly said, slamming her hand on the table and making the bowls and plates shake, "Natalie Weasley sounds right"

It was lunchtime and everyone was happily eating Mrs. Weasley's cooking, each having their own conversations with their friends when Natalie made her sudden outburst, bringing everyone's attention to her.

"What are you going on about, woman?" Sirius asked, grumbling. His meal was once again going to be interrupted.

"The child! The child!" Natalie exclaimed, facing serious and making random hand gestures that made no sense whatsoever.

"What child?" Remus asked, he and Natalie had gotten over their little spat. All was well between them once more.

"The child!" Natalie said

"Even if you keep repeating 'The Child!' it still wouldn't make sense to us!" Sirius then said, slamming his spoon on the table, "Now, tell us what made you become this obnoxious? Didn't you have enough this morning? Disrupting meals, we aren't in Hogwarts anymore!"

"The child!" Natalie continued to repeat, much to everyone's annoyance, "Zoey's child! She's going to name it 'Natalie Weasley' aren't you?"

At this, Zoey chocked at her beverage once more. She really needed to stop drinking fluids when her godmother was around; it was becoming a danger to her health. When she was finally able to breath again, she looked up to see everyone looking at her with wide eyes, Natalie with expectance.

"Zoey...are you...are you...uhm..." Harry was trying to ask, but just couldn't.

Zoey furrowed her brows. "Am I what?" she was greatly confused. What was happening now?

"Oh, Merlin no! Zoey's going to name it after me, right Zoey?" Echo suddenly blurted out

"No, It's going to be Natalie Weasley!" she then paused, "Or Natalie _Echo _Weasley. Zoey, we came up with a name for the fetus!"

"No way, then that way we would have two Echo Weasleys!" George suddenly said, not realizing what he just said.

"Oh shut up, I'm planning another name for your kid!" Echo said

"So Echo's going to have a kid too?" Natalie clapped her hands, "Wonderful! Name it after me!"

"Crazy I was talking about you! When we're married are you telling me you won't take my last name?" George asked, now turning to Echo.

"Wait fetus? Baby? Kids? Names? Seriously will someone explain?" Ginny shouted, making them turn to her.

"Grown up stuff Ginny, would you like to join?" Echo looked towards her

"Zoey's gonna have Fred's child!" Natalie said gleefully, explaining things to Ginny in the most vague of ways.

At her gleeful outburst, Remus and Sirius chocked.

"WHAT?" Fred asked, spitting out his drink. Sadly, it was aimed at Ron.

"That's disgusting!" Ron exclaimed, standing from his chair.

"Bloody hell, woman!" Sirius coughed out, "Where are you getting these absurd ideas?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Echo looked over to Sirius, raising a brow. "Belt up, Ron, be glad it isn't piss," she then looked to Ron who glared at her in return.

"So Zoey are you expecting?" Hermione asked, turning to the already confused girl.

"She ain't expecting nothing, not until they're married!" Echo clarified.

"But it's already in her tummy!" Natalie cried out, "I'm gonna be maid of honor!"

"No! Me!" Echo argued

"No. No one!" Mrs. Weasley then said, slamming her hands on the table, "First question!"

Zoey gave a sigh of relief, maybe Mrs. Weasley would save her, ask her if she really was pregnant and she, Zoey, could deny it. Sadly, it didn't turn out that way. Mrs. Weasley wasn't on Zoey's side. The chaos continued when she asked: "Why Natalie?" Mrs. Weasley asked, "What if it's a boy?"

"Yeah, what are you going to name him?" Ginny cut in once again.

"Then he would be gay!" Natalie repeated what her dear old friend once said, ignoring Ginny's question, "Cause I know somewhere in this universe. Bridgit would have a boy and Natalie EchoWeasley… Junior would marry him!"

"NO!" Fred shouted now. "I will not accept to have a gay son thank you very much!"

"We aren't having any son!" Zoey told him but it was unheard. Her boyfriend had joined in the argument of the child that didn't even exist

"Then you should name it after Sirius!" Echo gleefully shouted, she didn't hear Zoey's shout and just went on in suggestion boy names.

"We don't need another Sirius Black!" Natalie said, "What about Remus?"

"Name Remus after _your_ kid, Natalie!" said Echo.

"No – Wait, Remus Black won't sound nice!" Natalie ignored Echo's suggestion

"WAIT! What if they have twins, Fred is a twin after all." George suddenly said, making everyone turn to him with wide mouths.

"Child? Twins? Marriage? What's going on?" Remus and Sirius voiced out.

Natalie looked at her two friends with a grin and soon the air was filled with Natalie Echo Weasley Junior, Remus Black, Sirius Black IV, George Weasley II and much more baby names with the mix of angry yellings, threats to chop some –ahems– off, threats to silent Natalie forever, more shouts of truths from Zoey that no one listened to, plans for weddings, plans of the house, curtain designs and the like until Zoey finally got enough and lunged at her aunt, knocking her to the floor, and without Zoey's knowledge, her pills falling out of her pocket.

"Aunt Maria!" Zoey began, silencing everyone, "Fred and I aren't having a child. Nor are we having one anytime soon. No, I will not name him or her Natalie Echo Weasley Junior; the kid's going to be bullied soon. No wedding plans. No pre-marriage … ahem and no nothing!" the Emeraude took a breath, "Where did you get that absurd idea?"

"I heard you and Fred talking about it," Natalie let out a laugh, sitting up and pushing Zoey off of her, "You're not the only one who knows the location of that room and," she pulled out something from her pocket and tossed it over at the twins, "you aren't the only one who knows how to use the Extendable Ears. Good invention by the way, Weasley Twins," Natalie grinned.

Zoey rolled her eyes and stood up, dusting her clothes. "Honestly, Aunt Maria, stop putting ideas into peoples heads," she breathed out.

"Aww, Zoey, don't be such a kill joy," Natalie laughed, placing her hands on the ground to support herself. Her eyes widened as she placed her hand over and object. She lifted it to her view. "What's this? Pills?"

Zoey felt her eyes widen at the object in her godmothers hands. She quickly went to grab it, but failed in doing so when Natalie refused to let it go and the lid opened, spilling half if its contents on the ground. Natalie picked up one of them while Zoey pocketed the rest.

"Zoey… what are these?" Natalie asked with a suspicious eye. Zoey looked around, everyone was looking at her curiously. "Are you taking drugs?"

"What? No!" Zoey exclaimed, "These… these are just breath mints!"

Natalie didn't believe her. She opened her mouth to question her further but was interrupted when the air was filled with the sounds of people Apparating into the house.

"That must be Arthur and Bridgit," Mrs. Weasley said, standing up from her chair.

Everyone turned their attentions to the kitchen door as it opened revealing Mr. Weasley and Bridgit. Both of which looked slightly tired and surprised to see the state of things in the kitchen. Ron, Mrs. Weasley and Zoey were standing while Natalie was on the ground with pills surrounding her. The table was pushed out of line and everyone's faces were slightly red from shouting. It was quite odd.

"Aww! We missed all the fun!" Bridgit shouted, the tension in the room vanishing as she did.

"Believe me, it wasn't fun at all," Zoey sighed.

"For you," Natalie stuck her tongue out at her goddaughter, and stood up from the ground, sitting back on her chair.

"What happened in here anyway?" She asked, walking up to the table and grabbing an apple from it. She took a bite out of it and gave everyone a questioning look.

"Please, don't ask," Remus breathed out. He got stressed out from everything, "What happened in the Ministry? Any news on Harry's trial?"

"Yup a lot of news actually. As it turns out, Harry's case isn't even that serious, but their just having this blasted trial because of Harry's claim on Voldemort's return." Bridgit answered, taking another bite of her apple.

"Wait so this isn't even about the magic? It's just to keep me out of Hogwarts so that I can stop 'claiming' Voldemort's alive?" Harry asked, a bit outraged by the situation.

"Yup, amazing minister we have don't we?" Bridgit answered, taking another bite. "But don't worry, Professor Dumbledore and I will be there to help you." Bridgit answered, winking at the boy.

"Why does that not comfort me?" Harry asked her, letting out a little laugh.

"It should." Bridgit answered, smirking. "You can even ask Fred and George how persuasive I am." She said, turning to the twins.

"Yup, she is very persuasive..." George started.

"When she wants to be." Fred continued.

"Anyways...now that they've convinced you, you don't have to worry much. The minister might not be fair, but most of the members are. It's still a vote in the end." Bridgit said, finally finishing her apple.

"How are you so sure their not as scared or blinded as Fudge?" Hermione now asked.

"That's why they'll vote Harry to go back, cause their scared." Bridgit answered, earning her questioning looks. "Don't you get it? Their scared that he is back, and they have kids or grandkids in Hogwarts, if Harry's there they'll be safer."

"What am I? Bait?" Harry asked, getting angry once again.

"To them yes," Bridgit began, facing Harry once again. "To us, you're Harry." She continued. "But to Voldemort, you're a target." She finally finished, and Harry bowed his head.

"Tell me again why Voldemort hates me? I mean being the 'boy-who-lived' isn't a good reason enough isn't it?" Harry asked Bridgit, and he saw that flicker in Bridgit's eye. The comprehension to tell him the truth...the doubt.

"I wish I could tell you Harry, but I'm not allowed to at the moment." Bridgit answered, the tension in the room returning once again.

"So you do know?" Ron suddenly spoke up, making Bridgit turn to him.

"I do, but, like I said, I can't tell you." Bridgit repeated.

"It's irritating you know?" Harry suddenly said, facing Bridgit. "How you know someone who knows everything, but can't tell you because she's forbidden to." He continued.

"If only I was just 'forbidden' to tell you Harry. If only it were that simple." Bridgit answered, now bowing her head.

"What do you mean?" Hermione now asked, looking at Bridgit.

"Know what an unbreakable vow is Hermione?" Bridgit now asked, turning to the girl. Hermione showed a face of shock, while the order members just bowed their head. They knew what she was talking about, but even the details they only got from Snape, afraid to put Bridgit's life in danger.

"What's an unbreakable vow?" Harry asked, turning to Hermione.

"It's a uhm..." Hermione was about to answer, but Bridgit had cut her off.

Don't need to explain to him Hermione, but you..." Bridgit continued, now looking at Harry again. "...Need to be careful this year."

"Aren't I always careful?" Harry asked, a small smile on his face.

"Sure you are Harry, as careful as Fred and George around the Slytherins." She answered, laughing as she did. The others laughed too of course, and the twins protested, the tension was gone and Bridgit was thankful.

* * *

**Another long chapter for everyone :)**

**I hope you all enjoyed it. Thank you all for your reviews and the like. They are all very much appreciated :D**

**Also, MEGA thanks to ZoomSkater14 and HayleyParadox in helping me with this chapter**

**I love you guys**

**You awesome :D**

**Oh!**

**"Lucy" by Skillet. I love that song so much. I know it's about abortion but... I just thought it fighting here too... Just saying.**

**Love it really.**

**Also the band**

**Love love love :)**

**Oh! (again) I've been meaning to have some song inspired chapters for some time but sadly... I haven't really found much so if you guys have any suggestions, please do share :D**

**And also,**

**ninja-chan 23: You will be seeing your requests in the next chapter :) So please be patient**

**Hmm... what more is there to say? I really love the reviews I've been getting. You are all so nice and with every review I get I just... just... I'm just encouraged to write more! It's like my energy drink, ya know? Only, it's not a drink... words... very kind words :)**

**Well, that's about it I guess...**

**I have nothing more to say so**

**With my final words:**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter**

**Please tell me what you thought**

**Excuse my typos and the like; I'm not good with a chapter not having any… though I would want one**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter ****And**

**I only own what I own**


	74. Chapter72:Privileges of a DeathEater Spy

_"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."_

_– Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore_

**Chapter 72: Privileges of a Death Eater Spy**

It was night in the Wizarding world and everyone was asleep, even those in 12 Grimmauld Place. The night was calm and the moon was up. The air was filled with the soft snores and mutterings of those asleep. Everyone was dreaming, even Zoey. The Emeraude turned in her bed and hugged the pillow beside her. Zoey was the type of person who could not sleep with only one pillow. She was also the type to move around in her bed, especially when she was dreaming. Which she was doing right now.

_Zoey was no longer in a dark room nor did she see a light at the end of a tunnel. No, she was not in that sort of dream. This was a different dream, one that she had not yet had. The Hufflepuff looked around. She was not in a dark room, no, the area she was in was fully lit and was outdoors. She didn't feel trap, she felt free. There was no tunnel in sight as well, just trees and flowers that went to the farthest of distances. The weather was fair and the breeze was soft, the ground was grassy and the air was fresh._

_Zoey was in a meadow._

_A big meadow._

_A meadow that her subconscious created._

_It was perfect._

_Zoey bit her lip. This place, it was perfect and pure. Untouched by the horrors of reality, the dangerous of the outside world. It was just, there, left alone, innocent, and unaware of the nightmares that surround it. It just was._

_It just was what Zoey hated._

_She hated perfection and that was what the meadow was._

_Why didn't she destroy it? She hated everything perfect? Destroying the meadow would be easy, pulling out flowers and chopping the trees would be no big deal for her, especially if she had her wand._

_Zoey looked down. She didn't have her wand, nor did she have shoes._

_The Emeraude was dressed in a white tube dress that went down to her knees; she had a black ribbon in the middle, the bow at the back. Her hair was down and curled slightly at the tips with small white flowers decorating the top of her head. Zoey plucked out one of them and stared at it oddly before letting it go and watching it fly away with the breeze. She turned her head; she had her wings out… only they were smaller than before, much smaller. Zoey was confused. Where was she? Why was she here? Why was she dressed like this? What happened to her wings?_

_Many questions circled her mind until she saw a figure in the distance. That caused her mind to shut up. _

_"W – Who's there?" Zoey managed to choke out. She hadn't spoken at all till that moment._

_"I am," the figure responded, continuing to trudge towards her. Zoey raised a brow, like that made anything easier._

_The figure was tall, that was all Zoey could tell until it got close enough for her to distinguish facial features. It was a boy and he was no older than she was. The boy was quite good – looking in Zoey's opinion, she wasn't going to lie, and he had chiseled features with light brown hair and gray eyes. Zoey gasped._

_"Hey," the boy greeted._

_Zoey liked her lips. "Hey," she managed to breath out; still shocked at the person in front of her, "Cedric?" she began, "Am I dead?"_

_Cedric gave a chuckle. "No, Why would you think that?"_

_"Well… first of all…. I have wings, making me look like an angel and second of all… this place kinda looks like the description of heaven; peaceful and all except we aren't on clouds or in the sky. Just here… in this meadow… Why are we in a meadow?" Zoey tug her feet into the grassy ground. _

_"No third of all?"_

_"What would be the third?" Zoey asked, "Aren't being in a heaven like place and looking like an angel implying that I am dead?"_

_"How about me being here?" Cedric raised a brow._

_Zoey looked down. "Oh… that too"_

_Silence came. The wind blew and Zoey brought her hand to her hair, keeping it away from her face and at the same time messing it up. She made a face when the breeze ceased and her hair was a mess. So much for looking angelic. Cedric looked down at his fellow Hufflepuff and laughed at her expression, plucking out one of the white flowers in her hair and twirling it in his hand. Zoey looked up at him._

_"Where is this place?" she asked, "I mean… you're here but it isn't heaven and I'm not dead and we can't be on earth because once again… you're here, no offense"_

_"None taken," Cedric threw the flower and it was, too, brought away by the wind, "And to answer your question…. We're in a meadow"_

_"I know that," Zoey rolled her eyes, laughing, "Where is this meadow?"_

_"Wherever you want it to be. You made it," Cedric shrugged._

_Zoey furrowed her brows and looked around the meadow once more. It was still perfect and heavenly looking. "Can't imagine why I would make such a place and want to stay in it too, especially with you"_

_"Ouch," Cedric placed a hand over his heart in a joking manner._

_"Not what I meant," Zoey laughed, "It's just that… I would rather talk to you by a fireplace you know. In the Hufflepuff Common Room like old times, where nothing's changed"_

_"Change is good," Cedric said_

_"But it isn't easy," Zoey smiled, "I liked things better before"_

_Cedric returned the smile. "As you wish," he then snapped his fingers and the scenery changed. Zoey watched as the trees and flowers disappeared slowly and where replaced by familiar wall and the sky was soon covered by a roof and the grass below her changed into a rug, a rug Zoey knew so well._

_Zoey's feet were no longer bare for her school shoes and her legs; her yellow legwarmers now covered them. Zoey felt her wings disappear into her back, oddly without pain, and her Hogwarts Uniform, the Hufflepuff Crest on her chest, soon replaced the white dress. Zoey blinked her eyes several times when her circular glasses appeared at the bridge of her nose, she pushed them further up and the flowers in her hair slowly faded into nothing as her hair changed itself into her classic messy bun. Zoey then turned to Cedric. He, too, wore his Hogwarts Uniform._

_"Is this how you remembered it? Is it like before?" Cedric asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets and looking around with an almost far off look in his eyes. He would never get a chance to stay in this room again; it just wasn't possible._

_"Yes, only… there's one thing missing," Zoey said, taking Cedric's hand as she saw the look in his eye, she brought him closer to the fireplace._

_"Really?" Cedric looked at her, "What did I miss?"_

_Zoey pointed at the fireplace. "There should be something in there, do you know?"_

_"Of course," Cedric laughed and snapped his fingers once more, a fire burning on the logs soon after. He then watched as Zoey sighed happily, crossed her legs and sat down on the rug, in front of the fire and staring into it, watching the crackling flames. He soon followed after._

_A comfortable silence then washed over them. The only sounds heard were the crackling of the fire and their breathing. Both lost in their own thoughts. Zoey brought her knees to her chest and placed her chin on them, thinking about everything that has happened these passed few months, Cedric's death, her latest torture, telling her secrets, her dream, Fred and now this. She really wondered why these certain things happened to her and vaguely asked herself if things like these happened to other people as well. Maybe._

_Cedric was the one who broke the silence._

_"Is there something troubling you?" he asked._

_"Why are you quoting lines you've said before?" Zoey let out a laugh, "It's nothing. Just had a lot of thoughts in my head."_

_"I could ask you the same thing," Cedric laughed as well, "But sadly, the self – quotes comes to an end here. I don't think it's one o' clock in the morning right now"_

_"What time is it anyway?"_

_Cedric shrugged. "It could be anytime you want –"_

_"I made this place and I can make the time," Zoey ended._

_"You catch on quick," Cedric grinned, "So, really, what's troubling you?"_

_Zoey shook her head and looked back into the fire, furrowing her brows. What was really troubling her? Was it the fact that she was once again conversing to her lost friend like nothing happened or was it the things that happened to her so far? Maybe a little bit of both and maybe there was more. She closed her eyes. _

_"So why didn't you say what you truly felt to Fred?" Cedric suddenly asked, calmly looking into the fire. Zoey's eyes instantly snapped open._

_"H – how… how do you know about that?" she asked him, a little freaked out._

_Cedric simply gave her a look. "The same way I know about your wings," he told her, "But we aren't talking about why you're part turkey just yet"_

_"Bridgit said I was part chicken"_

_"That could work too," Cedric laughed earning a swat from Zoey, "Alright, I'm sorry but seriously… why didn't you tell Fred you love him?"_

_"Are you my counselor now?" Zoey mumbled, looking back into the fire, she played with her sleeves._

_"More or less, yes," Cedric said, "I'm not going to push you to answering something you don't want to but just so you know, it's just the two of us here. No one would be able to hear you or judge you except for me," he paused, "And never have I once judged you now have I?"_

_"You called me perfect once," Zoey looked at him._

_"That's different. I meant it in a good way," Cedric told her, "But if you thought different, I'm sorry. I was just trying to help you"_

_Zoey slowly nodded her head. "You always help me"_

_"And I'm trying to help you now," Cedric smiled, "So, will you let me?"_

_"If you be a good girl and follow these instructions you'll be fine in no time. The kind of sickness you have is something that could affect your way of viewing things and interacting. We don't want that now do we? You may not see anything wrong with you now but in time, it will start to show," the healer told her, "So if you start taking those pills now, you don't have to worry about your future. You can have friends, a normal job, and children. Ah! Especially children. That kind of sickness could affect your child birth you know"_

_Zoey blinked several times before another memory came to her mind._

_"I said 'if we ever' Zoe, besides I wouldn't think of having a kid with anyone else," Fred answered, still with a calm tone._

_"I'm sick," she told Cedric._

_"Sick of what?"_

_"Not that kind of sick," Zoey shook her head, "I'm sick as in there's something wrong with me and I should take some kind of medicine to make me better"_

_Cedric nodded. "What kind of sickness?"_

_"It doesn't have a name, it isn't that common… or it has a name and I don't know it. Both are probable," The Emeraude gave a sigh. "The nurse… I was sent to the hospital when I was ten but no one said if I got the sickness recently or not, could have had it all along and it just took a drastic effect then…Moving on, the nurse told me it would affect the way I view things and my interacting, but I think it goes deeper than that. I'm not sure but… I just feel like there's more to the sickness. She told me if I kept taking the medicine I would be fine." She explained._

_"What's the medicine?"_

_"Auctor Sanitatis," Zoey looked back into the fire._

_"So, do you take it?"_

_"No…" Zoey looked away._

_"Zoey!" Cedric's eyes widened, "Why – What – How come you don't take it?"_

_The Emeraude looked back at Cedric but didn't look him in the eyes, though it appeared that way, she just focused her vision to his eyebrow. She took a deep breath, searching for the correct words to say. Her mind was chaotic, billions of things running around, the truth, the vague truth, the lies and much more. She knew that, from what Cedric had told her, she created this world and the only people in it were Cedric and herself, no one would hear her answer and no one would judge her, just like what Cedric had said. Then why was she still thinking about it? Why didn't she take it?_

_Zoey opened her mouth the respond but then closed it soon after. She repeated the action several more times till she decided against it and instead looked back into the fire to think. She really did love looking into the fire at the dead of night. It was fun, peaceful even. Just watching the crackling fire, dancing flames, Zoey felt relaxed. The shadows that was made, eerie yet calming. It was a strange kind of love, appreciation, but Zoey understood it. It was odd but it was her. That's how she liked it._

_"I don't take it because…because…" Zoey didn't continue, instead she changed the topic, "So tell me, what have you been doing?"_

_"What?" Cedric spluttered out, shocked._

_ "Well, I finally get to see you again and in not some sad flashback," to this, Cedric's brows shot up in confusion as to which Zoey ignored, "So, I really want to know what's been happening on your side of the conversation. You know? All we've been talking about is me, Fred and me. It's getting boring and repetitive."_

_Cedric didn't say anything. He simply just stared at her, trying to read her. When he couldn't, he gave a sigh and gave in. Maybe next time, he thought before straightening up and smiling._

_"Well, there was this one thing that happened to me and it really gave me a shock," he began._

Zoey blinked her eyes several times as she woke up to a new day. It was silent in the room and she guessed Echo had already gone down for breakfast, she wasn't sure though, all Zoey was looking at was the wall. She blinked her eyes once more before turning in her bed and looking over to Echo's, the blanket was now pushed away from the pillows, signifying that Echo had pushed them off before leaving the room. Zoey sighed. How long has she been asleep? The Emeraude groggily got up from bed and scratched her head, her bed – head hair flopping to her face. The girl blew her hair away only to have it come back, she brushed it away.

She was not a morning person.

Zoey then slowly got up from her bed and stretched before heading of to her closest and grabbing some of her clothes and walking out of the room, with her wand already in hand, and to the bathroom where she did her morning duties. Washing her face, dressing up and the like. No need for details. Zoey then threw her clothes into the hamper before looking into the mirror once more, studying her face. She really did admire her gray eyes. IN her opinion, it was the only thing worth looking at in her entire being seeing as her skin tone was normal and her hair was simply long and brown but her eyes, they were different. They were her father's.

_I wonder, _Zoey began to think as she brought the tip of her wand to the side of her eye and casted a simple spell, a spell that she read from a book she borrowed from a fellow Hufflepuff all those years ago, and glittery brown swirls shot out from her wand, going to her eyes. Zoey blinked several times and dropped her wand, going to the sink to wash her face. The girl squeezed her eyes shut for a couple of seconds before reopening them and looking back to the mirror.

Her eyes were brown.

Not just any kind of brown though.

It was the same kind of brown as her mothers.

Zoey then looked over to the hairbrush and hair ties sitting over near the sink and picked them up. They belonged to either Hermione of Ginny, most like the Weasley. _What if? _Zoey asked as she began to brush her hair, fixing it so that her bangs carefully fell right over her right eyebrow, away from her eyes, and took hold of the hair tie next, getting a portion of her hair and making a small braid. When the 'make over' process was finished, Zoey gave a nod at her reflection, and left the bathroom, turning off the lights as she went.

She wondered how everyone would react.

The moment Zoey left, the first person she encountered wasn't a person at all. In fact, she had never seen this creature before, but by the reaction it made, he had seen her before. Or what it thought was 'her'.

The creature that stood in front of Zoey was obviously smaller than she was, standing at about two to three feet high, and had large bat like ears and bloodshot eyes. It also looked very grumpy and from the movements of its lips, it was muttering things to itself. The words that Zoey was able to hear were.

_"Kreacher is seeing things. The Noble House of my mistress is polluted with the presence of mudbloods and blood traitors that Kreacher is beginning to see who has passed," _It, Kreacher muttered before walking away from Zoey.

"W – wait!" Zoey suddenly said, curious about the house elf she had just seen.

Kreacher turned around, scrutinizing Zoey. Zoey flinched.

_"The friend of Master Regulus is talking to Kreacher. Oh, what would Master Regulus say when he found out Kreacher was conversing with his friend?" _Kreacher paused, then glared at Zoey,_ "Wait, this is not Master Regulus' friend, Mistress Lucy. Mistress Lucy never wore horrid things to shield her eyes. What would Master Regulus say when he found out Kreacher mistook his friend with this blood traitor"_

Zoey felt like she was just stabbed. The house elf was old, mumbled almost everything he had just said to himself, and seemed like a nutter but Zoey still took his words to heart. He had mentioned her mother and her deceased Uncle. Zoey wanted to find out more.

"Y – you mentioned my mother… and my Uncle, Regulus was it?" Zoey began awkwardly, "Could you tell me more about them?"

"You're the daughter of the blood traitor who broke my mistress' heart," Kreacher said nastily, "What would mistress say if she found out Kreacher was talking with you. Oh, mistress would have my head"

"But your mistress is no longer alive," Zoey bit her lip soon after the words left her mouth. Kreacher's glare hardened and with his bloodshot eyes, he looked even scarier.

"The blood traitor's brat has disrespected Kreacher's mistress, just like her father," he said nastily, "Kreacher always wondered why Master Regulus was so found of you"

And with that the house elf disapparated.

Zoey's face fell when she watched the house elf leave. She had offended him, more like she had offended his mistress, her grandmother, and she felt guilty. She was just about to go looking for him when soft thumps on the stairs interrupted her. It was Harry. He looked at her with the surprise before a smile grazed his lips, Zoey smiled in return.

"Mrs. Weasley sent me up her to wake you up, seeing as Echo is busy eating, Bridgit discussing things with Mr. Weasley, Hermione and Ginny cleaning the living room and all," Harry explained unnecessarily, "Lunch is ready… well, for you seeing as we all ate already"

"Lunch?" Zoey's eyes widened, "How long was I asleep?"

"Seeing as lunch for the rest of us is over, a very long time," Harry gave a soft laugh. Zoey raised her brow at him.

"You look different today, Harry," she began, "Like something had just happened." Before Harry could say anything, Zoey's eyes widened with realization and she slapped her forehead. "Your hearing was today and I slept right through it! What happened were you expelled?"

"Nope," Harry told her, "And please don't ask for details. I'm just glad it's all over"

"I wasn't going to," Zoey laughed, relieved that her god brother was still going to be studying at Hogwarts, "Besides, Bridgit would most likely tell me"

"Of course," Harry said and was caught by surprise when Zoey enveloped him into a hug. He returned it and patted her back when several minutes had already passed.

"I'm so glad you didn't get expelled," Zoey grinned at him before taking his hand and leading him downstairs to the kitchen before taking her seat and watching as Harry took a seat with Ron and Hermione, who had already finished cleaning the living room by then.

The occupants of the kitchen were just Zoey, the Golden Trio and Ginny, Mrs. Weasley had just came to give Zoey her lunch before retreating back to do the dishes and such. Zoey happily ate her meal while listening to the other's talk. She had guessed that Fred and George were up in their room inventing stuff, Echo in the library and Bridgit working somewhere that Zoey didn't know. The Emeraude drank her milk and swallowed it all just in time to see her godmother enter the room, much to her, Zoey's, relief that she had already finished her beverage.

Natalie greeted everyone, and even took a fruit from the fruit basket as she did so, with a smile but the smile soon washed away when her eyes landed on Zoey. Natalie's expression changed from happy, to shock, to worry and lastly to fear in a blink of an eye. Zoey raised her brow at her, wondering what she would do now seeing as she caused a lot of chaos involving her already but what she didn't expect was a frightened scream from Natalie which made everyone jump in their seats and Remus burst through the door.

"Nat, what's wrong?" Remus asked, seeing the terrified girl. Natalie raised her hand and pointed it to Zoey, who in turn was perfectly confused.

"Sh – She's back!" Natalie cried out, "I thought the visions had left but now their coming back!"

"Who's back?" Remus clearly had no idea what Natalie was talking about.

"Lucy! She's back! She's back! Why is she back? I thought…. She's dead! I'm seeing things!" Natalie cried, tears escaping her eyes, "She's coming back to haunt me!"

Remus had to hold Natalie up for she had collapsed into his arms in sobs. He looked back at the kids who were all confused and worried for Natalie. They had never seen her break down before; frankly they didn't think it was possible. "Make her go, Remus," Natalie said, "I don't want to suffer"

"What's happening to her?" Hermione asked in a quiet voice, looking over to Zoey, "I've never seen her like this"

"So have I," Zoey said worriedly, her attention focused at her godmother

"Lucy? Lucy isn't here, Natalie," Remus said before looking at the direction of which Natalie's shaky finger was pointing at. "That's Zoey"

Natalie shook her head, tears steaming down her face. "That's not her! It's Lucy! Look at her eyes! Her eyes!" she wailed.

Remus shook his head and supported Natalie, and looked over to the kids. He gave them an apologetic look before stopping at Zoey; he saw her eyes and his face read realization. He gave her a 'please – understand' look before leaving the kitchen with Natalie in his arms. He needed to get her away from all this.

Zoey watched as her godfather and hysterical godmother left the kitchen, she was worried. The Emeraude swallowed a bit and looked around awkwardly, no one spoke, all looked at her as if expecting that she knew what had just happened.

"Zoey… what just happened?" Hermione asked after several had minutes passed. The question that everybody was wondering.

"I – I don't know," Zoey admitted.

"She was… saying something about your eyes," Ron then said, still in shock.

Ginny then gasped. "Why are your eyes brown, Zoey?"

At that, everyone looked to her and nodded in agreement. It had taken them that long to notice yet Natalie had noticed it in a blink of an eye. Zoey didn't answer their question right away. She simply looked down at her hands in wonder. Kreacher had thought she was her mother until he took note of her glasses. Natalie had ignored her glasses and instantly claimed that Zoey was indeed her own mother. Zoey wondered if they really did look a like to the extent that a simple eye – color-changing spell would leave people confused.

"I… made them brown," Zoey said before bringing out her wand, "Bad idea I guess"

"Why did you change them?" Harry asked, watching as Zoey brought her wand to her eyes.

"I don't really now," and with that she changed them back to gray, "Can we get off that topic first?"

The Golden Trio and Ginny agreed. Natalie gave them such a fright that they didn't want to talk about what had just happened, not yet.

"I'm sorry, but I was just wondering about Natalie and Lupin's relationship," Ginny began, the pair were oddly close but never had she, or anyone else, seen them do anything relationship – y.

Zoey raised a brow and tilted her head a bit to the side, her eyes stung a bit from the spell. "They're friends," she told Ginny like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Just friends?" Hermione sounded interested as well. Zoey looked over to Harry and Ron and saw them roll their eyes, girl talk – not their thing.

"Well, from what've read… they used to be together but decided against it," Zoey said, a thoughtful look on her face.

"Read?" Hermione asked.

_My mum had several diary entries about them. _Zoey answered her in her mind before smiling in real life. "I like them better as friends," she said before standing up from her chair. "Do you happen to know where Bridgit is?"

"In her room," Ginny responded, still not satisfied with Zoey's answer but let her leave anyway. Zoey smiled again in thanks and ruffled Harry's hair before leaving the kitchen. She passed by the living room, watching Remus comfort Natalie before heading upstairs and looking for Bridgit's room.

When Zoey finally found it, she didn't visit her often and mostly saw her in the kitchen now a days, she pushed the door open to reveal Bridgit sitting on her bed, a book in her hands. Bridgit had looked over from her book and greeted Zoey.

"Hey there Zee, what brings you to my room?" Bridgit said, marking her page and closing her book.

"Hi, uhm… I was wondering," Zoey began awkwardly, shutting the door behind her, "Harry says he isn't expelled"

"Yup he isn't, told him he should have more faith in my persuasiveness." Bridgit said, smirking.

Zoey smiled before swaying a bit, her hands playing nervously behind her. "Speaking of which… what happened?"

"Specific with details?" Bridgit asked.

"Details please," Zoey said

"Alright" Bridgit now said, sitting up and getting more comfortable.

_ It all began when Harry, Mr. Weasley, and Bridgit were all walking towards the Ministry of Magic._

_"Do you think I'll get expelled?" Harry asked, turning towards Bridgit._

_"Nope, I don't think so," Bridgit answered, offering him a smile._

_"How are you so sure?" He pushed, getting nervous._

_"Just trust me Harry." Bridgit then said, ruffling his hair. Harry didn't seem to be comfortable though. Bridgit sighed and decided to try to help him out._

_"So...tell me about Cho," Bridgit said, noticing Harry's reddening cheeks._

_"What's there to tell?" Harry asked, making Bridgit laugh_

_"Seriously? We all know you like her you know," Bridgit answered, smirking as Harry grew just a tad bit redder. "Are you planning to make a move on her?"_

_"I don't know," Harry answered, sighing. "She seems so torn up about Cedric, that I don't think she's ready to start anything new," He continued._

_"Between you and me, I actually didn't think she and Cedric would work out," Bridgit whispered, making Harry's eyes widen. "I mean, she's just too...I don't know, Cho?" Bridgit tried to explain._

_"Huh?" Harry asked, confused._

_"Okay, take it this way...Zoey was more torn up about Cedric than Cho, do you think that's normal?" Bridgit answered, while Harry shook his head._

_"I guess not," Harry answered, and Bridgit was about to say more but they had already reached their destination._

_"A payphone?" Harry asked, staring at the red payphone cubicle._

_"Yes, fascinating aren't they." Mr. Weasley answered, opening the door and ushering the two younger kids inside._

_"I guess you can say that." Bridgit said, Harry and her sharing a small laugh._

_"Let me just take out my muggle money..." Mr. Weasley said, now digging into his pocket. When he took out a few coins from his pocket, he put them in the coin slot and picked up the phone. The booth suddenly began to move._

_The booth began to sink down like an elevator. When they reached the ground, Mr. Weasley opened the door and the three of them got out. The booth then headed back up._

_Harry looked around and saw people Apparating and using the floo network to get to the ministry._

_"It's so crowded." He said, as he saw the crowd gathering up ahead._

_"This isn't even a busy day yet." Mr. Weasley answered, leading them towards the elevator. When they got on, Harry and Bridgit noticed the flying notes that accompanied them._

_"They used to be owls, but they had a problem with the smell." Bridgit whispered, making Harry smile._

_"I could imagine the owls just doing that on another person's head." Harry said, as the door of the elevator closed._

_"Good morning Kingsley." They heard Mr. Weasley say, making Bridgit and Harry turn to him and greet him as well. He waved at them before getting off._

_"Where are we going exactly?" Harry asked, looking as people got off of the elevator._

_"Department of Mysteries." Mr. Weasley answered, ad the elevator stopped on the designated floor._

_The three of them continued to walk straight through the department, heading towards the trial room. As they were walking, they heard a familiar voice making them turn towards the man talking. It was Lucius Malfoy._

_Lucius stared back at them, and Harry noticed his eyes lingering on Bridgit. He looked towards Bridgit, not making it obvious, and saw her nod her head. As Lucius began to talk to the person with him once again, they continued on._

_"What was that about?" Harry asked, turning to Bridgit._

_"I'll tell you later." Bridgit answered, for they now reached the trial room._

_"By the way, I forgot to remind the two of you that the trial has been moved." Mr. Weasley said, catching the two younger's attention._

_"To when?" Bridgit asked, looking at the clock. They had a good two hours before the trial._

_"Now" He answered, making Bridgit's eyes go wide._

_"Those sneaky bastards." Bridgit said, making Harry turn to her with a look of curiosity._

_"They moved up the time so that Dumbledore won't be able to make it." She answered, and she noticed Harry get uneasy once again. "Don't worry, I'm sure he'll still come." She said, reassuring the fifteen year old. It worked...a bit._

_As they entered the trial room, Harry saw the members of the ministry, with the Minister of Magic, gathered wearing red and black robes._

_They had on what seemed to be togas, which was pretty comical. They looked like a graduating batch of students in the muggle eye._

_Old students of course._

_"I'll be leaving you two here now." Mr. Weasley said, for he was not allowed to stay during the trial. Bridgit and Harry thanked him and took their seat in the place assigned. The minister's glare was plastered on them._

_"I wonder what's got his knickers in a twist." Bridgit said, Harry letting out a soft smile._

_"Maybe he's afraid I'll start shouting out 'claims' again." Harry answered, now making Bridgit laugh._

_"Yes, well if you do plan to shout a 'claim' please do tell me so that I can run out and shout it with you." She retorted and the two of them shared a laugh once again._

_"Mr. Potter" Fudge called, making Harry and Bridgit face them. All eyes were on them, Harry to be specific. "Do you know why you're here?" Fudge now asked._

_"I was told that I'm here because I used under aged magic." Harry answered, trying to be respectful. He was nervous though._

_"Yes, and do you know the consequences of your actions?" Fudge continued to ask, Bridgit just rolling her eyes._

_"Expulsion apparently" Harry answered._

_"Yes, you are right once again." Fudge said again. "So tell me Mr. Potter why must we not expel you from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Ministry?"_

_"Well I..." Harry was about to talk, when someone suddenly entered the room._

_"Sorry I'm late, but there seemed to be a mix up in the notification." The person said, it was Dumbledore.'_

_"Well, we'll make sure that, uhm...that never happens again." Fudge said, his voice taking on an edge. He was nervous and intimidated by Dumbledore. Who wouldn't be?_

_"As for your former question Minister, we have someone here who can speak in behalf of Mr. Potter." Dumbledore said, and a woman appeared from the door._

_"Who's that?" Bridgit asked, whispering to Harry._

_"Mrs. Figg." Harry answered. "She was my baby sitter, and she was there when Dudley and I were attacked by the Dementors." He continued._

_"Who may you be?" The minister asked, unprepared for any other witnesses._

_"Arabella Doreen Figg" Dumbledore answered, as Mrs. Figg took her seat in the center of the room. All the members of the ministry now turned to her._

_"So what did happen Mrs. Figg?" Fudge asked, as the lady began to explain._

_"What else is there to explain? He was attacked by Dementors!" Bridgit suddenly called out, making the members turn to her._

_"Excuse me, who are you?" A woman with sickeningly sweet voice asked. Bridgit cringed at the sound of it._

_"My name is Bridgit Parker and I'm telling you that Harry was attacked by Dementors." She answered, the ministry members outraged,_

_"We all know that the Dementors are handled by the ministry." The woman, with the annoying voice, pink sweater, and irritating face, started. "So are you saying that the ministry had somehow something to do with this?" She finished, outrage in her voice._

_"No, Ms. Parker is not suggesting that at all, but we must keep in mind that the Dementors are not only loyal to the ministry." Dumbledore now said, and the listeners began to get uneasy._

_"Do you see the look on Fudge's face?" Bridgit asked, whispering to Harry. "He's so scared at the thought of Voldemort. He might have peed in his pants already." She continued, trying to loose the tense Harry._

_"Let us just hear what your witness says." Fudge said, facing Mrs. Figg. "Please describe them." He finished._

_"Well, there were two boys. One was big, and the other rather skinny..." She was saying, but Fudge had cut her off._

_"Not the boys, the Dementors." He said, making Mrs. Figg._

_"They were hooded figures." She began to explain. "They seemed to have sucked the happiness out of everything. And it suddenly had gotten very cold, as if everything died being near them." She finished, making Fudge nervous even more._

_"This does not prove Mr. Potter's innocence however." The woman said again._

_"Oh it's my turn." Bridgit said, as Harry watched her. She stood up and walked towards them. The members watched as she walked towards them. She flashed them all a smile that Harry found was mischievous rather than innocent._

_"Yes, this does not prove Harry innocent." Bridgit said facing them directly. "But the fact the Mrs. Figg still was able to describe the Dementors, proving that they were indeed within the area." She continued._

_"Now may you please explain why that is, if you have gotten them under control?" The members of the ministry immediately all got nervous at Bridgit's question. The reason was because they didn't know either._

_"Ms. Parker, this is a subject for another matter." The Minister began, trying to avoid the topic. "Now please give me proof of Mr. Potter's innocence or he will be expelled."_

_"Forgive me, Minister, but as you wish." Bridgit said. Dumbledore walked up from behind Bridgit and took hold of her temples. Bridgit closed her eyes, and a cloud began to form around Bridgit's head. Something suddenly began to appear in the cloud that shocked Harry._

_An image of a Dementor chasing Harry and Dudley appeared. Harry watched as the image played. It was exactly what happened that day. When the cloud began to fade away, Bridgit opened her eyes and smiled at the minister and the members._

_"Proof enough?" She asked, shocking all of them._

_"How did you obtain that memory?" The minister asked, and Harry would like to know the answer as well._

_"It's because I was there when everything happened." Bridgit answered. "I'm a witness for a reason you know." She continued, flashing her mischievous smile once again._

_As Bridgit made her way back to Harry, they didn't pay attention to the trial for a while because Harry wanted questions to be answered._

_"Were you really there?" He asked, and Bridgit turned to him._

_"Yeah," She answered. "I was"_

_"Why?" Harry asked her more._

_"I was ordered to make sure that the Dementors were there to attack you and that they wouldn't stray from target." She then answered._

_"But if your defending me, won't the Death Eaters and Voldemort know what your doing?" Harry asked, and Bridgit smirked._

_"Don't worry I got that covered. I convinced Voldemort that if you were in Hogwarts it would be easier to attack you than from away from there," She began. "That's why I was allowed to show that memory and make sure to keep you from getting expelled."_

_"I can't believe you convinced him." Harry stated._

_"I told you I was persuasive." Bridgit retorted, as they began to pay attention to the vote._

_They watched as the people raised their hands, and smiled as they voted Harry to stay in Hogwarts. As Bridgit and Harry thanked Dumbledore and left the room, they met up with Mr. Weasley once again._

_"Is that what you nodded about with Lucius Malfoy?" Harry asked, referring to the memory and Bridgit's supposed plan to get him killed._

_"Yup" Bridgit answered._

_"You have to teach me to persuade that way." Harry said. "Snape might actually give me a better grade."_

_"Well, it worked for me, but with your face I don't think it will for you." Bridgit answered, smirking._

_"Yeah, you're probably right and… Wait! Did you just say you actually persuaded Snape into giving you a better grade?" Harry was shocked. That was the first time he heard of anyone doing that and succeeding._

_"Yup, but don't tell Fred and George." Bridgit answered winking at him._

_"Deal, but you seriously have to teach me how to do that." Harry answered as the two of them shook their hands in agreement_

"Privileges of a Death Eater Spy," Zoey mumbled after Bridgit ended.

"Yes, well there are perks." Bridgit said, smirking.

"Persuasive skills," Zoey gave a small laugh, "At least it did some good" She then straightened her clothes. "Well, thanks for filling me in. I'm going to leave you to your book now"

"I am very persuasive!" Bridgit said laughing. "By the way, I'm giving you the heads up now, if Harry ever starts a favor with 'Do you mind me taking some of your time' he's trying to get you to do something he doesn't want to."

"Huh?" Zoey raised a brow

"I already taught him some of my persuasive skills, one of them being how to get others to do your homework for you." Bridgit answered. "So when he starts out anything with that line, that's what he wants you to do." She continued.

Zoey smiled and shook her head, of course she taught him some persuasive skills. She told Bridgit not to worry about, saying she wouldn't do his homework anyway and placed her hand on the doorknob, ready to leave when a thought passed her mind.

"Bridgit… don't be so hard on Cho," she began, "She… she's just… well you know"

"I know, but there's just something about her I don't like..." Bridgit said. "Maybe it was because she caused us that game against Gryffindor."

"But still," Zoey smiled, "Just try to be nicer and… if you didn't think they would work out then who will work out with Cedric?"

"Hmm...yeah I guess I should get to know her." She said, thinking about her suggestion. "Oh about Cedric? No one really, I thought they made a good couple, I was just trying to comfort Harry."

"Right," Zoey gave a laugh before swiftly leaving the room so that the Ravenclaw can return to her book.

Zoey gave a sigh as she shut the door behind her and her eyes widened when she saw Harry standing not to far away from her. Her heart leaped to her throat and she swallowed hard, actually thinking that her heart was truly in her throat and swallowing would return it to its rightful place. Zoey smiled at him.

"Hullo, Harry," she greeted him, stepping away from the door, "Anything you need?"

"Well, yeah actually, Ron was asking… wait, what were you doing in there?" Harry raised a brow.

"Oh nothing," Zoey waved it off with a laugh, "What was Ron asking?"

"If you could help him with his little… predicament," Harry laughed a bit in the end making Zoey raise her brow at him.

The Emeraude squinted at him suspiciously before walking away from Bridgit's door and Harry followed her, they then proceeded to head downstairs. The pace they took was slow and Zoey didn't know why. When they had reached the stairs, Harry was leading they way and she, Zoey, was really curios as to why he was not walking faster. Wasn't Ron in need of assistance? If so, shouldn't they have gotten to him as soon as possible?

"Harry –" Zoey began but was interrupted by the boy – who – lived.

"Do you ever have odd recurring dreams?" Harry asked, "Like… I don't know…events happening to your life… you just end up dreaming about them over and over?"

"At times, yes," Zoey said, remembering the traumatizing night. She then shook her head. "Are the dreams troubling you Harry?"

Harry shook his head; he didn't want to tell her just yet. Maybe it was just happening to him because he was worried about something. He didn't know what that something was though. He stopped in front of his and Ron's door, a grin on his face.

"Well, he's in here," Harry said.

Zoey looked at him suspiciously once more before placing her hand on the doorknob, before twisting it though she paused when she heard laughter and struggling from inside the room. She quickly opened the door when she heard a rather loud _thump _from inside.

"What the –" Zoey couldn't even get the words out. She was dumbfounded. In the room were Hermione Ginny, Fred and George and Ron only, Ginny and Hermione were laughing on the bed with Fred and George standing and clutching onto their stomachs from too much laughter and their wands in their hands, Harry, who was standing behind her, was laughing as well. Zoey focused her gaze to Ron who was on the floor, his mouth gaped open but unmoving it was almost like he had an invisible apple in his mouth. His arms and legs her stiffly stuck together and he was struggling against the invisible binds.

He looked like a fish out of water.

Jumping around.

A twitching worm

He just looked comical.

Zoey bit her lip from laughing when Ron's hair turned to what looked like pink robes and his freckled replaced by different colored stars. He looked really angry but Zoey couldn't help but laugh as well.

Ron made and angry muffled sound, glaring at Zoey. It almost as if he was sending her a telepathic message saying _"Help me!"_ Zoey bit her lip once more, trying to be the helpful one in the room. She then brought out her wand and was about to wave it when Ron's skin turned a turquoise color and then changed into lovely lavender.

"I – I'm sorry, R – Ron," Zoey said in between laughs, "b – but… ahahaha!"

"He looks like a mood – ring!" Hermione said, clutching onto her sides, watching Ron turn a vibrant blue and then yellow.

Ron made another muffled yell.

"Alright… alright," Zoey finally composed herself when Ron began to look like a ladybug. She firmly held her hand, snorting a bit from muffled laughter, before waving it. First she removed the invisible object in Ron's mouth as to which he said a rather nasty word to Fred and George, not that it affected them, and next she removed the binds.

"Thanks, Zoey," Ron sent a glare to his elder twin brothers who wore smirks. Ron looked down at his hands and saw that they had an abstract sort of pattern; he touched his head and felt the rope like texture of his hair. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Hmm? Oh, right," Zoey quickly hid something behind her back and waved her wand once more, returning Ron back to normal. When he was satisfied with his appearance he took the liberty to push Fred and George out of the room, locking the door.

"You do know, they could just Apparate back in, right?" Ginny pointed out, brushing her hair back.

"Shut up," Ron said, he had forgotten. He went towards his bed to sulk. Harry patted his friend's shoulder bit there was still a smile grazing his lips.

Zoey gave a small laugh and shake of her head before squeezing her eyes shut and Apparating out of the room; she figured Ron wouldn't appreciate it if she unlocked the door. When she reached her destination, she opened her eyes and let out a surprised gasp when she was face to face with Fred. She stumbled back a bit.

"So, what did you think?" Fred asked, helping his girlfriend regain balance.

"I think that was mean of you… both of you," Zoey said, seeing George standing at his brother's side.

"Come on, Zoey, you laughed," George grinned.

"You even took a picture of him!" Fred laughed, "How did you do that anyway?"

"How did you know?" Zoey raised a brow.

"I saw your glasses give a flash," Fred stated, "And you hid the photo behind your back," he then reached over and took the photo; he looked at it and gave a laugh. It was Ron with his abstract skin turning to that of a sick dragon's skin.

George looked at the photo and laughed. "Seems like we're rubbing of on you"

"Poor me," Zoey rolled her eyes before snatching the photo back and walking away from the twins.

* * *

**Sorry it took a while to get this chapter out**

**I had some serious case of writer's block**

**I hope you all understand the pain of having writer's block**

**I would really LOVE the thank ZoomSkater14 for your help.**

**I really appreciate it!**

**Also, I would want to thank everyone who reviewed and the like. **

**I truly feel happy when I read them all, please keep them up :)**

**Well, it's very late right now and I'm dying to sleep so I don't have much more to say... Except for**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter**

**Please tell me what you thought**

**Excuse my typos and the like (I didn't beta this anymore. Too tired. Please forgive me)**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter **

**And**

**I only own what I own**


	75. Chapter 73: The Frog Princess

**Chapter 73: The Frog Princess**

_It was a cloudy day at Godric's Hollow and Lucy had spent it inside the house, in Zoey's second Nursery, the first being the one in the Noble House of Black. Sirius was out at work with James while Remus and Natalie went to their usual Lunch date, their little tradition of friendship (Natalie's words). Lily was at her own house, cleaning or reading… doing what not that Lucy didn't care to ask while the new mother herself was cooped up in the same room as a sleeping baby, sewing materials at her side. To her right was the sewing kit, several threads of different colors scattered about while the different needle sizes were spilled at the bottom of the box, the pin cushion was to her left, several pins decorating the plush tomato and the thimble was inside the kit as well. In Lucy's hands was a needle with black thread and a black puppy plush toy lie in front of her, it's stuffing sticking out of its neck._

"_How in the world did I get this thread through this hole in the first place?" Lucy muttered to herself, squinting at her needle. She was just about to begin sewing when the thread decided to detach itself from the needle, making Lucy thread the needle once more; it was a tedious muggle thing that was quickly getting on her nerves._

_Lucy sighed in defeat and licked the end of the thread, making the split ends stick together before attempting to put it through the small hole once more. She tried once… twice… five times before she placed the needle in the pincushion and rubbed her eyes. She was going to go blind if she kept doing that. She then took a pair of scissors and snipped the end of the thread before picking up the needle once more. She was going to try it again. _

_After several more tries and several more licks at the end of the string and snips as well and when the floor was decorated with different lengths of decapitated thread, Lucy got the string in the itsy bitsy hole. She made a silent cheer, not wanting to wake up Zoey. She then made a knot at the end of the string and brought the puppy closer to her, pushing the stuffing back in. She began to sew. Several times, she thought she had gotten it right but only to find out she either made it crooked, wasn't satisfied or ended up sewing it to her skirt._

_Either way, she wasn't making much progress._

_Before Lucy could do another fail in sewing, there was a soft pop from outside the nursery and the door opened revealing her husband. His cheeks were slightly red from laughing and there was also a grin on his face. He looked at the crib, seeing Zoey and looked down to see his wife on the floor, a mess surrounding her. He raised an amused eyebrow at her._

"_Not a single – oww!" Lucy hissed; she had pricked her finger. Sirius gave a chuckle and sat on the floor, joining his wife. He took the puppy away from her, looking at its torn up neck and took the needle and thread as well, piercing the pincushion._

"_What exactly are you doing, Luce?" Sirius asked, placing the wrecked doll in front of him. Lucy simply sucked at her injured finger._

"_I wafh fifing Voey's dole," Lucy said in a hushed tone, her finger still in her mouth._

"_Fifing Voey's dole," Sirius repeated, "Why didn't you just use magic?"_

_Lucy took her finger out of her mouth and wiped it on her skirt. "I can't always depend on magic"_

"_Tell that to my bite sized shirt you washed the other day," Sirius laughed before summoning the sewing kit. Lucy glared at him and called him lazy._

_The Black then rummaged through the kit before pulling out the thimble, he placed the kit down and brought Lucy's hand closer to him, placing the thimble on one of her fingers. "There, isn't that suppose to help?"_

_Lucy gave him a look. "How the bloody hell did you know that?" she asked him, brows raised, "Is there something you're not telling me, Sirius? Come on, I don't judge"_

_Sirius gave a dry laugh and rolled his eyes at his wife. "I heard Lily telling Prongs about it. You're not the only one trying to do things the muggle way," he paused, "You should just stick to magic. You're horrible at muggle stuff"_

"_I am your wife! You should be supporting me when it comes to my odd interest to do things without magic!" Lucy told him, bringing the doll closer to her and taking the needle and thread in her hand, the thimble still on her finger._

"_I'm just telling you the truth," Sirius held his hands up in defense, "Where did you get the sewing kit anyway?"_

"_Lily," Lucy replied as she began to sew the puppy's neck once more._

"_And you didn't ask her to teach you how to sew while you were there?"_

"_I know how to sew!" Lucy looked back at him and pricked her finger again, "This thing doesn't work!" She threw the thimble back inside the kit._

_Sirius raised a brow at her and took the puppy away. The minute he took it into his hands, his wife's skirt rose a bit. Lucy, who noticed the rising of her skirt, blushed and quickly held it down, causing the doll to slam into the floor as well, away from Sirius' hands. "You know how to sew, huh?" Sirius held back a laugh, "Tell me, why is it attached to your skirt?"_

"_So I won't lose it," Lucy replied coolly, picking up the scissors and began detaching the pup._

"_I see," Sirius finally let out a laugh, "Luce, just use magic"_

"_No!"_

"_Why not?"_

"_Because…" she blushed and then said in a small voice, "Because I lost my wand"_

"_You lost your wand?" Sirius laughed harder, though tried to turn down the volume of his laughter so he wouldn't wake up his snoozing child._

_Lucy glared at him. "Well, I'm sorry I'm not that good at keeping track of that magical stick! It's not like it's suppose to be with me everywhere I go"_

"_It is, actually," Sirius' grinned at his blushing wife, "Tell me, did you lend your wand to Natalie?"_

"_What makes you ask that?"_

"_Because losing your wand sounds like something Nat would do, not you," Sirius pointing out, picking up his wand once more and waving it at the doll, fixing it's neck. He then stood up, the doll in his hands, and walked over to Zoey's crib, placing the dog beside her. He watched as his daughter turned in her bed and hugged the doll, a small smile on her face. He then turned back to watch his wife clean up her mess, a pout on her lips._

"_Come on, Luce, everyone goes through that stage," Sirius said, helping his wife clean up._

"_What stage?" Lucy didn't look at him_

"_Lending Natalie their wand stage," Sirius answered, "Everyone's been through it. Even Remus"_

_Lucy didn't say anything; she was fixing the needles inside the sewing kit._

"_I'm sure it's just lying around somewhere," Sirius paused, "Why are you still grumpy?"_

"_You… you…" Lucy's blushed a deep red, "You didn't say hello when you came home"_

_Sirius looked at his wife for a while before letting out a soft chuckle. He tilted her head up to look at him and brushed the hair away from her forehead, which he kissed._

"_I'm home," he said in a quiet voice._

"_Welcome back," Lucy breathed out._

A few days passed since Harry's Trial and during those days, several events had happened to those staying in 12 Grimmauld Place. One of those many events was the receiving of the, those who were still in school, Hogwarts Letter. Sure, it wasn't that much of a big deal seeing as it was just a list of school materials Zoey and the rest would be needing for the school year but three letters belonging to three specific people came with a small, or big in other peoples point of view, surprise. In Hermione and Ron's letter, a small badge with a letter 'P' on it fell out and from reading an extra note in their letter, the two Gryffindor's found out that they were the new Gryffindor Prefects. Hermione was shocked yet happy while Mrs. Weasley was delighted at the news saying that Ron being Prefect was now 'every body in the family' (and what she meant by that was everybody in the family had now gone through the 'Prefect stage' in their Hogwarts life).

Fred and George objected asking what they were to her, seeing as they were not Prefects, but Mrs. Weasley ignored them, gushing over Ron.

The third person that got a little surprise with their Hogwarts Letter was none other than Echo Beaumont who found a badge with the letters 'HG' on it. Echo was the new Head Girl. The Veela was shocked and then angered when the twins began to mock her and returned to gawking at the badge after she taught them, the twins, a little 'lesson' when it came to messing with her.

After that little surprise it was Mrs. Weasley's turn to have something happen to her…only it was more of a terrifying shock than a surprise. One night, the Weasley mother decided to head upstairs and take care of the nasty Boggart in one of the desk drawers saying she could handle it on her own. Everyone thought she could, she was a tough woman but when they heard a scream from upstairs, everyone rushed to her aid. When they finally reached her, Zoey, and everyone else, came to a shocked halt when they saw one of the Weasley kids dead on the floor. Mrs. Weasley would say _'Riddikulus' _but it just didn't work, the Boggart would change into another Weasley, a dead one. Ron, Bill, Mr. Weasley, Fred, George, Percy and even Harry would be found dead, crumpled on the floor.

It was simply terrifying.

Remus was the one who banished the Boggart.

All seemed well after Mrs. Weasley got control over her sobs but just the image of all of them dead haunted Zoey. She never thought about it before, everyone dying. A war was coming and people were going to die, some already have, but Zoey was lost in her happy bubble, being with friends and reunited with her father, she thought all was well.

Until she got a reality check.

The next day was the day everyone, who were still studying, left for school. Zoey got up extra early just to repack everything. Yes, she was living out of her suitcase but that didn't stop the girl from tossing her things here and there. She had to find all of them by hand, even though she could have used a Summoning Charm. The morning went normally, or as normal as it can get when Mrs. Weasley was hurrying everyone to get ready, saying that they were going to be late. One thing led to another and before anyone knew it, Mrs. Weasley's yelling was mixed with Mrs. Black's screeches.

Zoey helped Ginny up from the floor after she had toppled down the stairs because of Fred and George's luggage.

After that, when everyone was organized and ready to leave, Sirius came out in his Animagus form. At first Mrs. Weasley told him to go back inside but later allowed him to come along saying it will be his problem if he were to get caught. Everyone made it to the train station in time and said their good byes before boarding the train. Hermione, Ron and Echo went to the prefect carriage to have a meeting about patrolling schedules and what not while the Twins disappeared to their right along with Bridgit. Harry went off to find a compartment with Ginny, they met Neville and a new friend by doing so while Zoey was dragged away by Jane.

The friends were separated.

Not a bad thing though.

Zoey jerked awake when the Hogwarts' Express passed a small bump on the rail. She blinked the sleep away and looked out the window for a moment. It looked as if they had just left the train station thirty minutes ago, which was probably true. The Emeraude let out a groan. Echo was out of the compartment doing her Head Girl duties while Bridgit and the twins, from what Zoey guessed, were out, pranking seeing as it has been a while since they pulled a good prank on some unsuspecting Slytherins. Zoey pushed her glasses up her head and rubbed her eyes. She was still half asleep.

"Do you always sleep on the train?" came a voice from the other side of the compartment. Zoey pulled her glasses back to her eyes and looked over to see a girl with chestnut brown hair that reached her shoulders, blue eyes, firm cheekbones and thin lips. She smiled at Zoey. This girl was none other than Zoey's fellow Hufflepuff, Jane Chatsworth.

"I used to," Zoey replied, "But I stopped for a while because I usually have night – cramps. I get cramps. My legs sleep and all"

"Ah, I hate it when that happens," came another voice. Zoey looked over to the boy sitting across from Jane. He smiled up at her with his pearly whites; he looked like he could advertise toothpaste. Zoey smiled at him. He had strawberry blonde hair that was generally messy, almond eyes and red cheeks. He wore his Ravenclaw badge proudly on his chest. He was one of those people who dressed early.

This boy was Aiden Durham, a Ravenclaw Muggle – born. Also Jane's boyfriend.

"You get all tingly at your lower half and you feel like you can't walk without stopping because of the pain," Jane looked over to Aiden.

"And it sucks when you were sitting down on the floor and no one's there to help you up," Aiden looked at her, "And the kind of pain you feel isn't really painful but more uncomfortable"

Jane nodded her head. "True… Hey, that reminds of the time when I fell asleep in the field and woke up to find out it was already late out and no one was around. I had to crawl my way back to the castle"

"Your legs hurt that much?"

"I couldn't lift them," Jane laughed and soon Aiden joined in.

Zoey moved her lips into a laugh but nothing really came out. She inched further away from the couple when their conversation drifted off to another topic. She suddenly felt like a third wheel in the compartment. Sure, she was a good friend with the couple, but one can never feel comfortable, they would just feel awkward, when in the same room as them. They weren't the lovey – dovey type. No, they acted like friends but when you look at them, even from just one glance, you could tell they had something more. Like they struggled to get where they were now. It was just like that. Zoey looked away from them. They weren't doing any couple actions like hugging or holding hands but she felt rude to listen or even join in with the conversation.

Jane and Aiden were simply too cute. Too couple – y. She didn't want to intrude.

This was just too weird for her.

Did other people feel this awkward when they were in the same room as she and Fred?

They didn't appear that couple – y, did they?

Before Zoey could wonder further on the matter, something from outside their compartment caught her eye. Something was thrown at the glass of their door and slowly slid down, leaving a thick slime. It was a frog. Zoey made a face and saw several frogs hop by them; they were incredibly high hoppers.

"What made _that?_" Aiden asked pointing at the slime decorating their window, he had not seen the frogs.

"Aren't those your friends, Zoey?" Jane then asked when the Weasley twins and Bridgit ran by their compartment, laughing.

"What did they do?" Zoey asked as Aiden stood up from his chair, opening the compartment door. He made a yell of surprise and Jane quickly stood up at the sight. The green frogs that were all running, hopping, away from something decorated the entire hall's floor. Aiden looked back at the girls and walked out of the compartment, stepping around the frogs. Zoey and Jane followed. They often let out screams of shock whenever a frog bumped into their leg but quickly let it go. Their main priority was to find out what the pranksters did and not to step on any of the frogs.

That would have been messy.

The trio traced the frogs back into another compartment. Its door was wide open and dozens of frogs kept pouring out. They looked into the compartment and saw several Slytherins, one of them being Draco Malfoy, seemingly glued to their seats with frogs on their laps and heads. A pug-faced girl was screaming for the frog on her head to get off.

"Mudblood," Draco turned to Aiden, a glare in his eyes, "Do something useful and get rid of these disgusting creatures."

"Like hell he'll listen to you when you call him that," Jane rolled her eyes, taking hold of Aiden's hand.

"Why don't you just do something useful, Blood traitor," Draco turned to Jane, "and get that Mudblood boyfriend of yours to get rid of these so I can give those Weasley brats a piece of my mind"

"I rather not," Jane glared

"If you give them a piece of your mind, you won't have much left and that would be a shame," Aiden rolled his eyes and pocketed his other hand.

"Shut up and just get this thing off!" the pug –faced girl, also known as Pansy Parkinson, screamed shaking her head. "Get it off! Get it off!"

Jane stuck her tongue out at the girl and faced Aiden. "Let's go look for the trolley lady," she said to him with a smile, "I suddenly got a craving for Chocolate Frogs"

"Give me the card when you're done, alright?" Aiden smiled at her before leading her away from the Slytherins.

"You're such a nerd. Collecting them all," Jane laughed and with that they were out of both eye and earshot.

Zoey shook her head at the pair before looking back into the compartment. The Slytherins didn't seem to take notice in her and she was glad. Carefully, she inched her way away from them and walked the opposite direction, avoiding the frogs and looking for Bridgit and the twins. During her search, she wondered where all the prefects were… Where Echo was. She _was _the Head Girl wasn't she? Or did she not care about what the twins and Bridgit had done? Maybe she was just sitting in one of the empty compartments, a pocket book in her hands, ignoring the noise the students and the train were making.

That sounded like something Echo would do.

When Zoey finally reached the compartment the twins and Bridgit were in, she saw them laughing their guts out, clutching their sides and just… laughing. Zoey raised her brow at Fred's head, which had a frog on top of it. She watched as the frog croaked and jump to George's head and then to Bridgit before landing back on Fred. She hoped they weren't going to keep it. The Hufflepuff gave a sigh, avoiding another frog on the floor, before opening the door, making the trio look over to her. She then let out a surprised scream when the frog on Fred's head jumped at her. She stumbled a bit and fell back, hoping she didn't land on any innocent frogs.

That would have been disgusting

And Cruel

Animal abuse.

She really hoped she didn't.

"Whoa there, Zee!" Bridgit said, standing up and looking down at her. "Are you alright?" She asked.

"Yeah, Zoey, don't land on the frogs!" George now called out, "We still have to return them!"

"We can't return them, George! They've touched Slytherin scum," Bridgit said shaking her head. "Do you need help getting up?" Bridgit asked, the still fallen Zoey, holding out her hand.

The Emeraude shook her head at the two and sat up. "Please tell me I didn't land on one of them," Zoey said, cringing at the thought. The frog attacker in her hand, she accepted Bridgit's help.

"Nope, I don't think so." Bridgit answered, looking around.

"I hope not," Zoey looked back at the floor she landed on, it was now covered with the frogs. Why were there so many?

"No, wait, over there! I think she landed on one." Fred now said, making Zoey look around with panicked eyes. "Kidding" He said, earning himself a glare.

"Better watch it Fred, or you might lose the only girl that will ever like you," George said, whacking his brother on the shoulder. Bridgit shook her head and got Zoey into the compartment. She closed the door and sat down.

"Zoey won't leave me because of a joke!" Fred retorted, looking at Zoey. "Right?" He asked, directing the question at her.

Zoey didn't reply to him, she simply smiled before looking over to George and holding out the frog. George looked at her oddly and took the frog away from her. "Maybe you should show Echo Bob the Frog before you have to return him," she told him

"Bob?" Bridgit asked, looking at her friend. "I was sure his name was Draco...oh wait that's the Slytherin stuck in his seat," Bridgit added, releasing a laugh.

"He needs a name," Zoey smiled at the Ravenclaw, "A proper name"

"Okay then, let me think...how about Fred?" She said, earning herself a whack from the Weasley.

"Oi! I don't look like a frog!" Fred defended, glaring at Bridgit.

"Yep," George stood up and studied the frog, "He does look like a Fred. Fred the Frog," he approached the door, "Maybe I should show him to Echo. Bet she'll laugh"

"We have the same face idiot!" Fred said, turning to his twin.

"No, I'm the better looking twin and this frog is ugly so he looks like you," George said with a grin before walking out of the compartment to look for Echo. He closed the door in time to avoid being hit with a muggle super bouncy ball Fred had with him.

Zoey watched the ball bounce around the room, hitting walls and windows, before finally slowing down and rolling under the chair, soon to be forgotten.

"You gotta admit Fred, the frog did look like you," Bridgit urged on, smirking as Fred glared at her.

"Oh yeah? Well I'm pretty sure that there's an animal that looks like you too!" Fred said, running out of comebacks, "And I'll pity that animal for as long as I live."

"Yes, Fred. There is an animal that looks like me," Bridgit said, and as if on cue Shinji came out of her pocket and barked. "Puppies," She continued, Fred rolling his eyes.

"Getting off of the topic of the Fred look a like that is not George," Zoey continued, ignoring the verbal fight Bridgit and Fred were having, "What is up with the frogs?"

"Ah that was a revenge for Malfoy!" Bridgit answered, petting Shinji and facing Zoey.

"What did he do?" Zoey tilted her head to the side.

"He messed with my dog!" Bridgit answered, Shinji growling as he sensed his owner's anger. "Well that's mine, Fred and George have their own."

"You gotta admit Bridgit, that dog of yours is a bit annoying." Fred said; using the tone that Bridgit had used while she compared him to a Frog.

"Shut it Fred," Bridgit said, Shinji jumping on to Fred's lap and biting his index finger.

"Ouch!" He shouted, sucking the blood that was leaking out. "Bloody animal!"

Shinji jumped back on to Bridgit's lap, and she patted his head with a smile.

"That's disgusting," Zoey looked over at Fred. She took Fred's hand in hers and studied the bite. It wasn't too serious and it didn't look infected, even with the dog saliva. The chances of Fred getting rabies were possible but unlikely. Shinji was a clean dog. When Zoey told this to Fred, he simply grinned at her and pecked her on the forehead. Zoey didn't really know why.

"Oh! Zee! Don't spoil the lover boy!" Bridgit shouted, wanting to vomit at the display of attention. She was never one for PDA.

Zoey looked over to her friend, her hand still in Fred's, and remembered the feeling she got when she was with Aiden and Jane. Did Bridgit feel the same? Zoey licked her lips. "Bridgit… do you feel awkward right now?" she asked.

"Well...of course I do," Bridgit answered, now feeding her little dog. "I hate public displays of affection, so don't take it personally. I even hate it on Echo and George" She continued, shuddering at the thought of Echo and George now snogging in another compartment.

"Do you feel like a third wheel when you're with us?" Zoey then asked, not minding Fred's confused look at the conversation being held right before him, "Also with Echo and George?"

"Uhm...well...sometimes … of course … sort of," Bridgit answered, facing her friend. "Because it's like you're both in your own world, and it's hard to intrude you know?" She tried to explain on.

Zoey nodded her head. Bridgit knew what it felt like. It was the same way Zoey felt when she was around Jane and Aiden. The next question that formed in Zoey's mind made her blush and she contemplated whether she should really ask it. The question was something that was completely unrelated to the things Zoey had witnessed with Jane and Aiden. She knew they did it but she never really saw them. But what if she did one day? Would Bridgit do what she, Zoey, would do?

"If I kissed Fred right here, right now, what would you do? How will you feel?" Zoey asked, furrowing her brows. It probably sounded inappropriate and Zoey only realized how wrong it sounded the moment the last word left her mouth. Her blush deepened and she released her hold on Fred's hand, who was looking at her with wide eyes. He was caught completely off guard.

"I won't feel jealous that's for sure!" Bridgit answered, trying to loosen the tension. It didn't work. "Well...I guess I would feel really awkward and probably leave to give you two a moment." She continued, looking back from Zoey to Fred.

"What's with the sudden questions, Zoe?" Fred asked, putting a hand on Zoey's shoulder.

Zoey looked over to him and her blush deepened. She quickly looked away. She still couldn't believe she asked such a question. She created a tension that not even a knife could cut through it. You could practically feel the awkwardness in the room. She took a breath. "N – no reason," Zoey stuttered out. She hasn't felt this shy with Fred since… since a very long time. The Hufflepuff looked over to the Ravenclaw. "What do you know about Aiden Durham?"

"Huh?" Bridgit asked, confused at Zoey's sudden topic change. "What?"

"Oh nothing," Zoey then smiled before standing up from her seat and taking hold of Fred's hand, bringing him out of the compartment, leaving a very confused Bridgit behind. She, Zoey, closed the door and brought Fred away from their original spot, avoiding the frogs as they went. As she went walked… speed – walked, her mind was filled with images of Jane and Aiden. How happy they looked together despite the hardships they went through just to be together. They were happy; they were in love. Through all the things that happened to the pair, they still stuck together till the end.

Were she and Fred like them?

They went through their share of problems and they were still friends, more than friends, now and from what Fred had said back in The Noble House of Black, he loves her but… was it going to last till the end?

Would they last?

The harder Zoey thought about it, the faster her pace became and she momentarily forgot that Fred was still with her, being dragged by the small girl.

"Zoe," Fred said, trying to get his girlfriend's attention. She wouldn't mind him though.

"Zoe," He called again, but he was ignored once again.

"ZOE! STOP!" Fred finally shouted, taking hole of Zoey's shoulder and turning her around. Finally, he was finally able to stare into her eyes.

"What?" Zoey asked; her brows rose as if she didn't know what was going on.

"Is there something wrong?" He asked, his tone caring and worried.

"Wrong? Nothing's wrong! Why would you think that?" Zoey looked away from him and focused her attention at one of the many frogs. Where did they get this many frogs?

Fred was getting annoyed now, but not for the reasons that you think. He was getting annoyed that this was happening again, that he was feeling helpless again. Why is it that she wouldn't let him in? Let him help her and comfort her? Why?

"Zoe..." Fred sighed, taking hold of her chin and making her face him. "Let me help"

"A – are you willing," the girl paused, she remembered the stories Jane told her about the Aiden and her and what they've been through. It was odd for Zoey to hear Jane talk about them, seeing as it was a really touchy subject, but when she got the entire picture, it was almost like a fairy tale. Could she and Fred be the same? "How… how long are you willing to wait for me?"

Jane had said Aiden loved her but knew he would not wait forever.

Was that true?

"What do you mean?" Fred asked, his hold still on her chin. Zoey was finally opening up; she wouldn't be alone anymore. He could finally help her.

Zoey blinked, removing his hold on her chin and held his hand. She might as well say it now. Who knows when she would get another opportunity like this? School always had a way with getting in her way. The girl took a deep breath and looked up at Fred. "I mean what I mean," she told him vaguely, "How long are you willing to wait for me?"

Fred wanted to answer her directly, but he was having a hard time finding a word summing up everything. He thought about saying forever, but that would be lying.

He took a breath and answered...

"Even if the earth freezes or burns, even if we lose this war, even if I'll have to be a slave to the Death Eaters and be torn away from you, I'll still be waiting for you Zoe."

Zoey's eyes widened at his words and her bottom lip quivered. He had such determination in his eyes, she had to look away; it was simply too much for her. She took a deep breath and bit her lip. Would he really be willing to wait? Wasn't she a hopeless case? She was filled with flaws, problems and other things that people didn't want to be dragged into. Then why… why was Fred still with her? Why were he and all her friends and love ones still willing to stick by her no matter how chaotic her life is?

"What if an evil witch comes and takes me away?" Zoey asked, "A place…far away?"

"Then I'll come after you," Fred answered, "Even if I had to die to get you back."

"Please… don't go that far," Zoey said, knowing her family… her aunt.

Before the Weasley could say another word, the sound of a compartment door opening interrupted him. Not to far away, Zoey's Hufflepuff friend came out with robes in her arms. She looked at the pair and sent Fred an apologetic look. "Hey Zoey!" Jane called out, "We're going to reach Hogwarts soon. You should change already. I have your robes with me!"

"I have to go," Zoey whispered to Fred, "You should probably get changed too"

"Zoe –" Fred held onto her hand, stopping her from leaving him. Zoey looked back at him, about to ask him to let her go so she could change but she didn't get the chance to because before she knew it, a pair of lips landed on her own.

The girl's eyes widened at the sudden action before her eyes fluttered close, returning the kiss. It wasn't long but it was meaningful. When the pair ended Zoey inhaled and bit her lip, a blush decorating her cheeks.

"I don't care what you think you are to me, but the truth is you're everything," Fred whispered, letting Zoey go so that she could go with her friend to change.

Zoey blinked several times, still in a daze, and her heart was leaping with a feeling Zoey was pretty sure was love (no matter how cheesy it sounded). She watched quietly as Fred turned around, bringing out his wand and making the frogs levitate from the ground and follow him back to his compartment, planning to pack them all up again. Zoey felt like if no one would bring her back to reality, she would be left standing there for who knows how long, luckily Jane shook her shoulder a bit.

"Come one, time to get changed," Jane said with a smile, taking Zoey's hand and bringing her to the bathroom in the train. Most students would change in their compartments but Aiden was in their compartment, sleeping. If he were to wake up with Zoey half dressed, that would be beyond awkward.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, right," Zoey stumbled a bit with her feet before following her friend.

"So… you and Fred, together now, huh?" Jane began, "He's sweet but rather cheesy"

Zoey rolled her eyes. "Aiden could get rather cheesy too," she paused, "You heard what he said?"

"Just the last part. Have no idea what you guys were discussing before then, " Jane told her, "And yeah, he can get pretty cheesy… but I like cheesy"

Zoey laughed at her friend before taking her robes away from her. The two walked in silence for a while before Zoey realized that her whole interrogation with Fred was because she was comparing their relationship with Jane's. Zoey blinked her eyes. She began to wonder _why. _Sure, they both have their share of problems but their situation as different and should never be compared. The Emeraude felt foolish. She bit her lip. Both pairs were different and Zoey knew that she and Fred would pull through.

"You are really a bad influence," Zoey suddenly said, making Jane turn to her.

"Huh?"

"You and Aiden and simply too much for me. I keep getting weird thoughts and just thinking about you too is giving me low self – couple – esteem," Zoey continued coolly before entering the bathroom, closing the door. "Before I know it, I'm going to ruin something"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Jane said through the door.

"Too much. Just too much. I'm being a dumb – dumb, comparing myself to you," Zoey said aloud so Jane would hear her, "We are completely different. I should be ashamed."

Jane raised her brow. "Are you going mental?"

Zoey opened the bathroom door, fully dressed. "Never again would I compare myself to you and Aiden. I have my own life and I should have known from the very start that it is exactly what I wanted. I need no fairy tail story, I'm going to make my own"

"Now you've lost me," Jane shook her head, "I think snogging with all the frogs around you did something to your brain. Come on, let's get you inside, you poor soul."

* * *

Zoey was petrified in her seat as she looked at the place where Dumbledore was standing. The hat's song had finished along with the Sorting and everyone had already eaten. Dumbledore was going to make his usual reminders and he was just about to say when the Quidditch tryouts would be held when a woman dressed in pink robes with a black bow in her head interrupted him with the clearing of her throat. At first, Zoey did not pay any mind to her seeing as she was most likely the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher but when the Emeraude scrutinized the woman, she realized who she was.

She was afraid. Zoey had met this woman before; in fact she, the pink woman, had tortured her with the permission of her dear Aunt Damiana. Spells and demonic quills were used against Zoey when she was younger, she thought the torture would have ended when the woman was assigned a higher position in the Ministry but today, Zoey knew she was wrong. Just seeing the pink lady, also known and Dolores Jane Umbridge, give a speech in front of the entire student body and hearing her throat-clearing cough made Zoey realize that she isn't free from the toad.

No, things might just get worse.

"This is the most boring sermon I've heard in years," Jane carefully whispered to Zoey who was still frozen with shock and fear, "I feel ashamed that I have the same name as her… her second name actually but I still feel dirty knowing it"

Jane had obviously tried to make Zoey laugh but Zoey found it hard to. She simply forced a smile at the girl before looking down at the table. What's going to happen this school year?

The next day, Zoey sat solemnly at the Hufflepuff table, not wanting to spend breakfast with Fred and the rest. She didn't want to spoil their happy moods. She picked at her food and heaved a sigh. She was back in school, saw the evil toad woman and just heard the details on the Hufflepuff tryouts.

Cedric didn't keep his promise but Zoey will.

The Hufflepuff was just about to eat a strawberry, Bridgit had convinced her to give it a second chance seeing as the Emeraude did not like them that much, when someone had interrupted her. Zoey dropped the food in shock before whirling around to see a tall skinny blond boy with an upturned nose.

He was in the same house as her.

"You're Zoey Emeraude, right?" the boy asked in a bored tone as if he had better things to do.

Zoey nodded.

"You going to tryout for the Beater position?" the boy then pulled out a piece of parchment from his pocket, rereading it.

"How did you –" Zoey began but was interrupted by the boy, who was named Zacharias Smith; he was in the same year as Harry. Zacharias held the piece of parchment in front of Zoey to read. Zoey's eyes widened to see the familiar penmanship of her long gone friend, Cedric. The Emeraude scanned the letter quickly before Zacharias stuffed it back into his pocket.

"Cedric gave this to Professor Sprout last year and seeing as I'm the new Captain, she gave it to me," Zacharias told her, "She wished for me to give you a chance for Cedric's sake. "

"That's very ni –"

"Yeah, whatever, but listen here. I'm just doing this as a favor; I've seen you around, you're not exactly built for the position. You're more like a Chaser or maybe just a little cheerleader," Zacharias said coolly… rudely, "So, just show up, do your best and don't get killed during tryouts"

And with that, the rude Hufflepuff walked away to join his friends.

"What a rude little booger," Jane said as she sat beside Zoey; "I heard everything on my way here. Wish I could just hex him"

Zoey gave a sigh and looked over to her friends. "Be nice," she told her.

"He wasn't," Jane countered before picking up the abandoned strawberry on Zoey's plate and eating it. Zoey raised her brow at her and Jane smiled at her sheepishly. "You were going to eat it?"

"Nope," Zoey answered, "I don't really like natural strawberries"

Jane laughed. "Weirdo," she said, "So was the little booger saying true? That you're going to tryout for the Beater position?"

"I promised Cedric I would," Zoey told the pureblood before picking up a banana from the fruit bowl and peeling it, "But… what if Zacharias was right? I'm not built for the Beater position. Maybe I should just be a cheerleader"

"Please, don't, I can't imagine you in a mini skirt, pompoms and pigtails yelling: 'Give me an H! Give me a U! Give me a –' you know, Hufflepuff is a very long word," Jane laughed again.

Zoey laughed too. "That's a stereotypical Muggle cheerleader and yes Hufflepuff is a long word," she then stood up from the table, leaving the banana skin on her plate, "I'm going to meet up with Bridgit, alright? I just saw her leave a few seconds ago"

"Why don't you catch up with Fred?" Jane batter her lashes, "He's your boyfriend. Give him some sugar"

"Haha, no. Besides, he's busy discussing something with George and Lee," Zoey looked over to the Gryffindor table, "I'll see you soon!"

"Bye!"

Zoey speed – walked out of the Great Hall and looked around, trying to find any signs of Bridgit. When she found none, she decided to go with her gut feeling. She took out a Sickle from her pocket and flipped it. Heads was 'go right' and tails was 'go left', if she dropped it, it was 'go straight'.

The coin fell to the floor.

The Emeraude picked the coin up and stuffed it into her pocket before walking straight ahead, looking around to find any signs of Bridgit, when she didn't, she decided to head to the library. Many things happen in the library and maybe Bridgit was there. Zoey picked up her pace and dashed to the Magical land of books. She jumped over an unsuspecting Slytherin who was tying his shoes during her sprint.

When Zoey finally reached her destination, she took a moment to catch her breath before opening the door and quietly walking in. She saw Madam Pince checking over some of the library books. The librarian gave her a look before going back to her work; Zoey hardly caused trouble in the library. Madame Pince knew that.

Zoey walked deeper into the library until she found Bridgit standing near a bookshelf, just about to get a very thick book when she caught sight of Zoey and greeted her.

"Hello there!" Bridgit greeted. "What brings you to the library this morning?"

"Well, what is there to do in a library?" Zoey smiled before picking up a random book from the shelf, "Just wanted to have a chat with the Frog Princess"

"Uhm...are you referring to yourself? Your boyfriend is a frog after all." Bridgit retorted, letting out a small laugh at the memory of yesterday's prank

"Touché," Zoey laughed as well before taking a seat, she then looked over to Bridgit. Why had she run after her? Was there something she wanted to talk to her about? Zoey did not know, lately she found herself talking… consulting in Bridgit more and more. Was it because Cedric was no longer there to help her? Was Bridgit the next person Zoey would turn to? The Emeraude didn't know. "Erm – Bridgit?" Zoey began awkwardly, "I…if I were to try out for Quidditch… what position would I most likely be in?"

"Hmm … judging by your figure and all, you would make a good Chaser, but you could also be a good Beater," Bridgit answered, "Why? You thinking of trying out for Hufflepuff's team?"

Zoey didn't answer her question. Instead, she asked her own. "Why would you think I'd be a good Beater?"

"Well, attitude wise it's because you defend your friends, but I also know you like hitting things," Bridgit then said, taking her bag from behind her and digging inside. A little bark was heard, but stopped when Bridgit took out her parchment, quill, and ink and closed her bag. "I seriously need to find Shinji a temporary home in this castle."

"Right," Zoey said, thinking about what Bridgit had said, she then looked over to Bridgit's bag. "A home? Where have you been keeping him all these years then?"

"Different places!" Bridgit said. "My bag, the common room, my pocket. I can't just place him where people can see, or girls will start petting, gawking, playing with him, all in all irritating him," She continued.

"I see," Zoey breathed out before thinking, "What about Hagrid's place? He likes animals…maybe when he comes back you can ask him?"

"Nah, as much as I like the half giant, I would be terrified knowing that Shinji would be in the midst of Fluffy the three headed dog," Bridgit answered. "So, what are you reading actually?"

"But Fluffy isn't still with him, is she? I thought it was Fang," Zoey then looked down at the book, "I have no idea."

"Hmm ... I'm still scared to leave Shinji there," Bridgit now said. "By the way, that toad lady in pink who's our new excuse of DADA teacher...she was the woman from the trial."

Zoey blinked at her friend. "Which one?"

"The woman who just kept on accusing Harry without a single piece of proof," Bridgit answered, rolling her eyes," I'd never thought I'd say this, but I would seriously pick Lockhart over her."

"Yeah… I don't like her either she –"

But Zoey never got to finish for a familiar throat-clearing cough was heard from behind the girl. Zoey felt her heart skip a beat and her hands shake with fear. She stiffly turned around to see a woman decked in pink staring down at her, a 'pleasant' smile on her face.

"My… my… Miss Emeraude, it's been a while since we've seen each other… hasn't it?" Umbridge's voice was like honey… very annoying honey.

Zoey opened her mouth to say something but found that her words were lodged in her throat. She coughed a bit in her hand before forcing a smile, her mouth twitched. "H – Hello, Professor," she began, "Funny seeing you here"

Bridgit sent Zoey a questioning look, but decided to leave the questions for later. "Do you need something toad – I mean Professor?" Bridgit asked, facing the woman. She cringed at the sight of all the pink.

Umbridge turned to Bridgit, ignoring her slip of tongue, and giggled. The giggle sent shivers down Zoey's spine. "I was just saying a pleasant Hello to Miss Emeraude, Miss Parker," Umbridge giggled one more, "You see, her aunt and I are good friends and I was just about to ask how she's doing"

"Aunt you say?" Bridgit asked, obviously getting an edge on her voice. "Sorry to inform you that she no longer lives with her aunt at the moment," Bridgit saw Umbridge's eyebrow twitch, a sign of annoyance, but still the smile would not leave her face.

"Is that so?" Umbridge began

Zoey quickly nudged Bridgit in the ribs before the Ravenclaw could get in any more trouble. Bridgit held the area where Zoey nudged her and gave her a questioning look; Zoey ignored it and instead continued to look over to Umbridge. "Aunt Damiana is doing fine," she said to her Professor, "She says she would enjoy another chat with you over a cup of tea soon"

"Oh, please ask her to send me the details by Owl," Umbridge giggled before turning around, "Good day to you both"

The two watched Umbridge walk away until she was just a mere pink dot before turning around. Zoey felt like she could finally breath again.

"So how do you know the pink hag?" Bridgit now asked, turning to her friend.

"She's a good friends of my Aunt," Zoey said, closing the book and returning it to the shelf, "I met her when I was bein – when I was younger"

"Being what?" Bridgit asked, catching Zoey's slip up. "And you do know that her being friends with your aunt immediately makes her a horrible person right?"

A memory flashed in Zoey's mind.

_Her aunt raised her hand and slapped her, her nails making long red lines on her pale cheeks. Zoey felt tears well up in her eyes but she did not let them fall._

_"You should learn your place," a high girlish voice that seemed to be flavored with poisoned honey said from behind her aunt. Zoey focused her eyes on the newest person in the room. Her aunt wore an evil smile on her lips as she stood up and turned around._

_"Do-"_

"Of course I know that but she's our professor and we have to be… nice," Zoey placed her hand behind her back, massaging her left hand and it's already faded scars, "We must learn our place"

"Place, shmace, did you forget all of our experiences with Lockhart?" Bridgit asked. "I have no problem sticking it to those stupid teachers who know nothing."

"She knows a lot," Zoey's hands were shaking, "She's in the ministry after all"

"I bet she's one of those corrupt ministry members." Bridgit said, slouching into her seat.

Zoey blinked. "We are her students and she is our professor. We must learn our place," she said in a monotone voice, "I better go"

"Alright, stay out of trouble," Bridgit said, not satisfied with her friend's answer. But she knew not to push.

"I always do," Zoey smiled in appreciation before walking out of the library.

* * *

**AND CHAPTER END!**

**HOPE YOU ALL ENJOYED IT :)**

**I WOULD LIKE TO THANK ZOOMSKATER14 FOR HER AMAZING HELP**

**AND TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED AND THE LIKE, THANK YOU**

**I would also like to apologize for my typos in the previous chapter. I was tired and didn't have time to beta the story.**

**This, I beta - ed but I'm not sure if it's completely clean from all typos**

**Sorry in advance.**

**Dear, SMUSH04,**

**I hope this chapter answers the question I didn't answer :)**

**TAKA! Welcome back, glad to see your reviews again and thank you for the correction :D**

**lucky n drake .c7c7 = Thanks for the Band suggestion**

**OddSakura = Coincidences are awesome :))**

**Well,I guess that is all. I have nothing more to say except**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter**

**Please tell me what you thought**

**Excuse my typos and the like (Even though I beta-ed it already)**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter**

**And**

**I only own what I own**


	76. Chapter 74: Chicken Draco

**Chapter 74: Chicken Draco**

_Zoey was thrown harshly at her bedroom wall. She and her aunt had apparated back into her house and her aunt threw her away like she was last season's witch's robes. Zoey gasped for breath as she tried her best to sit back up. She managed to get into an upright position and leaned against her broken cabinet._

_"So, it's a box then," her aunt said as she twirled her wand in her hair and paced around the room, her shoes __clacking __on the marbled floor._

_Zoey made no sign of hearing the question; she simply stared at the cabinet door that hung pathetically on its hinges._

_"Now tell me," her aunt said as she squatted in front of her, "What's __in __the box?"_

_Zoey mumbled._

_"What was that?" her aunt glared._

_"I don't know," Zoey said a little bit louder as she glared at her aunt from under her lashes._

_Her aunt raised her hand and slapped her, her nails making long red lines on her pale cheeks. Zoey felt tears well up in her eyes but she did not let them fall._

_"You should learn your place," a high girlish voice that seemed to be flavored with poisoned honey said from behind her aunt. Zoey focused her eyes on the newest person in the room. Her aunt wore an evil smile on her lips as she stood up and turned around._

_"Dolores," Her aunt greeted with a smile, "It's so nice to see you again. You should have told me you were coming!"_

"_I've heard you had a rather… disrespectful niece," Umbridge giggled, looking over to Zoey, "Is that her?"_

_Damiana looked over to Zoey and then back at Umbridge, she noticed a small pink bag in the woman's stubby fingers. "Why yes, that's her. I see you have some special… equipment with you"_

"_You see correctly," Umbridge held up her bag, "I was thinking I could school your niece, teach her some proper manners and… show her where she is in the Wizard Community"_

"_I'll leave her to you then," Damiana smiled before leaving the room. Umbridge looked over to Zoey who had regained her composure and tried to stand up again. This pink woman did not look like a teacher; in fact she looked more like a toad. A pink toad with a throat problem_

"_Good Day, Miss Emeraude, My name is Dolores Jane Umbridge but you can call me Professor Umbridge," Umbridge said as she carefully opened her bag, "Please take a seat"_

_Zoey looked around the room. There were no tables, no __fixed __tables in the room. Zoey didn't point it out. She didn't want to speak, she was afraid to speak. She had already gotten up and was leaning against her broken cabinet; afraid she would fall back down. Umbridge straightened up and looked back at Zoey. She then smiled sweetly and brought out her wand, waving it and making a school desk appear in the middle of the room._

"_Please take a seat," Umbridge repeated._

_The Emeraude inhaled deeply, though with pain, and inched her way to the table, taking her seat and looking over to Umbridge. The pink toad woman pulled out a roll of parchment and a quill from inside her bag along with a stick longer than her wand. It was made out of hard wood. She then placed the parchment in the middle of the table and handed Zoey the quill._

_Zoey held the quill awkwardly in her hands._

"_I expect you know how to write?" Umbridge ended with a giggle._

_Zoey nodded her head and positioned her quill, ready to write only… there was no ink. Umbridge noticed Zoey's confusion._

"_You would not be needing any ink," she told her with a smile, "I just want you to write five simple words: I must learn my place"_

"_H – how many times?" Zoey stuttered out, the tip of the quill already touching the parchment._

"_As many times as I please," Umbridge cleared her throat with and annoying 'Hem hem' before continuing, "While you are writing I would be teaching you basic wizard knowledge"_

_Zoey slowly nodded her head at the woman before pressing her face rather close to her parchment, her hair making a curtain around her work, as she began to write in careful cursive 'I must learn my place'. The ink that came out was red. Blood red. Zoey wondered why. Before she could even ask, she was painfully hit in the back with the wooden stick._

"_I would also be teaching you proper manners and posture," Umbridge smiled as if she didn't know how much the stick hurt, "Please sit up straight"_

_Zoey did so._

"_Now, we must begin with manners and posture," Umbridge cleared her throat with another 'hem hem' and began lecturing Zoey on how to talk, act and speak around her elders and superiors. Proper etiquette and the correct posture to have in every situation she gave; how to walk and how to dress and how to fix herself. Often times she would hit Zoey on the hand or on her back whenever her posture would not be to her liking. She even hit Zoey's knee for she had crossed her legs. Zoey would not say a word or a yelp in pain. She would listen, fix herself and continue writing._

_When Zoey had reached her third line, she finally felt a very painful sting on her left hand. She ignored it and continued to write lightly on her paper, seeing as she did not want the ink to bleed and make a mess. She continued to write, listening to Umbridge and biting her lip whenever she was hit until another painful sting came from her hand._

_Zoey hissed and looked over to her left hand when the pain became slightly unbearable. Her eyes widened. On her hand was exactly what she wrote on the paper only it was carved into her skin with the same penmanship she used. She looked back at the red words on the parchment. It was written in her blood. She looked up at Umbridge and saw that the woman's mouth was stretched into a smile as she watched the blood trickle down Zoey's hand._

"_Please continue with you lines, Miss Emeraude," Umbridge said before continuing her walk around Zoey's table, "Now, there are three Blood – Status' in the Wizarding World. The Pure – blood, the Half – blood and the Muggle born. You, Miss Emeraude are a pure – blood. Did you know?"_

"_Y – yes," Zoey struggled with her words as she continued to write lightly._

_Umbridge cleared her throat. "The combination of the blood of the two most powerful pure – blooded families out there. You should be proud," she then paused, "But wait, you are a blood traitor as well. A shame," she ended with a giggle. "You see, Miss Emeraude, there are other categories out there. There are also the Squibs, the blood traitors, such as yourself, and the half breeds"_

"_Tell me, Miss Emeraude, do you know what a werewolf is?" Umbridge smiled._

_Zoey slowly nodded, she was trying not to focus on the pain._

"_Thought as much," Umbridge giggled, "Now, you, as a child, are the future of the Wizarding World and as such, you must do no wrong," she wacked Zoey's back once more, "That includes your posture, Miss Emeraude. You must learn your place in the Wizarding Community. Now, you are nothing more than a disrespectful, blood traitor child. We must change that. But, what about tomorrow? Or the next day? The next year? Decade even? You must shape up. There is no room for error. The Wizarding Community must prosper. So in order for that to happen you must –"_

_The sound of a quill dropping to the floor stopped Umbridge_

"_Learn my place," Zoey said monotonously as she stared at the wall in front of her, blood tricking down her left hand, "I must learn my place. I must do no wrong. I must follow my elders and stay out of trouble. I am the future of the Wizarding World. I must learn my place"_

_Umbridge smile stretched and she let out a giggle. "Exactly, Miss Emeraude"_

Zoey looked around the Owlery and gazed at all the different Owls in the tower. Sure, she's been there before but just looking at every single one of them amazed her. Barn owls, white owls, big owls and small owls perched at different locations in the room, snoozing and minding their own business. Zoey clutched the envelope in her hand. She had promised to update her father, godfather and godmother on the events happening to her in school and frankly speaking, having Umbridge be her DADA teacher was really something to tell them. The Emeraude was glad that all of them were in the same place, 12 Grimmauld Place.

She licked her lips and moved her mouth into a sort of position she made whenever she was going to whistle. The musical sound echoed through the room and several Owls fluttered their wings at the tune but only one owl flew from its post and landed on Zoey's shoulder, nipping at her ear affectionately. Zoey smiled.

"Hey there, Eos, it's been a while hasn't it?" Zoey spoke softly to her pet. Eos hooted in reply. "I know… I know… it's been weeks but you can't blame me. It's been rather hectic"

What Zoey said was true, with it being her last year in Hogwarts; teachers weren't making it easy for their students. Orientation was given the moment the students stepped into their classrooms and piles of homework and research came afterwards. Umbridge wasn't a very delightful teacher either; she didn't even make her class remotely interesting despite it being DADA. When it came to Transfiguration and Charms, the teachers would demonstrate a spell, maybe have you read a little about it before teaching you how to cast it, same with Potions with Snape just having the directions on the blackboard and the ingredients ready for you to take.

_Those _classes were interesting because you actually had to _do _something but with Umbridge you had to put your wands away and have a book heavier than a first year placed in front of you, ready to be read. That didn't spike the students' interest at all. Some of them, from what Zoey heard, had even protested. Saying stuff that Umbridge didn't particularly want to hear. According to Hermione, Harry even got detention from her. Zoey felt her left hand twitch. She had no doubt that the pink toad queen brought those dreaded quills in her suitcase when she came to Hogwarts.

Eos hooted.

"Sorry, girl. Got caught up in my thoughts," Zoey whispered to the owl and held up her letter, "Bring this to daddy, okay?"

The owl leapt off of Zoey's shoulder and went to the windowsill, holding out its leg dutifully. Zoey smiled at the owl before attaching her letter to it and bringing out a small treat from her pocket.

"Be safe," she said to Eos after she ate the treat and flew off, disappearing from sight. Zoey watched Eos fly away before turning around and leaving the Owlery. She had wasted enough time; she had somewhere to be.

Zoey hurriedly made her way down the tower and made several twists and turns. She had lost track of time and was praying that she wasn't going to be late. The Hufflepuff quickly dashed to her Common Room and up to her Dorm where she saw Jane leisurely reading on her bed. The pure – blood looked up at Zoey questioningly but didn't have a chance to question her because the Emeraude quickly stripped of her clothing and placed a more sport worthy sort of wear before grabbing her Firebolt and dashing out of the room. Her movements were so fast that she came and went as a blur. Jane didn't even realize Zoey changed until she saw her uniform messily dropped on her bed.

Faster and faster Zoey ran as she avoided students and teachers who were heading the opposite way. She felt a sweat form on her brow and her legs cramp but that didn't stop her from jumping of the cold, cemented floors of Hogwarts Castle and onto the grassy grounds of the field. She quickly caught her breath before mounting her broom and speeding of to the Quidditch Pitch. She didn't want to waste anymore time. She was going to be late and she was going to be needing the broom anyway so why not zoom right there and not mount off seeing as she'll just be going back on it anyway?

"You're late, Emeraude," Zacharias said, looking up from his clipboard, his broomstick laying next to him, "I just asked you to do three things. Show up, do your best and don't get killed. You didn't even show up on time"

"I'm sorry. I was just –"

"Wasting more time. Just get up there," Zacharias said before walking over to the suitcase that held the Quaffle, Bludgers and the Snitch. He looked back at her and tossed her the Beater's bat before placing his hand on the locks, ready to release the devils in ball form.

Zoey awkwardly caught the bat, biting her lip and flew to the sky, a blush on her cheeks. She had been scolded for being late. Would that affect her chances on being on the team? Would he think that she would be late for their games as well? She sighed and looked up at the sky. _You better be glad I'm putting up with him for you, _Zoey thought in her head, thinking that Cedric could somehow hear her. When she finally straightened her head, she met with a surprise. Her eyes widened when she saw the Bludger zooming right at her, she hurriedly hit it with the bat sending it off.

There was a small applause from down below and Zoey sneaked a peak seeing several of her fellow Hufflepuffs clapping. She felt herself smile. People she didn't even know where cheering for her. She wondered how the audience would be if she told her friends that she was trying out for the Beater position. Before Zoey could even think about it, another Bludger came her way. She swung the bat at it hard before flying of, seeing the second Bludger hot on her tail. It was almost like that day she was just hitting the Bludgers to get her mind of things, the day Cedric said that she should tryout.

Zoey looked back, stopping her flight and sending the annoying Bludger to the ground. She watched as it made a small dent in the grass before angrily flying back up to the sky. Zoey felt herself panic. Was it angry with her? Pissed of maybe? Did Fred and George feel like this when they tried out back in second year? Zoey took of once more and hit the Bludger with great strength. Maybe.

The tryout continued for a few more minutes before her time was up and she was asked to join the rest of the Hufflepuff back on the ground. Zoey gratefully reunited her feet with the grassy floor before her legs wobbled a bit. Running at top speed and flying without rest was not good for her. The Emeraude looked over to the Hufflepuff captain and watched as he jotted something down at his clipboard before tucking it under his arm; in the distance two boys were wrestling the Bludgers back into the suitcase.

"Now that that's done, you can all go back and change," Zacharias told them, "The results would be posted tomorrow in the Common Room"

He said no more and turned away from the group when they nodded in understanding. He picked up the suitcase, with the Bludgers already inside, and walked away. Zoey bit her lip and readjusted the Firebolt in her hand, trying to balance herself as she watched the Captain leave. He had not commented on her work and she simply felt bad about it. Was she that bad? She wasn't going to make the team…. Zoey felt dejected and walked away from her fellow badgers, not wanting to hear their talk on who made the team or not. She simply wanted to change out of her clothes and lay down for a minute or two.

_Sorry I disappointed you, Cedric, _Zoey thought to herself with her head hung low. She couldn't even look up to the heavens to send her 'telepathic' message. Sure, the promise was just to tryout but not making the team made Zoey feel like she failed him.

"Those were some great flying skills you have there, Zoey," came a voice as a hand landed on her shoulder, stopping her from moving. "I didn't know you wanted to be a Beater"

Zoey looked up to see a seventh year Gryffindor. She offered a smile. "Hey there Lee," she greeted, "You saw that?"

"I was amazed by that! Don't tell me Fred's been teaching you a few Quidditch tricks over the summer," Lee winked at her before placing his hand in his pockets.

"No, that was all me," Zoey gave a laugh. Lee was a friend and like the twins, he really knew how to cheer her up.

"Blimey, and here I thought you were afraid of Bludgers," Lee laughed before walking towards the castle, Zoey following, "Where are Fred and the others? Shouldn't they be with you?"

"Why would they?" Zoey raised a questioning brow at him.

Lee scratched the back of his head. "Well, seeing as you were there for the twins' tryouts and also Echo's and Bridgit's I would have thought they would be there for you" he said, "You didn't tell them"

"And nor will you," Zoey said, turning to the direction of the Hufflepuff Basement, "Let's just keep it as our little secret, alright?"

"Twins finally rubbing of on you?" Lee laughed.

Zoey grinned. "Maybe," and she left.

* * *

The Emeraude rose her brow curiously as she began to make her way to the twins and Echo. She was wearing her usual Hufflepuff robes and her hair was wet and sticking to her back. She had just taken a quick shower before throwing on her uniform and putting on her glasses, she had to remove them during the tryout. Zoey just wanted to catch up with the Head Girl about any random topic that came to mind only… after seeing Echo… Zoey had a million questions swirling in her head. It was not like Echo was hitting the twins with a very large pocket book like when they were younger, and occasionally in their current age, or she looked different. No, something just seemed a bit off. The twins seemed to have taken notice too for they appeared to be pestering her.

Echo was standing coolly in front of the twins with an annoyed expression on her face. Her left hand was on her neck and was covered by her long violet – black hair, away from sight. Zoey squinted and approached the three.

Fred was first to take notice.

"Ah! Zoe! Where have you been?" Fred greeted her, tearing his attention away from his childhood friend.

"Here and there," Zoey smiled at him as she gave her vague answer, "Why are you bothering Echo?"

"We aren't bothering her," the twins said in unison.

"She's keeping a secret from us," George said, slight worry in his voice, "And we want to know what it is"

"Oh shut up, my neck was craned into reading last night," Echo rubbed the back of her neck.

"You never read with a craned neck," George said suspiciously, "You hate getting cramps from it"

"Yeah, well I had to stay up late last night!" Echo groaned.

"Why?" Fred asked

"Because of that Umbitch woman, giving us a truckload of homework on theories!" Echo had almost pulled back her hand from her neck, and for half a second, Zoey noticed a look of alarm pass Echo's face.

Zoey blinked at her friend and licked her lips staring at Echo's hidden left hand. Something told her Umbi – _Umbridge _had something to do with Echo being out late at night but it wasn't about homework at all. "Echo… give me your left hand," Zoey began, stopping the twins from questioning the Veela.

"No," Echo coldly responded.

"Echo," Zoey said with a stern voice, "give me your left hand"

Echo bit her lip, "Why?"

Zoey didn't even answer the Ravenclaw. She didn't want to waste any more time with questions. Catching Echo and the twins slightly of guard, Zoey held on the Echo's shoulder and took her left hand away from her neck, holding it firmly in hers. The twins were looking curiously at the two, wondering what was up but later realized what was wrong when Zoey turned Echo's hand over revealing Echo's cursive writing embedded on her skin as if it were written with a knife.

_I must not mock professors_

It read.

"Who did this to you?" George asked, the rage in his voice as evident as the orange color of his hair.

"Honestly, who do you think could've done this to me?" Echo rolled her eyes.

"But that's your penmanship," Fred pointed out, his anger well hidden. If George wasn't playing the calm twin, he will.

"I'm not that emotionally unstable to do this to myself, dimwit." Echo sighed and snatched her hand from Zoey, putting it in her pocket.

"The how did –"

Zoey interrupted George's outburst. "She made you to use those quills, didn't she?" Zoey asked though already knew the answer.

"And not my own? Why yes, that toad did." Echo snarled.

"What in the bloody hell are you talking about?" George asked impatiently.

"I can't believe you're my boyfriend!" Echo breathed out, irritated. Echo rolled her eyes before saying, "I mocked Umbitch in class, because I didn't do my essay,"

"And what? She made you carve this into your own hand?" George asked, and Fred was holding him back from marching into Umbridge's office.

"And what quills are you talking about?" Fred asked, trying to stay calm, even if he was getting angry as well.

Neither Zoey nor Echo replied to the twins' questions. Zoey simply took Echo's hand again and studied it. The blood was dry and the writing didn't seem all that deep… yet. Zoey felt her own left hand throb. It didn't throb with wounds; it throbbed with healed wounds. Just the memory was painful. She gave a sigh. "You shouldn't have mocked her," she told Echo, "She is our teacher and were are her students. We must learn our place"

"As if! The class she's teaching is more into studying how to sleep without getting caught, rather than Defense Against the Dark Arts!"

Zoey looked away from Echo and away from the angry and questioning looks of the twins. They must learn their place. They all must learn like how Zoey learned. Zoey bit her lip as the memories flooded her mind. No, they shouldn't learn the same way she did! It was much too cruel! Did Harry learn to same way? Was Umbridge using the quills on all her students?

_I must learn my place._

Her lip quivered and she instinctively held her left hand close to her chest. "The scars are gone. The scars are gone. I've learned my place. I've learned my place. I shall do no wrong," Zoey chanted to herself, she was trying not to break like she did all those years ago, "I've learned my place"

"What's going on in your head?" Echo suddenly asked, keeping eye on her watch.

"You must learn your place," Zoey spoke to her in a voice that she had never used before, "We must all learn our place. We should follow our elders and stay out of trouble. We are the future of the Wizarding World. We must learn our place"

Echo raised her eyebrow, "Well, I'll leave you until you go sane again. See you, Fred, George"

"Zoe?" Fred asked, letting go of his brother and walking up to his girlfriend. He waved his hand in front of her face, but Zoey didn't seem to be noticing.

"I think she's zombified." George said, finally calming down.

Fred looked over to his twin. "Catch up with Echo, see if she'll tell you anything," he told him and watched as George got the hidden message in his words and ran after his girlfriend. Fred then looked back to Zoey.

"Zoe?" he repeated, "Are you alright?"

At the sound of Fred's voice, Zoey seemed to snap back to reality. She looked up at him and clutched her hand closer to her chest. She gave him a forced smile. "I sort of spaced out," she said before looking around, "I see Echo's off to do some Head Girl duties. George escorting her?"

"Zoe, what's wrong?" Fred asked; knowing Zoey was avoiding the topic.

"Nothing's wrong," Zoey lied poorly, "I just remembered. I have to meet up with Jane today."

Zoey easily walked around Fred and looked back at him. He was giving her a look, a look saying he knew something was wrong; he wanted to know what it was but wasn't going to push it. Zoey was grateful and gave him an apologetic smile before running back into the castle. She ran was far as her still aching legs could bring her until she collapsed in front of the girl's lavatory. She breathed out a shaky breath as she tried to regain composure. She already learned her place. She just wished everyone would too.

* * *

It was another day in Umbridge's class and Zoey felt her heart falter. She was seated in the third row together with Jane while Umbridge sat up in front, on the teacher's table. Today, Hufflepuff shared their DADA class with the Gryffindors. Zoey sneaked a look behind her. The twins were seated at the far back corner of the room, glaring daggers at the toad queen. Zoey looked back at her book. Ever since the twins found out about what Umbridge did to Echo; their dislike for the pink woman grew. It wasn't pretty to look at. Zoey gave a sigh. She wished they wouldn't do anything to get themselves into trouble. Knowing them, they would get revenge and knowing them getting revenge, they would get into trouble. Zoey knew the pattern and knew that if they didn't get away, they would be landed in detention with Umbridge. Zoey bit her lip; she really hoped that that wouldn't happen.

"This is so boring," Jane whispered to Zoey as she flipped a page, "All we're doing is reading. I want to do some spell action"

"Shh," Zoey hushed her, "Just return to chapter five of the book"

"But I've already read chapter five!"

"Silence please," Umbridge called in her poisoned honey voice, "Please, continue reading"

Zoey did so and began to take notes on the chapter. Jane looked at her incredulously and sneaked a glance at Umbridge, who was checking papers, before leaning closer to Zoey.

"What are you doing?" Jane asked

"What you aren't doing," Zoey whispered back, glancing at Jane then to Umbridge and back to her book and notes, "Go back to chapter five"

"I told you I already read chapter five," Jane said, "Why are you taking notes? Heck, why are you even reading the bloody book?"

"Because we were told to now Shh," Zoey hushed her once more.

Jane ignored the shh-ing and continued to talk to the Emeraude. "I wonder when those twins would pull a prank on the toad lady," she told her, "She's really getting on my nerves. Have you heard her laugh?"

"Silence, please," Umbridge called out.

"Do you have any idea if they have anything up their sleeves?" Jane continued to whisper.

"Professor Umbridge told us to be quiet, Jane. We must listen to her. Go back to reading chapter five," Zoey said stiffly as she tried to focus on taking her notes.

"I already told you. I've already read cha –"

"Then move onto bloody Chapter six then!" Zoey suddenly exclaimed, looking at Jane with a look the girl has never seen before, "Why don't you just be quiet and read the damn bo –"

But Zoey's words died on her lips when a hard object made contact with her back. The force was so powerful that Zoey was pushed forward. She bit back a scream.

"I asked you to be quiet, Miss Emeraude," Umbridge said with a pleasant smile on her face, a familiar stick in her hands, "I thought we've gotten over this… or have you forgotten our rule on silence during class. Why do we have it?"

"We must be quiet during class because we don't want to disturb those who want to learn," Zoey recited before another hit was sent to her back.

"Proper posture, Miss Emeraude," Umbridge giggled.

Zoey fixed herself and face forward, her back straight. She did not take notice to Jane's horrified expression, the class's surprised faces or the twins', specifically Fred's, angered looks. She simply faced forward. She thought if she would simply obey her teacher, she would go away and back to her desk… only that didn't happen. Umbridge had slapped Zoey's mouth with her hand.

The Emeraude tasted blood.

"And what did we say about swearing?" Umbridge tilted her head to the side. She spoke slowly and clearly, as if she were talking to a child.

"It… it," Zoey breathed in, "It is not proper for a lady to swear"

Umbridge nodded her head and took Zoey's left hand, looking at it. She made a face before letting it fall back to Zoey's side. "I see it had already faded. Would you want it to return as a… reminder?"

"I'll be good," Zoey whispered making Umbridge give a sickening smile.

"Continue reading… in silence," Umbridge looked at each and everyone in the classroom before walking back to her desk, "Mr. Weasley, please sit down"

Zoey did not dare sneak a glance at Fred, she had guessed it was him, and returned her gaze back to her book; mouth shut and back straight. She had been the one at fault. She had spoken too loudly and swore. She did not use her euphemisms. Zoey peaked at Umbridge before speaking in her softest voice.

"I'm sorry I shouted at you," she whispered to Jane, who had yet to wipe away the horror-stricken expression on her face.

"_You're _sorry? You were the one who was punished because I wasn't listening!" Jane whispered frantically, "You have to tell –"

"Quiet," Umbridge smiled.

"Just read your book," Zoey told her friend before flipping a page in hers.

* * *

The bell rang through the school signaling the end of class. Numerous doors opened and students walked out with books in their hands and either happy or stressed out expressions on their faces. Some students where even going back into the castle from their Care for Magical Creatures Class. Just a regular day except one particular student didn't come out of class with a happy or stressed out expressions, no, it was a look of one being beyond irritated. This student was none other than Bridgit Cari Parker.

Bridgit, as previously stated, was irritated. Correction, she wasn't _just _irritated; she passed that line a long time ago. She was feeling something _beyond _that simple word, something more and just as negative. The Ravenclaw had just gotten out of Charms class with the bloody Slytherins.

"Stupid Slytherins," She mumbled as she walked down the hallways, adjusting the things in her arms as she did so. She passed many students and glared at any Slytherin that had caused her current feeling. The Parker turned a corner and made her way to the dungeons. Her next class was Potions with the red and gold lions, the Gryffindors.

"Egotistic, Irritating, Pompous, Dramatic, Annoying sons of bitches they are" Bridgit continued to mumble under her breath as she made her way to her class. She had already memorized the path she needed to take and had no trouble getting to her destination even when she was not paying attention to her surroundings. Bridgit was so deep in thought that she did not realize that two pairs of eyes were watching her as she walked.

"How dare they call me a Mudblood, while their blood is ten times dirtier than mine," She continued, walking faster towards the dungeons. "Death Eater scum," She mumbled once again, picking up her pace. She was just about to near her destination when a hand on her shoulder stopped her. She jumped in shock.

Bridgit, out of instinct, took out her wand and swiftly turned around only to see her two friends, Fred and George, standing behind her. She let out a breath as she returned her wand into her robes.

"Seriously? Are you always this jumpy?" George raised a brow, placing his hand back to his side before the three of them continued their way to class.

"It's habit you know!" Bridgit answered, whacking George. "I'm a Death Eater, or did you forget that?" she then asked, shaking her head. How the hell did Echo fall for a moron like George, she will never know.

"Oh right, you're our little spy," Fred smirked, making Bridgit turn to him.

"I'm not your spy, I'm the Order's spy," She corrected, turning away and continued walking.

"Speaking of the Order, do you have any deep secrets that you can share with us?" Fred began 'innocently', making Bridgit bite her bottom lip.

George nodded and continued, saying: "Anything involving the rise of You-Know-Who? Or at least something we can blackmail against Malfoy, anything would do."

"Well, I can't tell you anything about Voldemort, but I can share some juicy stories about Malfoy," Bridgit answered, making the twins smirk. Anything to blackmail the Slytherin prince would be perfect.

"Do tell..." The twins urged, but before Bridgit could continue they had already reached their classroom. They looked at the cold steal door. It looked like they were going to enter their doom, death penalty, jail, probably all three if you were unlucky enough.

"Maybe after class," Bridgit answered, opening the door and walking in, the twins followed. When the trio entered the room, they had found out they were the last to come, not including their dear ol' Professor himself. Bridgit looked around, scanning for a friendly face before her eyes landed on a boy with messy, strawberry blonde hair. Bridgit smiled. She placed her things on the table before taking her seat beside Aiden, offering him a smile.

"Hello, Aiden," she greeted as she took out her book, quill and ink bottle, ready for anything Snape was going to throw at them.

"Good Afternoon, Bridgit," Aiden smiled at her, he too got his things out.

"So Aiden," Bridgit began, a teasing smile on her lip, "how are things with Jane?"

Aiden's eyes widened at the mention of his girlfriend and a blush crawled onto his cheeks. Sure, almost everyone in school knew they were an item but actually talking about it, acknowledging it, was rather embarrassing for him. After all, he still couldn't believe that a girl like Jane would fall for a guy like him.

Bridgit, seeing the blush on the boy's cheeks, smirked and brought him out of his thoughts. "You know… you should really think about putting a Silencing Charm around your bed, Aiden. Jason Samuels says that you sleep talk; most of the time, apparently, you say her name. It's really bothering him," she paused, "That or he could just be jealous"

"Is that so?" Aiden asked, a blush still on his cheeks though trying to keep a straight face, "I might have to talk to Jason about that then"

"Well, if it helps, I hear he's allergic to crabs," Bridgit then said, making the boy smile at her, a plan already in his mind.

After that little conversation, Aiden was about to start another topic, a question in his mind when Snape literally barged into the classroom, his cape flowing behind him as he made his way to the front of the class. The man slowly turned around to face his students, his expression not entirely cheerful, not a new thing, when he saw that none of his students were Slytherins. A shame

"Good Afternoon… class," Snape said slowly, scanning the students, his face and voice clearly reading annoyance.

"Good Afternoon, Professor Snape." The student's chorused out of habit, not making much noise after the greeting.

Snape spoke.

"Today, we will be learning how to brew an Elixir that will Induce Euphoria," he said, folding his arms across his chest. Normally, he would just flick his wand at the board, making instructions and ingredients appear… only that didn't seem to be the case today. "Open your books to page fifty – seven and begin."

Bridgit and Aiden, not wanting to be called by Snape, were taking out their things, when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked up to find Fred and George standing there with grins on their faces. She sighed. "I told you I'd tell you after class," Bridgit told them, waiting for them to leave. They didn't.

"Fine, what do you want?" Bridgit asked when she finally got all her things organized. Ingredients carefully placed in front of her and her book opened on the correct page, instructions ready to be followed.

"We need you –" George began

"– To help us brew this potion." Fred ended making Bridgit give off a soft laugh.

"What makes you think I'll do that?" Bridgit asked, hand on her hip, "Besides, don't you usually go to Echo?"

"We would –" Fred now began.

"– If we could –" George continued.

"But she's not here." They ended, with a shrug.

"Stop doing that," Bridgit told them, looking back at her things, "It's creepy."

"Help us then." Fred said like it was the most obvious solution in the world, to him it was. Before Bridgit could answer, the three of them were whacked on the head by a not so light book. They all flinched at the contact.

"Ms. Parker, and Misters Weasley, please get started on your potions," Snape sneered, not liking the fact that his students were dawdling. "Ten points from each of you," He continued, now walking away.

"But –" Fred began, but Snape had cut him off.

"Twenty"

"That's –" George continued.

"Thirty"

"Not fair!" they both finished, shouting at the Potions Master.

"Forty" Snape finished, slamming the book he used to hit them with on the table. "Would you like to make it fifty?" He tested, not really caring is he removed more points, and the twins immediately shut up.

"Great job dumb and dumber," Bridgit said, holding back her laughter, "Way to make your house win the cup."

"Sheesh, our job is to lose points," Fred said with a role of his eyes. It was not like this was the first time Snape took more than thirty points away from their house because of he and his twin.

"Harry is who makes us win," George continued, and Bridgit shook her head. She turned back to her work and started brewing her potion. The twins, seeing what she as doing, turned around to work on their potion as well.

"Tell me again, why I said I would help them?" Bridgit turned to Aiden, who was silently working while the twins and Bridgit were talking. The boy looked up at her and then to the twins who were messing around with the ingredients. Having the occasional rats tail thrown back and forth.

"Something about Echo not being here," Aiden answered, making Bridgit whack his head. "Right, Rhetorical question, sorry," he apologized, rubbing his head and turning back to his potion. Bridgit laughed.

The class was quiet, the air filled with the occasional sounds of chopping until the air was suddenly filled with the singing of the Weasley twins. It would have been fine, having someone sing in class… if they were in tune.

"Did you two drink the potion?" Bridgit asked; stopping her work and watching the twins turn to look at her.

"We decided that ~" George sang out, making the others, who weren't already staring at him, stare at him.

"The best way to know ~" Fred continued, ending the last word in a higher note. His voice cracked a bit.

"How the ~" George continued in the same off key tone he was using. Bridgit, and the rest of the population in the class, wanted a pair of earplugs.

"Potion works ~" Fred prolonged the last word. The class was certain that the windows were going to break soon. Maybe the twins should teach the Fat Lady some singing lessons.

"WAS TO TEST IT~!" They ended with a prolonged high note.

There goes the window.

"Idiots!" Bridgit said, going to the stock room and taking two sprigs of peppermint; one for each of them. She hurriedly went back to the twins and forcefully shoved the peppermints into their mouths; thankful that by doing the action, shut them up, and watched patiently as they chewed it before swallowing.

A few seconds passed till they concluded that the singing was now cured.

"How could you not know that the side effect of that potion is excessive singing?" She asked, making the two share a look. They then began to burst into laughter. Their singing was pretty horrible.

"FIFTY POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR!" Snape's voice rang out, the thick book slamming against his table once more, "And five points to Ravenclaw for Ms. Parker's damage control."

At that, Snape retreated to his office, closing the door as he did so. The Gryffindors then glared at Fred and George, though they weren't _that _made, they have gotten used to them losing points for their house, before moving back to their potions. The Ravenclaws were particularly happy for their gain of five points.

"You two just can't keep your mouths shut," Lee said from across them, smiling as he shook his head. The twins grinned at him and shrugged.

"I feel sorry for whoever marries, and or has kids with them," Bridgit whispered, to a still laughing Aiden. At her words, Aiden laughed even harder.

"Good luck to Zoey and Echo then," He told her and Bridgit laughed as well.

"HEY!" The twins exclaimed when they heard what Aiden said. The two looked over to them and laughed even harder. Their faces were beat read that it rivaled with their hair.

After that little laugh, they continued with their work without any disturbances and before they knew it, class had ended. Everyone gathered their things quickly, wanting to get out of the classroom as soon as possible, and Bridgit, whose things were already fixed and in her arms, was planning to escape from the twins only, she wasn't that lucky. Before the girl could even get two steps away from her seat, two hands had grabbed onto her robes, stopping her. A small bark came from Bridgit's pocket.

At the sound, Fred let go.

"Do you carry that bloody dog everywhere?" He asked, as George, who didn't really have a problem with the dog, dragged Bridgit out of the classroom and towards a random direction.

The younger of the twins released his hold on the Ravenclaw when he reached his destination, the Astronomy Tower.

"Yes, I do," Bridgit took this chance to reply to Fred's question. She took a bite-sized cookie from one pocket and dropped it into the other. Suddenly, a small white dog popped out of her pocket, chewing. She petted Shinji before looking back at the twins.

"So...about Malfoy?" Fred began, ignoring the dog inside the pocket. Bridgit smirked.

"I'll tell you later, I gotta ask you two something now," Bridgit answered, making the twins share a look. After a few seconds of 'twin telepathy' between them, they looked back at Bridgit and nodded.

"What happened during your DADA class? I heard some Hufflepuffs whispering when you got out of the room," Bridgit asked, expecting a usual answer like Umbridge being unbelievable or something along those lines. What she didn't expect was a look of anger showing in Fred's eyes.

"Umbridge happened," George answered her, a bit angry himself.

"I see..." Bridgit nodded, "Explain"

"She hit Zoey on the back with a stick," Fred told her, looking out the window. He was trying hard to control his emotions and not to punch the nearest table.

"The bloody pink hag did what?" Bridgit asked. She was outraged at what Fred had just told her.

"And then she started saying things, as if they were rules," George explained, recalling the events of the DADA class. Wincing a bit when he remembered Zoey being hit. He could actually _feel _the hit from his seat. He was sure Fred did too.

"Like she was reminding her something...she even hit her mouth," Fred continued remembering the frozen state Zoey was in, almost as if she were a statue. He knew she was scared. Bridgit saw his knuckles whiten.

"That toad is messing with the wrong people," Bridgit said, gritting her teeth.

"The odd thing was Zoey didn't fight back," Fred said, looking back at Bridgit and saw her raise a brow. Zoey never broke the rules. They all knew that.

"No, Fred means she was following it, as if she was zombified by the rules." George continued, repeating his made up word.

At what George said, Bridgit suddenly knew that Zoey was tortured. That was the only reaction from a torture, she knew from first hand experience.

"Bridgit?" George asked, waving his hand in front of her face.

"Huh? What? Oh sorry, I was just thinking of something." She said, looking back at the twins.

Bridgit noticed that Fred was really angry. His face was red, his knuckles were white, and he needed to release his anger. Sure, it was wise of him to control his emotions but at times like these, it was getting unhealthy. He was going to explode if he didn't express himself. Bridgit decided to help. She opened the window Fred was looking out from and put a silencing charm around the tower so that he could only shout out the window and no one would hear them.

"Shout," Bridgit faced Fred making him look at her with confusion. She then turned to George, and pointed out the window. "Shout," she repeated.

When the twins didn't do anything, she heaved a sigh and looked out the window, cupping her mouth as if to amplify her voice. "I HATE UMBRIDGE!" She shouted, making the twins realize what she meant.

"WHY WAS ZOEY ACTING THAT WAY?" Fred shouted after Bridgit and he had to admit, it helped.

"WHY WON'T ECHO LET ME HELP HER?" George followed, remembering the incident that happened earlier.

"WHY ARE YOU JUST SHOUTING ABOUT GIRLFRIEND'S PROBLEMS?" Bridgit shouted again, making the twins burst out laughing.

"BECAUSE WE LOVE THEM AND THEY WON'T LET US HELP!" They both shouted, and this made Bridgit look at them shocked. The twins looked at her, blinking.

"Was not expecting that," She told them and they simply laughed in response.

"I HATE THE SLYTHERINS!" Bridgit shouted one last time, remembering what had happened during her Charm's class. This was really a great way to release anger

Suddenly, someone shouted back.

"OI! YOU UP THERE!" The trio heard the familiar voice of Filch shout. They burst out laughing before Bridgit removed the charm and pocket her wand. They hurriedly ran down the tower, not really knowing why they were in a hurry, it wasn't like Filch was fast, and jumped at the last three steps, landing gracefully on their feet.

"Do you think…" Bridgit started, breathing through her laughs, "That Filch saw us?"

"No..." Fred answered, taking control of his laughter as well

"I don't think so..." George continued, "I'm sure he only heard us"

"Oh look, isn't it the Mudblood and the Blood Traitors," Someone suddenly said, making them stop their laughter and turn towards the voice. It was no other than Draco Malfoy. He stood in front of them, arms folded across his chest and a sneer on his face. It didn't look attractive at all.

"Hello there, Draco, what did you say? Were you talking to yourself?" Bridgit asked, a smile on her face. She knew how to irritate Draco the most. She 'hung out' with him in Voldemort's hide out when they were there.

"Why you-" Draco began, a glare in his eyes, but Bridgit had cut him off.

"Don't be all talk now, Drakie," Bridgit mocked drawled, using his most hated nickname. "You can't even beat Ron yet, what makes you think you can take all three of us?" She continued, challenging him.

"Drakie?" Fred asked, turning to Bridgit, his brow raised with amusement.

"Didn't you know we're close?" Bridgit asked as she walked towards Draco and placed an arm around his shoulder, she gave them a peace sign. "Aren't we?" she then looked at Draco, smirk on her face when he cringed.

"I see that you are the best of friends," George snorted.

Draco glared at him before shrugging of Bridgit's arm. "Don't touch me Mudblood," his glare hardened.

"Sure thing, didn't want to touch you anyway...wouldn't want to get your dirty blood on me," Bridgit retorted. Draco was just about to say his comeback when he spotted Professor McGonagall approaching. The words died on his lips and they, his lips, made a light line as he glared at the Death Eater and the Weasleys before turning away and leaving.

"So...about Malfoy?" George began when the Slytherin was out of ear and eyeshot. Bridgit turned to him.

"What do you wanna know?" Bridgit asked, and the twins smirked as they continued their talk with Bridgit.

* * *

Later that day, the Great Hall was flooded with students. Why wouldn't it be? It was dinner after all. The air was filled with the clinking of utensils and the chitter chatter of the students. Their noise was proof alone that everyone was in the Great Hall, everyone except for three specific students who were the last to enter the room, not like anyone took notice. Bridgit gave the twins a quick nod before they went their separate ways. The twins to the Gryffindor table while Bridgit went to the Ravenclaw. Today was one of those days when Bridgit and her friends didn't eat with their Gryffindor buddies but instead sat on their own table. They needed to show their house pride every once in a while after all.

Bridgit smirked as she sat down on her seat. Everyone was present. It was perfect for something to happen. Something particularly embarrassing. The Ravenclaw glanced at the Slytherin table before looking over to her friends.

"Hello there!" Bridgit greeted, seeing Aiden across from her and sitting beside him was a girl with waist – length, straggly, dirty blonde hair and silvery gray eyes that seemed dreamily distracted. Her eyebrows were faint.

This girl was of course, Luna Lovegood

"Good Evening, Bridgit," Aiden greeted with a pathetic Dracula accent. Luna gave her a smile in greeting.

"Fail. Aiden," Bridgit laughed at him before piercing a strawberry with her fork. Why Zoey hated this fruit, she would never know. "So what were you guys talking about before I came?"

"Erm…Luna was telling me about…Nargles, was it?" Aiden answered, scratching the back of his head. It was a particularly random topic the blonde started and Aiden, being polite, just went along with it.

"Their the things in mistletoe right?" Bridgit looked over to Luna and out of the corner of her eye, saw Aiden's shocked expression.

"Yes," Luna answered with her dreamy sort of voice, "Their really pesky aren't they?"

"Yup, wouldn't want to be under mistletoe when they're there." Bridgit replied, suppressing a laugh at Aiden's face.

"How do you know what they are?" Aiden asked, raising his eyebrow at Bridgit. Why did she know what they were and he didn't?

"I read her dad's magazine. The Quibbler," Bridgit answered, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. To Aiden, it wasn't but he simply nodded his head anyway. He didn't want to be dragged into the conversation anymore. He took his goblet and drank from it.

Luna smiled at the mention of her father's magazine and was just about to strike another topic when an odd sound interrupted her. The chitter chatter of the students and the clinking sounds of the utensils seemed to stop when the sound erupted once more. It was coming from the Slytherin table. Everyone's attention moved to the table when the sound apparently came from a fifth year Slytherin, Pansy Parkinson. She clucked. Like a chicken. A bloody Chicken.

Another cluck came from the table only it wasn't from the girl, it was from the boy sitting beside her, Blaise Zabini.

One by one, each of the Slytherins let out a chicken cluck of their own. Looking as confused and outraged as the next. They tried to speak, yell out and demand who did this to them, but no words came out from their mouths. Simply the clucking of chickens. Like the fried ones on the plates before them. At one point, some of the Slytherins had stood up from his chair, arms bent in a way that looked like wings and began to flap them around, clucking as he did so. It appeared to be some sort of chicken dance.

A Slytherin even bent down and began picking at the corn with her mouth, like a real chicken.

Suddenly, a loud cry came from the Chicken group. It sounded almost like rooster waking up the farmer for a new day. The students looked at the far end of the Slytherin table and saw Draco Malfoy standing on the table, arms positioned like wings and his legs bent. He began walking forward in a chicken sort of manner. It was simply comical.

Bridgit grinned at the results and looked over at the twin, giving them a thumbs up when the caught her eye. They were holding in their laughter. The trio smirked, silently counting down, awaiting the next part of their prank.

"_Draco wants to be a chicken, Draco wants to be a duck, cluck cluck cluck cluck ~"_

The great Slytherin Prince sang out in a voice that didn't sound like his own. It was uncanny to that of a cartoon chicken from one of those Saturday Morning Muggle TV shows. He, Draco, began flapping his wings around. The teachers were too stunned to do anything. Was what they were seeing real?

"_Flap your arms like a chicken, flap your arms like a duck, cluck cluck cluck cluck ~"_

Draco continued to sing in that chicken like voice of his as he walked around the table, flapping his wing and kicking bowls and plates away from him. The other Slytherins joined in with the clucking and flapping.

Bridgit and the twins had fallen out of their seats from laughing; it was too much. Too much for them to handle. Harry and Ron were laughing hard as well, hands clutching their stomachs from the strength of their laughter. It was beginning to hurt but they couldn't help it. Harry wished he had Dudley's video camera with him

Hermione, on the other hand, was trying hard not to fall of her seat from laughter. She tried to keep a straight face, she was a prefect after all, but later failed when Draco let out a loud roosted like call. He really deserved it after all that he's done. Echo and Zoey watched with amusement, both knowing who was behind all this while Ginny was just laughing as hard as anybody, especially when Draco kicked a bowl of soup that landed on Crabbe's head.

"_If you wanna be a chicken, if you wanna be a duck, cluck cluck cluck cluck,"_

As Draco was singing, flapping his arms and jumping around thinking he could fly, Bridgit carefully made her way towards the twins, trying to go unnoticed which was painfully easy seeing as everyone's focus was on the Slytherin Prince. She and the twins looked at each other and laughed harder. The teachers were still too shocked to do anything. What was happening to their students?

Draco was now jumping all around, flapping his arms trying to fly. He learned that chickens weren't meant to fly for long periods of time the painful way. He had landed on Theodore Nott, knocking both of them to the ground. That was funny enough only Millicent Bulstrode wanted to try flying as well and landed on the two.

"_Then flap your arms like a chicken, flap your arms like duck, like me Draco!"_

Draco had miraculously escaped from under Millicent and ended his song with a rooster crow, jumping into the air as he did so. When the prank ended, and the Slytherins were free from the Chicken Curse, they came to the embarrassing realization of what they had done. Each of them looked around violently, cheeks red, looking for the prankster behind all this. None of the other students helped in their search, they were all busy laughing or regaining their breath.

"You… you did that didn't you?" Harry turned to Bridgit and the twins, his cheeks red from laughter and his breathing ragged. He was still laughing.

The trio nodded, grins plastered on their faces.

"You gotta tell me how," Ron now said, trying hard to breathe from laughing. He was still living in the moment.

"Maybe..." Bridgit began

"Maybe not..." The twins ended.

The students continued to laugh and the only time they stopped was when a woman's voiced shouted over their laughter.

"SILENCE!" The woman shouted and all of the students looked over to the teacher's table, seeing Umbridge red in the face. She looked like a tomato. A big ol' pink toad – ish tomato.

"Who did this?" Snape joined in, he was brought out of his horror filled dream, his voice echoing throughout the hall. Bridgit shared a look with the twins and the three of them proudly stood up.

"WE DID!" They shouted bravely, making everyone cheer and applaud them. They bowed, but Snape was not amused. He shouted the students into silence, one of his many talents.

"Why, may I ask, would you three do such a thing?" Snape asked, his brows furrowed and his words filled with anger. He didn't look angry, frankly speaking it was the same face her wore everyday, and his words were still as slow… and threatening as ever.

"Because your house is filled with rats disguised as students!" Bridgit answered happily, unafraid of the Head of Slytherin.

"And we wanted to turn them into rats," Fred continued, grin still plastered on his face

"But we only had a potion for chickens, but they're chickens too, I mean...have you seen Malfoy run away?" George said in a loud voice, laughing victoriously.

"Agreed! He is a chicken! 'Professor Snape! Harry's done this, Harry's done that!'" Bridgit said; her imitation of Malfoy was uncanny. The students from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw burst into laughter once more.

"Why you filthy –" Malfoy began, red with anger and embarrassment, but he saw the teachers glare at him, and dared him to continue. He shut up and glared at the three.

"You three shall be joining me and Mr. Potter for detention tonight." Umbridge said, making Fred, George, and Bridgit shrug. They've had detention loads of time, what made this any different? They turned towards Harry, and with a simple "See you in detention," they went back to their business, dinner.

Bridgit made her way back to the Ravenclaw table and continued her meal, missing Zoey's worried looks and glances.

* * *

It was the second time Zoey was in the Gryffindor Common Room; first being the time Bridgit decorated the room with Slytherin colors. The Hufflepuff sat on the carpeted floor and watched carefully as Fred, George and Harry each had their hands in a bowl of Essence of Murtlap. Bridgit was back in her own Common Room, being treated by Echo. She looked over to Harry's hand which had the bloody words of _I must not tell lies. _While Fred and George both had _I must not Cause Ruckus in School. _Zoey was sure Bridgit had the same.

"You two…" Zoey grumbled at her boyfriend and at his twin, "Why did you have to pull something like that?"

"Malfoy was getting on our nerves..." Fred answered, and hissed in pain

"So this is what Echo was trying to hide..." George suddenly sighed, the pain making him cringe.

"Yes, that's what she was trying to hide. Painful isn't it?" Zoey spoke out of experience, her voice softening.

"Yeah..." The three boys answered, as they watched their hands heal bit by bit. "How do you know? By the way..." Harry asked, making Fred and George look at her curiously as well. Zoey never got detention, except for that one time in third year anyway.

"Isn't it obvious?" Zoey raised a brow, "Your hands are carved with words you don't want to walk around with. Of course it's painful"

"In any case, I still think Malfoy deserved it." George said, letting the subject drop for the mean time.

"Deserved it or not. _I _didn't deserve searching each and every one of the Slytherin population for any traces left of that Chicken potion you gave them and what not," Zoey pouted, "I didn't deserve lodging that potion checker stick thing down their throats checking for clucking. It's disgusting especially with those minions of Draco! Their breath stinks!"

"He deserved the prank, I didn't deserve the aftermath," Zoey continued, "If looks could kill…"

"Sorry about that, we didn't know you'd get stuck with 'Drakie's' crew afterwards," Fred said, smirking as he used the annoying nickname, "I'll just treat you on the first Hogsmeade trip."

"Drakie?" Harry asked, letting out a laugh even if his hands were in pain.

"Oh hey Ha – What happened?" Hermione asked, appearing from the girl's dormitories. She walked towards her best friend and Harry immediately hid his hand from his furious best friend.

"And the truth comes out," Zoey chimed in, waving her wand and making the three bowls disappear, "You don't want them to be soaked for to long. You'll get prune - y skin, let them heal on their own time"

"HARRY!" Hermione gasped, taking hold of Harry's hand. Harry cringed at the sudden contact. "Who did this to you?" She asked, and looked at the written words. She then looked at Fred and George's palms. "Bridgit has one too, doesn't she?"

The twins nodded their head and stared at their hands. A permanent reminder of the opposite of what they should do. Fred smirked at that thought. Zoey saw the smirk and slowly got up from her seat and made her way to the door.

"Leaving so soon?" Fred asked, as Hermione fussed over Harry like she always did. Scolding him to tell their Head of House.

George just laughed as Harry was persuading Hermione to leave it alone and failing.

"I have to get back to the Hufflepuff Basement," Zoey answered Fred, ready to open the door, "I'm not allowed in here and besides, it's after curfew"

The Emeraude gently opened the door, thinking that she could get away; only she was sadly mistaken. The moment she stepped out, she nearly bumped into the pink toad. Umbridge smiled at the sight of the Hufflepuff.

"And what do we have here?" she giggled.

The Gryffindor Common Room door slowly swung close and Umbridge giggled at the shocked expression of Zoey and her friend's from the Gryffindor house.

* * *

**OH! Another long chapter!**

**You know, I wanted to end this chapter with a good note but apparently I do NOT have that ability. Maybe I'm just sadistic...**

**Thank you ZOOMSKATER14 for the enormous help, prank idea and the like**

**Also HayleyParadox, thanks for the help too :)**

**Everyone who reviewed, favorited and alerted this fic... thank you. I really appreciate them :D**

**The Chicken Song Draco sang... not mine... Came from Elmo with changed lyrics and such. :P**

**Ha.. Clucking Slytherins. It's funny because Snakes eat chickens. Or chicks. I've only seen it happen once. In a zoo when I was about 10. I learned the sad truth the hard way. May Clucky rest in piece.**

**Well, I'm sorta hungry now and it sucks because It's MAY and I'm still fat... chubby. Legs are not to my liking. OKAY too much info there. I'm sorry :))**

**The flashback at the beginning of the story is the continuation of the flashback from Chapter 19: Troll in the dungeon missed?**

**Thought you outta now :P**

**Well,I guess that is all. I have nothing more to say except**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter**

**Please tell me what you thought**

**Excuse my typos and the like (Even though I beta-ed it already)**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter**

**And**

**I only own what I own**

**(SHIIIZZ! Longest CHAPTER EVER! My gawd. It already beat Chapter 70? It's the author's note isn't it :)) If all these long chapters keep up Im afraid I won't be able to write a chapter with only 5,000 words without thinking it's short :P)**


	77. Chapter 75: Spontaneous

**Chapter 75: Spontaneous**

_It was night time at the Burrow and Molly was trying to get all of her sons ready for bed. Sadly, she could not see that happening anytime soon. Lucy had come over, pregnant as ever, to assist her but did no such thing seeing as all she could to was waddle, sit, laugh and eat. She was no help at all. Neither was Natalie, who was enjoying the show, a bowl of muggle popcorn in her hands. The two girls watched with amusement as the Weasley mother ran around the house, two pajamas in her arms, trying to get her sons dressed for bed. She only succeeded with Percy and the twins. Percy, being the obedient son he was, allowed his mother to dress him up the moment she told them it was time to get ready for bed. The twins, being just a few days old, had no choice._

"_You can't catch me, mum!" Charlie said gleefully as he jumped from couch to chair, "I'm flying on a dragon!"_

"_Well tell Mister Dragon to land back on the ground so you can get ready for bed," Molly said, holding up his jammies._

"_Never!" Charlie roared with laughter, jumping away again._

_Molly sighed and looked over to Bill. "How about you?"_

_Bill grinned at his mother before running up the stairs, not wanting to get dressed. He was eight, he was the eldest but he was also a boy. Baths and bedtime weren't really on his list. Molly gave a sigh when her son disappeared up the stairs, thumps of his running heard, and looked over to Lucy and Natalie, shooting them a look._

"_You couldn't have helped me?" she asked._

"_Hey, pregnant remember?" Lucy laughed, patting her belly gently, "I couldn't possibly go against Charlie's dragon!"_

_Molly looked over to Natalie. "And your excuse?"_

"_I would have encouraged them to run away anyway," Natalie laughed, eating more popcorn, "This is delicious! Where'd you get it?"_

"_Arthur brought it home the other day, together with that toasterwaver. The kids thought it was magic," Molly sighed, folding the two pajamas that wouldn't be in use that night._

_Natalie slowly nodded, shoveling a handful of popcorn into her mouth. "Toasterwaver, huh? I have got to get me one of those"_

"_What you have got to get is off your butt. You have to get those two down here and get them ready for bed," Molly told the popcorn-eating girl. _

_Natalie had said she hated kids but in truth she hated babies. Their cries, it scared her. Kids; however, were another thing. They cried but only when they got hurt. She was good with kids, played their games and taught them how to play hers. Bill and Charlie would listen to her. _

"_But why?" Natalie pouted, "You already folded their jammies!"_

"_I can easily unfold them," Molly placed her hands on her hips._

"_Can't you just, I don't know, Accio them into their pajamas?" Natalie asked._

_Lucy laughed at her friend. "That's not how parenting goes, Natalie," she spoke in her gentle tone, the tone she used when she turned rather motherly. Zoey wasn't even born yet and Lucy was already taking on the mother voice. The voice that could be so gentle and soothing yet rather scary when used to scold. Lucy hoped she never got the chance to scold her child. "You can't use magic on your kids."_

"_And how would you know? Your little bundle of screaming, pooping joy isn't even born yet," Natalie grumbled, placing her bowl of popcorn on the table and stretched. She might as well get those two into their pajamas before Molly nagged her to death. "Come to think of it… when are you getting her out of your system? You look about ready to explode."_

"_Please don't explode right now. I just cleaned the floor," Molly laughed_

"_It's nice to know you care, Mol," Lucy gave her own laugh_

"_But Natalie's right ("Of course I'm right! I always am!") You shouldn't be flooing or Apparating right now," Molly said to the pregnant woman, "You could be due any day now"_

"_I'm not due till the end of April," Lucy told her._

"_That's less than a week from now!" Molly said with wide eyes. Natalie took this chance to escape, she did not want to be in the same room as two mothers, one yet to be mother, it was just too awkward for her._

_Lucy watched Natalie retreating up the stairs, the girl not really wanting to Apparate, and looked back to Molly with a smile. "I'm fine," her eyes then widened, "Less than a week? I'm going to be a mother in less than a week?"_

"_I thought you knew," Molly took a step back._

"_Oh my! Oh my, oh my, oh my," the pregnant woman had tears in her eyes, "It's like an early birthday present. My daughter… oh my"_

_Molly's wide eyes softened as she took a seat beside her friend. She knew what it was like to be pregnant; she was pregnant four times now, the latest with two children inside. The woman knew how happy she was when she realized how closer and closer she came to her due date. She would always say 'One more month…. Two more weeks… five more days' until the actual day came. The day when her child was welcomed into the world. She cried happy tears too._

_It was inevitable._

"_I think she would like it here, Zoey I mean. When she's old enough, I'll bring her here whenever I can. She'll play with everyone and make everyone smile and then she'll fall in love with one of your sons," Lucy spoke after wiping away the last of her happy tears_

"_You really want her to do that don't you?" Molly gave a laugh._

"_Of course I do," Lucy placed a hand on her stomach, Zoey kicked, "They're good boys even though they don't want to go to bed"_

"_They are," Molly smiled softly._

_Soon, Natalie came down stairs with a triumphant smile on her face. Her wand was held up and Bill and Charlie floated behind her. Both looked like they were jinxed with the Body-Binding Curse before levitated up above the ground. Lucy gave her friend a bemused look while Molly stood up abruptly, mouth hanging open._

"_What. Did. You. Do?" Molly seemed to struggle at her words. Her sons were dangling, arms and legs stuck together, in the air._

"_Got them ready for their jammie whammys," Natalie grinned, "Told you magic makes child care easier"_

_Lucy stood up, with effort, and placed a hand on Molly's shoulder before looking at Natalie. "Put them on the couches, gently," she did so, "And change them into their pajamas"_

"_What?" Natalie was shocked. _

"_You heard me. Get them changed while I take Molly into the kitchen for a glass of water," Lucy said._

"_But I already got them down here! Why do I have to change them?" Natalie whined._

"_Because you already got them down here. Another task won't be that hard," Lucy gently lead Molly to the kitchen; the woman was still in shock at her bound sons. Should she yell? She didn't have time to think before Lucy pushed her into the kitchen. "Oh, and Natalie? You are never going to babysit Zoey," Lucy ended with a smile before entering the kitchen herself._

_Natalie rolled her eyes and picked up the folded pajamas before looking at Bill and Charlie. "This is why I will never want to have kids," she told them, "Mothers are mean to their peers"_

* * *

_Lucy laughed gently as she watched Molly take a huge gulp of water before placing the glass back down. She was worried for her kids. She trusted Natalie…just not with sleeping duty. Natalie was only good at keeping the kids occupied during playtime. Bedtime was another story. Lucy gently rubbed her stomach and felt Zoey kick once more. It didn't hurt but she wished the kid would just come out already. Less than a week, that was far too long. She wanted to see her baby now. _

"_I can't believe she did that to my children," Molly said hoarsely, "Oh Merlin! What is she doing with them now?"_

"_Molly, calm down," Lucy said, placing a hand on Molly's shoulders so she wouldn't stand up from her chair, "I'm sure they're doing fine"_

"_Fine? She put a Body-Binding Curse on my sons!" Molly exclaimed._

_Lucy shh-ed her. "She did what she thought was the best way to get them ready"_

"_What was best?" Molly was baffled, "I thought you said that that wasn't how parenting works! You cannot use magic on your kids!"_

"_She needs to learn," Lucy told her._

"_But not using my kids!" Molly then stood back up and left the kitchen, stopping in her tracks to see Bill and Charlie dressed in their pajamas and already asleep on the couch. Natalie straightened up and wiped her brow, sending a peace sign at her friends._

"_I'm awesome," Natalie said with a whisper._

_Lucy and Molly shook their heads at the girl before Molly picked up Charlie while Natalie, who as now willing to follow orders, picked up Bill. Lucy quietly watched them make their way upstairs, to put the boys to bed. The pregnant woman followed right after them, careful with her steps. _

_When she saw the other two enter one room, she continued to head towards the twins' room. She had grown a fondness to the two. The woman sat on the rocking chair beside the crib and slowly rocked back in forth, humming to herself and watching Fred and George move a bit in their sleep. Her eyes softened at the sight. She could not tell them apart but she hoped she would eventually. The two were troublemakers at heart. Barely a month old, and they already caused their parents stress. Sure, they allowed themselves to get dressed for the night, unlike their elder brothers, but when it came to eating certain foods or playing with certain toys. It got hectic._

_The woman placed a hand over her belly once more and rubbed it. A few more days till little Zoey was going to enter the world._

_A small cry interrupted Lucy._

"_Hello there," Lucy said quietly, seeing one of the twins awake and looking at her curiously, "You don't want to disturb your brother, now do you?"_

_The baby, she didn't know which twin was which, blinked._

"_Well it still isn't very nice. He's asleep and you should be too," Lucy gently scolded him. She knew the twins; they liked to cause trouble. Making people sleep less was trouble._

_Twin number one, Lucy titled him, did not make another sound but he didn't go to sleep either. He was just staring at the woman's belly. He reached his tiny hand towards it, not quite long enough to reach._

_Lucy gave a soft laugh and took the baby's hand. He wrapped his chubby fingers around her long slender one._

"_I did not eat a watermelon, no," Lucy spoke, the idea just popping into her mind, "Sirius said I look like I did. Charming man, really," she laughed, "Little Zoey is inside me right now but soon enough you'd get to see her. Wouldn't that be fun?"_

_Twin number one made a sound. Like a small whine mixed with a burp. It was cute since he was a baby. Everything babies did were cute. A privilege they lose once they turn three._

"_She's going to be a cute baby," Lucy said in a soft voice, moving her finger up and down, making Twin number one give a giggle. "She's going to have her father's eyes and my hair. I know it. It would be a shame if she got my eyes, they're boring but if she got Sirius' hair … that's not fair," Lucy pouted, "His hair is better than mine and that's just mean because I'm the girl."_

_Twin number one had no idea what Lucy just said. He simply blinked._

"_Which one are you?" Lucy asked._

_The baby gave a burp._

"_I hope my daughter picks you then," Lucy smiled before gently releasing twin number one's hold on her finger and standing up. She placed a hand on her belly. "Agreed, Zoey?"_

_There was a soft kick._

It was another day in Hogwarts and Zoey found herself with her brows furrowed in concentration. She sat quietly in Charms class as she tried to listen to Professor Flitwick's lecture. The task used to be very easy but now, Zoey was having a hard time concentrating. She placed a hand near her pocket and thought back to what had happened this morning.

_It was another morning in Hogwarts and Zoey had found herself sitting on her bed, pills in her right hand while her left hand lay on one of her pillows. She was afraid to move her hand, not even a little twitch. About a week had passed since Umbridge caught her sneaking out of the Gryffindor Common Room and since that night, Zoey had relived the torture. Zoey winced at the memory of her sitting in Umbridge's office, alone, writing with that dreaded quill. Umbridge, being who she was, walked around Zoey with the familiar stick in her hand, lecturing her like all those years ago. The same whack of the stick and the same five words on Zoey's left hand._

_An entire week had passed and her hand still throbbed with pain. She wondered why. Maybe something was just wrong with her. Zoey distracted her thoughts away from her hand and looked to the pills in her other hand. She still didn't take them, she didn't want to take them, but she often wondered what would happen if she did. The Emeraude popped open the lid and peered inside. It was still the same, though not as much as before since some had fallen out during her summer in 12 Grimmauld Place. Zoey sighed._

"_You know, pain killers won't really help you"_

"_Pardon?" Zoey looked up to see Jane. She was staring at the pills in Zoey's hand._

"_Pain killers," Jane pointed at the pills, "They aren't going to help you. That toad woman used some kind of dark magic on you. No muggle medicine would make that go away"_

_Zoey looked to her left hand. "How do you even know what pain killers are? I don't know them"_

"_Aiden. He took them back in fourth year. They looked odd to me. I grew up with my wounds being magically healed. No need for pain," Jane shrugged._

"_I see," Zoey sighed, standing up from her bed and shoving the Auctor Sanitatis into her pocket, "We should go. We have DADA"_

_Jane groaned. "Do we have to?"_

"_Unfortunately, yes"_

Professor Flitwick's voice brought Zoey back to reality.

Normally, Zoey wouldn't be zoning out in class, especially if it was Charms. Zoey liked the subject, she was exceptionally good at it, and Professor Flitwick wasn't a bad teacher either. Today was an exception, seeing as she had just launched into a flashback during Professor Flitwick's demonstration of the spell they were going to learn that day. It wasn't like the spell wasn't interesting. No, if it were any other day, Zoey would be focused on learning it and being able to cast it before any of her classmates but something kept distracting her.

And not in a good way.

Umbridge was lurking at the back of the class, with a clipboard in her hands. She had posted a rule on inspecting each and every one of the teacher's classes. Today, obviously, it was Charms class with the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors.

Zoey suppressed a sigh when she saw Umbridge approach Alicia Spinnet and began questioning her. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see the twins glaring. Why did Umbridge choose to do this inspection thing? Zoey didn't know. All she knew at the moment was that she had another detention with Umbridge later that night.

She was not looking forward to it.

Nobody did.

Before anyone knew it, and much to Zoey's relief, class had ended and it seemed that Professor Flitwick had done well. She offered her Professor a kind smile before packing up her things, ready to leave the room. Zoey was just about to exit the door when the sound of someone clearing their throat stopped her. Zoey swallowed hard before turning to see Umbridge with her clipboard held to her chest.

"I'll see you later tonight, Miss Emeraude," Umbridge ended with a giggle before heading to Professor Flitwick to tell him when he would get his results.

When Umbridge left, Zoey felt like she could breathe again.

"Pleasant woman, isn't she?" Jane said from beside Zoey, shooting glares at the pink woman.

"Tell me about it," Zoey replied gloomily, rubbing at her left hand.

Jane, seeing what Zoey had done, picked up Zoey's hand and read it. Her brows furrowed. "You know, when I look closely it's like there's another thing behind this scar," Jane squinted, "Blimey, it says the same thing only with a different penmanship."

Zoey drew her hand back. "Your eyes are playing tricks on you," she told her, though what Jane had said was true. Zoey's writing ways had changed over the years and when the words were cut into her skin, it had overlapped the old scars making it look slightly messier than Fred or Harry's hand. Like something that couldn't be fully erased and was just written over.

It wasn't nice to look at.

"Well, getting over the fact that you're lying. Cheer up! You made the team! You're Hufflepuff's newest Beater!" Jane grinned, slapping Zoey on the back.

"Lower your voice," Zoey laughed, straightening up. The Emeraude was simply over joyed when she headed to the Common Room to see the list of those in the team. She almost screamed with glee when she saw her name written on the piece of parchment. It was really a dream come true. Zoey blushed, to think she was terrified of the Bludgers and was now assigned to fend them off. It was ironic.

"And why should I? I'm so proud of you I can shout"

"Please don't"

"Zoey Anastasia Emeraude is the new Huffle –"

But Zoey's hands muffled the rest of Jane's words; the Emeraude had a frantic blush on her face while Jane continued to shout, though no one could understand what she was saying.

"Shout on your own time," Zoey hissed at her

"Bat dis ish mah on tie," Jane's words were still muffled.

Zoey shook her head at her friend and swiftly removed her hands from Jane's mouth before she could lick it. A muggle thing she had heard from Aiden. It amused the girl but disgusted Zoey. The Emeraude stuffed her hands into her pockets, playing with the pills, as she walked beside Jane.

They were heading to their next class, Herbology.

As the two Hufflepuffs were walking, Jane began to talk. She talked about random things. Whatever came to mind. Some relevant to their day, schoolwork and lessons while others just amused Zoey. Making her laugh or give Jane a disbelieving look. This little conversation continued with every step they took until something happened.

"And don't you find it weird when – Zoey!" Jane exclaimed with wide eyes staring at Zoey who now laid on the floor, face down. Jane quickly knelt down beside Zoey and tried to help her up. Zoey had a pained expression on her face.

"What happened to you?" Jane was worried, "Did you trip?"

Zoey bit her lip, supporting herself with her arms and with Jane's help. "I – I don't think I did," she looked warily at her legs, "I… I just fell down"

"Fell down? Did you sprain something?"

"I… I … I can't move my legs," Zoey's eyes were wide with fear as she struggled to move her lower half. Nothing was happening. "Jane, I can't move my legs. They just…. Just stopped working and now I can't move them"

"You can't move your legs?" Jane asked, though hearing what Zoey had just said. "What do you mean?"

"I mean what I mean, Jane," Zoey's voice wavered as she tried to focus on moving her legs. She couldn't even bend them on her own. The most she can do was move them by using her arms and hands to direct them. They were like a doll. They needed someone to control them. "I don't know what happened"

"Well, we got to get you to the Hospital Wing. I'm sure Madam Pomfrey would know what to do," Jane said, placing Zoey's arm around her shoulder and her, Jane's, hand on Zoey's waist.

"And how do you expect to get me there?" Zoey raised a cautious eyebrow. Wondering what Jane was doing.

"I'm going to carry you of course," Jane paused, "Well, support you"

Zoey felt a little panicked inside. "Jane, don't. Just leave me here and get Madam Pomfrey to come."

"And leave you here alone? Are you mental? You need to see Madam Pomfrey, ASAP. Now, come on stand up"

Silence.

"Oops. Sorry, I forgot," Jane said sheepishly, getting a better grip of Zoey before lifting the Emeraude with effort. Zoey was light but wasn't exactly light to Jane. It was like carrying her, Jane's, own weight. Not fun. Jane grunted when she lifted Zoey off the floor and stumbled a bit to the side when she felt Zoey's full weight leaning on her. The Emeraude really couldn't use her feet. She couldn't even put her weight on them.

"Jane, I'm too heavy. Put me down," Zoey struggled with her words. She wasn't used to not being able to stand properly. She felt like her lower half was dead weight.

"Too late. I already got you off the dirty floor. Don't let my effort go to waste," Jane grinned at her before shifting Zoey. She then began to walk, ignoring Zoey's protests.

* * *

Zoey gave a soft sigh as she sat in one of the many hospital beds in the Hospital Wing. Jane had gotten her there in about forty minutes, dumped her on one of the beds, complaining about her cramped arms before informing Madam Pomfrey of what had just happened. Madam Pomfrey, being who she was, fussed over Zoey, asking her what happened from her own point of view and giving her several potions to help her. Soon enough, Zoey began to feel a tingling in her legs. She still couldn't move them though. The Emeraude looked over to the door. Jane had left after Zoey took the potion; she had to inform the teachers of what happened.

She, Zoey, looked down at her hands, thinking to herself. She had lost all feeling in her lower half, causing her to fall. How did that happen? Why did it happen? Zoey placed a hand over the pocket with the pills. Could _they _have prevented this?

Before she could wonder any further, the Hospital Wing's doors burst open revealing Fred.

"Mr. Weasley!" Madam Pomfrey scolded him, "You do _not _go barging into the Hospital Wing like that."

"ZOEY!" Fred shouted, totally ignoring the angered nurse. He ran towards his girlfriend and immediately began to worry about her.

"Are you okay? Were you injured? What happened?" He asked, not letting out a breath as he checked his girlfriend for any sign on injury or pain.

"Mr. Weasley! _Please _lower your voice," Madam Pomfrey told him before turning around. She knew about him and Zoey, she decided to leave them alone. Hopefully Fred had heard her warning.

Zoey looked at the retreating figure of the healer before looking back at Fred. She gave him a soft smile. "Hello," she greeted him.

"Hello?" Fred asked, his eyes wide. "I ran here as fast as I could, worrying about you and that's all I get? Hello?" he continued.

"Well, you didn't greet me," Zoey blinked at him. She then wiped his forehead. "You ran all the way here? Would you like some water? What about class?"

"Zoe… what happened?" Fred asked, ignoring her questions. She was the important person here, not him.

"Oh you know, gravity just being mean," Zoey waved her hand, avoiding his question a bit. He was already worried about her, no point in making him panic.

"You're blaming gravity?" Fred asked, "I don't think gravity just pulls someone down for no reason, Zoe"

"What do you mean? It has plenty reason. Keeps us glued to the ground so we won't float up to space and all that," Zoey grinned but the grin soon disappeared when she saw that this was no joking matter. "I fell," she told him.

"Did you trip?" Fred asked, still a bit worried.

Zoey shook her head, looking away from Fred for a minute. She didn't trip. She knew she didn't trip.

"Well then...how did you fall?" Fred was now wondering what happened. If Zoey didn't trip, then what caused her fall?

"How did I fall? That's a good question. How _did _I fall?" Zoey licked her lips, "I… my lower half just decided to stop working on my way to Herbology"

"Oh well that's a – wait what?" Fred asked, his eyes widening. "Just stopped working? Like you got paralyzed or something?"

After what Fred had said, Zoey hit her own head with realization. "_Paralyzed! _That makes a lot of sense!" she said shaking her head at her own 'stupidity', "But… No, I don't think so. I can feel a little tingling in my legs. Can't really move them though. No big deal"

Fred sighed. She really wasn't making this easy for him. Her legs had suddenly stopped working and she was saying it was not a big deal? What if it was her heart that suddenly stopped working? Fred winced at the thought. Maybe it was a good thing it was just her legs but either way, he just wished she wasn't in the Hospital Wing. He gently took her hand in his own and looked at her in the eyes.

"This is a big deal, Zoe," Fred told her.

"I'll be fine," Zoey squeezed his hand, "Just greet me"

"Gre –" but Fred wasn't able to finish his question for he found Zoey's mouth on top of his, kissing him. The kiss was soft and shy; Zoey wasn't used to doing it first, but filled with meaning. It held things that she couldn't say but wanted to. It was a secret sort of kiss. Fred leaned in and returned it.

* * *

"You actually did that?" Harry snorted into his hand, laughing at what Zoey had just told him.

It was Zoey's second day in the Hospital Wing and she could finally move her legs. The real problem was, can she walk? She hasn't found the time to test them out yet. Gravity was not nice to her to begin with; she did not want to greet the floor with her face. Anyway, it was Harry's free period and Zoey's _darling _godbrother decided to take this time to visit her, seeing as he wasn't able to yesterday. The visit turned out pleasant to begin with but now Zoey just wanted to whack him over the head.

"Not you too, Harry! It isn't funny!" Zoey pouted, folding her arms across her chest. She really wanted to get out of the Hospital Wing. Sure, she worked there from time to time but the feeling of actually being a patient was different. She was bored.

"Then what was it?" Harry raised a brow

Zoey thought for a moment. "Spontaneous," she then paused, "Stop it, Harry!"

"Sorry… ha ha… Sorry, I'll stop now," Harry grinned at his godsister. He really couldn't help it. She just acted cute in a way, cute in an older sister way yet also in a younger sister way, hard to describe.

"Thank you," Zoey sighed, "Honestly, first George, Jane, Echo, Bridgit and Aiden and now you. Next would be Ginny, Ron and Hermione. I'll never hear the end of it"

"Well, that's what you get for being spontaneous," Harry grinned, "Why'd you do it?"

"I wanted to try being spontaneous. Something new"

"How'd that work out for you?"

"I learned that my friends have horrible timing and can be very immature when they want to be. Honestly, walking in while me and Fred were… uhm"

"Being Spontaneous," Harry stifled a laugh

"Yes, and laughing their leprechauns off! It's embarrassing! And to think I thought they came because they were worried about me. But no. They came and laughed. Teased. I was as red as a tomato if not more! Fred didn't even back me up. He laughed along with them. That traitor," Zoey grumbled.

Amused Silence.

"Leprechauns?" Harry laughed.

"Is that all you got from my rant?" Zoey raised a brow, "It's a euphemism!"

"You can't even say ars – ("Don't say that word!") butt? Zoey, how old are you again?"

Zoey paused and looked down, her hair covering her face. "I'm old…. I'm old…" she said with fake despair. She was seventeen. When the Emeraude heard Harry laugh once more, she looked up to smile at him. She was waiting for that laugh. Sure, he laughed before but she wanted to hear it one more time. A laugh that was caused from her own little joke, not from her despair which was _slightly_ comical, slightly for her…very for others. When Harry had entered the Hospital Wing earlier, he looked both stressed and worried. Zoey had assured him that she was fine, the worry dropped a bit but the stress was still there. She then told him what happened with her and Fred yesterday, both unsettling feelings dropped.

When the boy stopped laughing, the stress and worry came back.

"Zoey, can I ask you something?" Harry began

"You already did," Zoey paused, "You're allowed another question. What's eating you?"

Harry rubbed the back of his neck. "Do you think I'll be a good teacher?"

"I thought you wanted to be an Auror?" Zoey's brows furrowed.

"Just answer the question, Zoey," Harry pleaded.

Zoey bit her lip. "Sure, why not? You're nice and smart. You'd be a great teacher"

"Not really the answer I was looking for," Harry sighed.

"What? Why?" Zoey was genuinely confused.

"Hermione's got this idea that I should be teaching…a… certain amount of people DADA. She says I'm good at it ("You are!" Zoey said loyally) but I don't really know. Sure, we need a proper teacher, Hermione's words, but why me?" Harry asked.

"Why not you?" Zoey spoke without thinking. The answer was automatic, obvious to her. "You survived against Voldemort. You have the most experience. Harry, I could name a lot of reasons why you would be the best option but just trust me. You can do it," the girl then paused, "Sign me up"

"W - What"

"That teaching thing you're going to be doing, sign me up. I want to learn from the boy – who – lived," Zoey smiled at him before messing up his already messy hair.

* * *

Zoey took a deep breath as she stood in front of the Hog's Head. She was finally able to walk again. By the time the fourth day of her being bedridden came, Zoey had had enough of it and pushed off her blankets, feet on the floor. She stumbled a bit at first but finally got the hang of it. Baby Steps. It was just like a child's first time to walk. Testing the gravity. Trusting it. Zoey had learned to walk again.

A few days ago, after Zoey had finally gotten back on her own two feet, Hermione had approached her, telling her to come to the Hogshead on the first Hogsmeade trip, saying it was very important. Zoey, being who she is, obediently pushed open the door and entered the little pub. Zoey wrinkled her nose at the sight. It was filthy. The Emeraude had never been to this part of Hogsmeade and frankly, she was a bit nervous. Zoey then caught sight of the Golden Trio. She put on her best smile and approached them.

"Hey," Zoey greeted, taking a seat beside Hermione as they greeted her in return, "So is this about Harry being a teacher?"

"Yes," Hermione replied, smiling a bit but also looking a bit nervous.

"Great," Zoey grinned before looking around the pub once more, "But why did we have to meet up… uhm… here?"

"We'll be getting to that," Hermione said, "Just as soon as the others arrive"

"Speaking of others. How many did you invite, Hermione?" Harry asked

"Just a few"

"That meaning –" but Ron never got to complete his question for the Hog's Head door opened and several more Hogwarts students came in, making their way to Harry and the rest.

Zoey watched patiently as Neville, Dean, Lavender, the Patil twins, Bridgit, Echo, Fred, George, Lee, Luna, Jane, Aiden, Cho, Katie, Angelina, Zacharias, Terry, Michael and whole lot more entered the pub. She raised a questioning brow at the large paper bags Fred, George and Lee were carrying. Without a doubt they were crammed with Zonko's Merchandise.

"A _couple _of people?" Harry said hoarsely.

"Yes, well, the idea seemed rather popular. Ron, could you pull up a couple more chairs?" the brunette then turned to Ron. Zoey patted Harry's back comfortingly before making her way to Fred. She smiled up at him.

"Hello," she greeted.

"Hi," he grinned, he was excited about the things he bought, "Want a Butterbeer?"

Zoey shook her head. She did not like the looks of the glasses provided.

"Suit yourself," Fred then turned to the crowd, "Oi! Cough up the cash, everyone, I don't have the gold to pay for all of these!"

The Emeraude watched as everyone dug into his or her robes for coins and handed them to Fred. In less than about five minutes, everyone settled down on chairs surrounding Harry. Everyone was sending him curious looks, the chatter already gone. Zoey listened carefully as Hermione began to explain about the need of a better teacher and that if they really were going to go up against Voldemort, He-who-must-not-named to those who cannot stand the name, they would need to learn what defense is, and that no other person can teach them better than Harry James Potter.

Some of the students were pretty convinced yet majority were still a bit cautious… suspicious. Namely, Zoey's Hufflepuff captain, Zacharias Smith.

"Well, that's the plan," Hermione said after her opening speech of what they were all doing in the dodgy pub, "If you want to join, we need to decide on how we're going –"

"Where's the proof You – Know – Who's back?" Zacharias spoke, almost aggressively. Zoey winced at his tone and looked over to him.

"Where's your proof that he isn't, Zacharias?" someone asked in an annoyed tone, it was Bridgit.

"First of all, no one has even heard of anything about You-Know-Who, and there hasn't been any attacks, and I don't see the teachers panicking about it." Zacharias answered aggressively, making Bridgit stand from her seat.

"Zacharias, do tell me what hole you are in and you haven't heard anything?" Bridgit asked, walking up to the bloody prick. "Didn't you hear about last year's incident? Didn't you hear about the attack during the Quidditch World Cup? And didn't you bloody hear Harry saying that he saw him come back?"

"So that's what were supposed to trust? A statement from The-Boy-Who-Lived? He could be making this up for attention!" Zacharias now said.

"Well I'd trust him more than you!" Bridgit answered. "Why wouldn't I trust Harry? He's saved _us_ countless times and I think that he deserves it!" She shouted more, and to prove her point she signed her name on the parchment that Hermione had lain out on the table. "Glad to be your student Harry." Bridgit said smiling, she glared at Zacharias before walking back to her seat beside Echo.

After that little episode, the people who did believe Harry began to complement him. Saying stuff about what he had done and what he can do. Everyone was in awe and from what Zoey could see deep down, they were trying to convince the others to believe in Harry. The spoke about how he could make a Patronus, how he fought against the dragon and many more. It was truly amazing. Zoey felt pride for being Harry's friend. Sure, she was not there during the times he saved everyone but just hearing about them… it was amazing.

"And nobody helped you get rid of those Dementors this summer," a girl, Zoey identified as Susan Bones, said.

Modest Harry: ON

"No," Harry said, "No, I know I did bits of it without any help but what I'm trying to say is –"

"Are you trying to weasel out of showing us any of this stuff?" Zacharias spoke once more. The kid just didn't know when to shut up.

"Here's an idea," Ron began, "Why don't you shut your mouth"

Zoey silently agreed. She really didn't look forward to putting up with this twerp any longer. What's worse was that he was in her house and her team captain. Life was unfair sometimes.

"Well, we all came to learn something from him and now he's telling us he can't do any of it," Zacharias shot back.

"That's not what he said," Fred snarled.

"Why don't you take the time to actually listen to what people are saying?" Zoey found herself talking. She didn't care if Zacharias got mad at her. She was plenty mad already. She didn't give a damn.

"Would you like us to clean out your ears for you?" George then pulled out a long and lethal-looking metal instrument from inside one of the Zonko's bags.

"Or any part of your body, really, we're not fussy where we stick this," Fred continued.

At that statement, Hermione interrupted them and brought the conversation back to Harry teaching DADA. Zoey listened attentively. They discussed when the meetings would be held and where. What would be the best time schedule, once a week, seven times a month and what not. One thing led to another and then they began to discuss when they should hold the meetings when there's Quidditch Tryouts. In the end, everyone began to line up in front of Hermione, ready to sign their names on the piece of parchment Bridgit had already signed.

Even Zacharias signed himself up.

"Coward!" someone called from the crowd, no one knew who though. Zacharias shot that person a glare while everyone else tried to contain their laughter.

When everyone had signed, Hermione rolled up the parchment and carefully placed it in her bag. The air around everyone was slightly awkward. Like they had just signed some sort of contract.

"Well, with that done," Fred said loudly, trying to break the tension, "Lee, my good man, could you please take these wonderful items up to our dorm while I take milady," he took Zoey's arm, "Out on a date"

"Wh – what?" Zoey's eyes widened a bit, blushing.

"Hey Fred! Please make sure Zoey can walk tomorrow!" Bridgit shouted, followed by a cry of pain from said girl. Zoey and Fred blushed, Zoey more so, at the embarrassing comment and thanked Echo for whacking Bridgit's head.

It was Lee who broke the next tension in the air.

"But of course good sir!" Lee said with a laugh and a bow before tipping and imaginary hat towards Zoey, "Ma'am"

Lee brought out his wand and charmed the Zonko's bags, even George's, to float in the air and to follow him. The Gryffindor was first to leave the pub. George then turned to Echo, asking her for a date as well. The Ravenclaw accepted, on one condition, they went to Honeydukes. When the first pair left, others followed until it was just Zoey, Fred and the Golden Trio in the pub. The Golden Trio were polite enough to look away from the couple.

"You… you aren't going to do anything… are you?" Zoey asked, brows knitted together and cheeks flaming red. She could not believe what Bridgit had just said.

"Of course not!" Fred said, aghast. "Mum would kill me if I did that before marriage!" He continued, making Zoey whack his head.

"That doesn't mean you don't want to!" Zoey answered, making Fred laugh.

"I was just teasing, Zoe," Fred said, and the trio felt even more awkward.

"Oi," Ron called, trying to get them out of their awkward situation "Could you two just go on with your date already?"

Zoey bit her lip at what Ron had just said before sidestepping towards the door, hands behind her back. "Well, you still owe me," she smiled at Fred, "Let's get going, yeah?"

"Of course Milady." Fred said, taking Zoey's hand from behind her and walking out of the pub.

* * *

The pair walked hand in hand down Hogsmeade, window-shopping. Occasionally they would pass by other couples and see them having PDA but they didn't mind. What mattered was they were together and nothing could interrupt their simple date. The two passed by Honeydukes and Zoey found herself giving a soft laugh when she saw George and Echo, hand in hand, with Echo pointing at numerous candies that caught her eye. Fred and Zoey continued to walk.

As they were walking, enjoying each other's company, Fred would crack a joke at a perfect time, making Zoey laugh and making her forget about all the bad things that had happened and will happen. She liked that about him, he made her forget even if it was just for a little while.

Zoey began to hum softly, singing almost.

"_When I see your smile,_

_Tears run down my face_

_I can't replace._

_And now that I'm strong I have figured out,_

_How this world turns cold and it breaks through my soul._

_And I know I'll find deep inside me,_

_I can be the one"_

"_**I will never let you fall.**_

_**I'll stand up for you forever.**_

_**I'll be there for you through it all.**_

_**Even if saving you sends me to Heaven." **_Fred continued.

Zoey stopped dead in her tracks and looked over at Fred. She didn't continue the song anymore; she just gave him an amused look, her face twisting a bit in trying to suppress her laugh.

"What's with you?" Fred asked, stopping his singing, if you can call it that, and raising his eyebrow at her.

"It's nothing. It's just that you… have an extraordinary singing voice," She grinned at him.

"I'm glad to know someone thinks that," Fred answered, even if he knew what Zoey had meant. "According to my housemates I have a horrible voice." Fred added.

"I wouldn't say _horrible,_" Zoey couldn't stop grinning, she squeezed Fred's hand, "From what Bridgit says, you could really have a duet with the Fat Lady"

"Har har, she's hilarious," Fred said sarcastically. "It's not like she can sing… well, I don't know if she can but still!" Fred continued, making Zoey laugh at his failed attempt at a come back.

"She can play the guitar," Zoey smiled up at him, "We all have our talents. Echo with the piano, Bridgit with the guitar. You and George have a talent in pranking and making everyone laugh."

"And your talent is to sprout wings," Fred said, smirking. Zoey laughed.

"Like that never gets old," she rolled her eyes, "I have a talent with Euphemisms"

She then sneezed.

"Liar!" Fred said laughing

Zoey waved him off, smile still on her face. "I think I want that Butterbeer now," she told him, turning around.

"Okay then, to the Three Broomsticks we go!" Fred said, following after Zoey's lead.

The Three Broomsticks was a nice place; a whole lot cleaner than Hog's Head and much more casual than Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. Zoey carefully drank her Butterbeer and scanned the room. A whole lot of the current population inside was of the students who signed themselves up as "students" under Harry. The rest were just normal Hogwarts students. Zoey took another sip of her drink.

"You know, I seriously can't believe Butterbeer has alcoholic content," Fred said randomly.

Zoey chocked on her drink and pushed the mug away, eyeing it cautiously. "It does?"

"Yeah, it has two percent alcohol or something," Fred answered. "Not enough to get you drunk so don't worry," he continued, offering her a smile.

"If you say so," Zoey muttered, bringing her drink closer to her, "But if I end up wasted. It's your fault," she paused, "Don't take advantage of me!"

"Why, Zoe!" Fred said, clutching his chest in mock hurt, "I didn't know you thought so low of me!"

"Bridgit got the thought in my head," Zoey then blushed after realizing what she just said. "W – what do you think of Harry being our DADA 'teacher'?" she failed at changing the subject.

"And she calls me the bad influence," Fred then said. "Well, I think it's gonna be fun! Harry's good at these kind of things, and it's better than reading and boring ourselves in Umbridge's class"

"True," Zoey hummed, taking another sip at her drink, she wasn't fast when it came to mugs of great size, and she placed her drink down on the table. Covering her mouth a bit to muffle her burp. She looked over to Fred and saw that he was busy chugging down his own beverage; her eyes caught sight of his left hand, the scars of his detention still there. She gently picked it up, thinking it would hurt the boy, and read the writings. She traced each letter with her finger, thinking.

"You know, we never did talk about what had happened in class…" Fred started, but Zoey cut him off

"No, Fred, please… I don't wan to talk about it," Zoey said, and Fred turned her around so she was facing him.

"Zoey, you have to trust me…" Fred said, the mischief in his face gone. "You have to let me help you… you're not alone you know"

"I know that… that's why I don't want anyone to help me," she gave a shaky breath, "It's too dangerous"

"Zoe, do you think that that would make me stop asking?" Fred asked. "That would only make me want to protect you, I've been patient Zoe and I trust you, but you're already getting hurt and I don't want to just stand by and watch that"

Zoey took a breath, her bottom lip quivering as she tried to think of an answer. No, Fred wouldn't want to stand by. He was a man of action. If we could, he would do anything in his will power to help. Even if it didn't benefit him. Fred was a prankster, yes, but he wasn't stupid or heartless. He was the opposite.

"I… I know that. I'm grateful for that but… there are some things that you can't help me with. Not even Harry or Dumbledore could help me," Zoey felt the pills press against her leg from inside her pocket.

"I'm not Harry or Dumbledore… I'm Fred, and if you haven't met me, I don't care about rules or safety," Fred said, "So please, help me to understand and let me help you"

Zoey's eyes widened at what he had just told her. How could she forget? He was Frederick Gideon Weasley. Prankster extraordinaire. Rule breaker and friend helper. He was just… Fred. The Emeraude looked around and saw that no one was looking at them and she focused her attention back at Fred. How could she have possibly kept everything a secret for so long? Why did she not seek help from those who offered it? Was she trying to be strong or was she just foolish? She took a deep breath.

"I…both my parents are dead and I stayed with my godfather and godmother for the time being before going to my Aunt's place to live. I didn't want to but I had to. When I entered my assigned house… I simply…broke. I don't know what happened but before I knew it… everything was broken. Tables turned and pictures ripped. It was a mess, it still is a mess," Zoey took a deep breath. If Fred wanted to help her, he must know what she had gone through.

"I stayed in that broken home for days before my Aunt Damiana came through the door. She was the picture of perfect. Tall, beautiful and the like, her beauty was ruined by her ugly personality. She… she insulted me when she came," Zoey scanned her memory. She had tried her best to push all of that behind her, "She wanted something of my mother's. She tortured me to get it." Zoey lowered her voice and duck her head. "The Cruciatus curse and the like. She used them on me to get information of the whereabouts of what she wanted."

Fred couldn't believe what he was hearing. Zoey was tortured, and for the past six to seven years that he's known her, he never knew how bad the torture was. He knew her aunt was hurting her, but he never thought that it had gone so far. He immediately pulled Zoey into a hug. "Go on Zoe, it's okay...I'm here," He whispered, trying to get her to continue.

Zoey took a deep breath, breathing in Fred's scent. The Weasley scent.

"What she wanted was my mother's box. The box you saved me from falling into the summer before our sixth year. She wanted that. I wouldn't tell her where it was located. Heck, I didn't even know what she was talking about till she hung me from a tower taller than the Astronomy Tower," Zoey paused, remembering the frightening experience. One of many. "When I finally understood what she was looking for, she wanted me to tell her where it was. I didn't know but she tried to torture the answer out of me."

"She wasn't the only one who participated in the abuse. Draco's dad and Professor Umbridge partook in them too," Zoey added as an after thought, remembering all the things she wanted to forget, "All that happened to me until I got my Hogwarts letter. Instead of enduring everything they threw at me every other day, I only get it during the summer"

Fred was letting out tears a few of his own now. He couldn't believe this. He couldn't believe that Umbridge and Malfoy was part of it, he couldn't believe that Zoey went through so much to find safety, he couldn't believe that he wasn't there to help her during those summers where she was brutally abused.

"Zoe, I'm so sorry...if I could turn back time, I would have come and saved you...I would have helped you...I would have taken you away," Fred said, now stroking Zoey's hair and he kissed her temple as well.

Zoey pushed Fred gently and looked at him in the eye, she wiped away the tears that escaped and smiled at him softly. "Hey, it isn't your fault," she told him gently. She was glad that no one minded them, "You're a Weasley and you're a boy. Boys don't cry," it was sexist, she knew that but she just didn't want him to hurt just because she did. "Coming to Hogwarts was the best thing that happened to me. I met Echo, You, George, Bridgit and all my friends. I regret nothing," she whispered, "But you know… my freedom came with a price"

"To gain my freedom I had to give it back in the end," she said in a quiet voice, "I promised I would tell you this over the summer but we didn't have the chance"

"What do you mean?" Fred said, not caring about what Zoey said about boys and crying. He let the tears fall, he didn't care about what other people thought.

Zoey's soft smile never left her face. This was a sad tale. A sob story. They were having such a great date but it was ruined with the ghosts of her past. She was finally letting him in, letting him know what had been happening all these years. Zoey accepted her faith long ago. She could do nothing. She broke her promise with Fred but she couldn't break hers with her aunt.

"The only way I was allowed to go to Hogwarts was if I agreed to make a promise with my aunt," she told him, "The promise was when I graduate I return to her. I go back to the Emeraude Suburb and stay there. Forever. I cannot leave the house I cannot have any contact with anyone. It would be like I disappeared from the face of the earth. I probably will."

Fred froze. He couldn't feel anything except for his cracking heart. He felt it shatter at her words, and he did what anyone would do, he hugged her tighter than he already was. "No Zoe," He said, letting out a choked sob. "You can't leave me," He said, still holding on to her tightly.

Zoey couldn't leave him, he had found his reason to go on, he found the person who he wanted to protect more than himself, he found the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, and God be damned if he was gonna let her go without even a fight.

"I would have to," Zoey then kissed him at the corner of his mouth. She was going to leave after this year. There was no more time to be shy with her actions. Spontaneous or not, every thing she did mattered. She was running out of time. The Emeraude gently took the Weasley's hands in hers and brought him up to his feet. She smiled at him; she didn't stop smiling, and brought him out of The Three Broomsticks. A gently breeze greeted them. Not many people were out right now. Most were in the shops or back in the castles. She began to walk.

"When I fell the other day," she began, she didn't want to leave anymore details out, "I think it was because of my… sickness if you will"

"Sick… sickness?" Fred asked, as he held tightly onto Zoey's hand. "Please don't tell me you're dying of a disease…." Fred said, but not in a joking tone. It was as if he was…begging.

Zoey blinked in thought, she stuffed her other hand in her pocket, playing with the pills. "Dying? Probably not. They didn't say that would happen to me…. Could be a possibility though," it was almost scary that her voice didn't waver at the thought, "They said I wouldn't be able to view things and interact properly. Maybe that's why my legs stopped working and I couldn't say… yeah," she paused, "They gave me a medicine to prevent it. Pills. They said if I took it regularly I'd be fine. One pill a day"

Fred froze on the spot once again. For the second time today, his heart shattered. Actually he felt his heart stop all together. He tugged Zoey's hand and placed her in front of him. He put his hands on the side of her face. "Why do you talk as if this is normal?" He asked, the tears still pouring. "How can you smile after everything you've been through? What you're still going through?" Fred asked, and he was holding himself to not crumple to the ground and just cry.

Everyone was allowed to have his or her weak moments. Those moments where you couldn't help but just let the tears flow. Fred was having that moment right now. Sure, he should be strong for Zoey but he couldn't help it. The news, it was overwhelming but he was still with her. He didn't leave her; he didn't want to leave her. Zoey's life was filled with problems but he still stood by her. Yes, he was crying but he was still holding on. He was strong in his own way. The Fred Weasley Way.

Zoey placed her hands over his. "Because I don't want to waste my limited time crying over everything that has happened to me," she told him, "I want my memories of freedom to be happy." She looked at him in the eye. "Smile," it wasn't a question.

"I can't" Fred answered, as he refused to believe that Zoey was accepting this, and not even trying to fight it. "How about we run, let's both run, after the end of the year...heck even now...we can run away and hide you from your aunt..." Fred said, trying to convince her. It was a reckless thought, but it was what he could muster up at the moment.

"Fred, you know we can't do that. Where would we go?" she asked, "She would find us. I want to spend my final year in Hogwarts with my friends, family and with you"

"We'll go live with Sirius, or we can leave the country! Zoe, we have to try…" Fred answered, trying to convince Zoey and himself, "You keep on thinking about spending this year with us, but I want to spend the rest of my living life with you…"

Zoey's eyes widened at what Fred had said and she felt like she couldn't breath. Her face was warm with her blush and her hands shaking with her overwhelming feeling. She took a deep breath and exhaled, it was shaky as well. "Fred," she began, "We… we can't do this. I – I told you all this because I wanted you to know…I…I…just…please understand that this has to happen. Me… leaving. It has to happen."

"Then if you have to, take me with you… I don't care if I have to be tortured, as long as I can be with you," Fred retorted, leaning his forehead against Zoey.

"Please, don't," Zoey breathed out, closing her eyes, "I want you to stay safe. Away from everything that has to do with the Emeraudes"

"Well, I'm sorry, Zoe, cause I'm madly in love with one," Fred answered, leaning in and finally kissing her.

The kiss was not one of pleasure; it was one of sadness, sorrow, and pure love. Fred's tears still fell and Zoey's arms wrapped around his neck. Fred moved his arms from her face to her waist and pulled her close. Yes, he needed this. He needed assurance that she was there, beside him and with him. And he wished that it would stay like that. When the need for oxygen finally came, they broke apart.

"Wow," Zoey breathed out, her eyes still close, her arms still around his neck and her face still close to his. Every kiss she had with him was breath taking.

"Wow…" Fred repeated, and regained his breath.

"Yeah," Zoey opened her eyes and grinned, "We should do this more often. The kiss part I mean." Her blush deepened. It was a shy blush.

"You won't hear me complaining," Fred answered, quite glad for the topic change. He couldn't take any more sadness, but he was glad to truly know the true Zoey.

Zoey gave a soft laugh before releasing her hold on Fred's neck and took his hand. "Let's go back, yeah?" she smiled at him before leading him back to the castle.

* * *

The next day, Zoey sat on the Gryffindor table with all her friends. Bridgit sat across from her beside George who sat beside Echo. Zoey, of course, sat beside Fred. Her left hand was holding her morning beverage; milk, while the other was held tightly by Fred's hand, under the table. After yesterday, the two have become closer than ever. It wasn't a big change but it was big enough for a very observant Bridgit to notice.

"HEY! You two are a bit closer and I can see the lovey dovey aura around you too!" Bridgit said, making George and Echo take a break from their own couple moment to stare at the two. "So...did you two uhm...do that?" Bridgit asked, smirking, but yet again she was whacked, this time by George.

"What's with your mind and them doing that?" George asked.

"Not my fault if they have that couple-y aura! What else do you think I would think?" Bridgit asked, now turning back to Fred and Zoey. "So?"

"So?" Zoey raised a brow, not really hearing what Bridgit had say, "So what?"

"Did you… are you seriously gonna make me ask it literally and directly?" Bridgit answered, turning to Fred who she was sure was not that dense.

"What?" Fred turned to her; he too did not hear what she had just said. Well… maybe a little.

"You know, did you two... make out in the broom closet?" After Bridgit spoke, George and Fred dropped their heads on to the table. Bridgit turned to the two. "What? What did you think I was implying?" She asked turning to the twins. She was clueless. "I mean if you trip in the broom closet, Zoey won't be able to walk properly because she just had a leg injury, and it seems they did go deeper into an intimate relationship." Fred and George began to bang their heads on the table at her words.

Zoey snorted at the scene. It was really comical. She turned to Bridgit, about to tell her something, when a hoot of an owl stopped her. The five friends, the twins having red marks on their foreheads, looked up to see Eos fly over them, dropping a red envelope on Bridgit's head before it landed on the table in front of them. All eyes were wide.

"What's this?" Bridgit asked, taking up the red envelope. She knew it wasn't hers. "Must be for you." Bridgit said, handing it to Zoey. It was her owl after all.

"A Howler," Zoey breathed out, taking the envelope.

"I sort of saw that, but I mean from who?" Bridgit asked, she was hoping for an answer away from Zoey's aunt.

"I think you shouldn't open it here." Fred suddenly said, looking at Zoey with worry.

Zoey gulped, she never got a Howler before and she hoped she never would, and listened to her boyfriend's advice. She carefully opened the envelope and dropped it on the table as it opened, forming a mouth.

"ZOEY ANASTASIA EMERAUDE!" came a booming voice that was for sure Natalie's, "HOW _DARE _YOU STEAL THAT CA – MOTORCYCLE! YOUR GODFATHER AND I ARE EXTREMELY DISGUSTED! YOUR FATHER IS NOW STUCK AT HOME BEING AN ANNOYING ARSE! ("Am not! Stop spreading lies you damn woman!" came another voice Zoey took as her father's) AND IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT! IF YOU STEAL ANOTHER MOTOR VEHICLE OF OURS WE'RE SENDING YOU STRAIGHT HOME!"

The envelope then turned.

"Oh Ron, dear, I am so proud that you successfully stole a car at the age of twelve yet it took my goddaughter seventeen years to steal a grubby motorcycle. I'm so proud," the envelope then turned back to Zoey.

"AND WHAT'S THIS I HEAR OF YOUR LOWER HALF IN PAIN? NUMB EVEN? WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING YOUNG LADY? I WANT AN ANSWER NOW! WHEN YOU COME BACK HERE THIS CHRISTMAS I'M GOING TO –"

There was a sound of struggling and Natalie's voice was replaced by a more calm, yet slightly stressed, person.

"I'm sorry about that, Zoey, Natalie was just worried about you," it was Remus, "I told her to send you a normal letter but you know how she is, she wanted to get the message over and done with. She did not have the patience to pick up the quill."

"She doesn't even know how to use a quill – Bloody hell woman!" it was her father's voice in the background.

"Getting back to what really is important. I hope you're doing well and if there are any more problems, please seek the help of school officials. I wish you the best of luck for your final year and I hope you do well. Send us an update every once in a while and –" Remus was interrupted.

"AND DON'T FORGET TO NAME IT AFTER ME! NATALIE ECHO WEA –"

"MY GOD! DON'T YOU EVER SHUT UP?"

"End message," Remus sighed before the envelope ate itself up.

"What the hell was Nat thinking? Did she really think you'd do _that_ with Fred at this age?" Bridgit asked, and Fred and George sent her a glare. Zoey and Echo laughed, while Bridgit was confused. "What? "

Zoey shook her head, wiping a tear from her eye. "You gotta love Aunt Maria," she laughed.

"Yup, your godmother is bloody brilliant isn't she," Fred said, sarcasm in his voice.

"The best," Zoey grinned.

"By the way...who's Natalie Echo Weasley?" Bridgit asked, not knowing what Natalie talked about.

"Never you mind," Zoey waved her friend of and returned to her breakfast.

* * *

**HOLY**

**LARP!**

**I'M SO SO SO SORRY FOR THE LONG DELAY!**

**You see, my dear friends, I have been working on an Original Story of mine (you know the ones you can publish without getting sued because it's your own plot and characters) and I also had little bit of a Writer's Block.**

**BUT all worked out in the end for you see Chapter 75 is right here!**

**YEY!**

**And Zoey finally said EVERYTHING to Fred**

**...Took 75 chapters to get that off her chest... wow**

**ME wants to thank ZOOMSKATER14 for the enormous help!**

**Also, all of you who reviewed and the like :)**

**LOVE YOU ALL TO BITS  
My my my my my my. Lots of drama in this chapter also some laughs. It's like a bipolar chapter if you ask me... very odd.**

**Phaedra Delamire: I'm from Makati :)**

**Ah... Natalie... even when she's not there in person she's there in spirit *cough* voice *cough***

**Hmm... what else is there to say?**

**I don't really know.**

**I've been gone for a few days**

**and I feel like**

**I've missed a lot.**

**Have I?**

**I hope not.**

**Well, I guess that is all. I have nothing more to say except**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter**

**Please tell me what you thought**

**Excuse my typos and the like (Even though I beta-ed it already)**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter**

**And**

**I only own what I own**

**(Also... OMFG! I'm so happy that you all took your time to review this story! Keep it up! Love you all to bits!)**


	78. Chapter 76: A Favor

**Chapter 76: A Favor**

Zoey's eyes were closed and her left hand was gently on top of her pillow, healing. She had missed a detention with Umbridge and had to come back for the final day to complete her week's detention. It sucked but she had to do it. The Emeraude made a small whine in her sleep, brushing her hair away from her face. Even in her sleep her hair annoyed her. It would either tickle her nose or make her face itchy. If she were awake, she would consider tying her bangs up but now she was asleep and had to make due with the unconscious acts. The girl sighed.

_The setting was simple. It wasn't in the perfect meadow nor was it in the Hufflepuff Common Room; it was just… there. Zoey had found herself back in dream world with her long lost friend, Cedric Diggory. Both Hufflepuffs wore their robes, Cedric with a toga over his, proudly as they stayed in the white room. Well, that's what they called it. Frankly, they were just there in a place with no background. If they wanted, they could make one but at the moment they decided not to. Backgrounds didn't matter, what mattered was that they could talk privately._

_Somewhere deep within Zoey's subconscious, she hoped she didn't talk in her sleep_

"_Today, we congratulate Zoey Anastasia Emeraude – Black in successfully telling her boyfriend, Frederick Gideon Weasley, her entire past," Cedric said out loud, a humored smile on his face. "Let's give her a round of applause"_

_He was the only one clapping._

_Zoey rolled her eyes at her friend. "It's not that of big a deal," she told him, "How did you even know that?"_

"_I'm dead. I know everything," Cedric said simply._

"_Seriously," Zoey said_

"_So who are you going to tell next?" Cedric asked, avoiding Zoey's look, "Harry? Echo? Bridgit?"_

"_Whoa there. Hold on a minute. Tell next? What are you talking about?" Zoey raised a brow at him, stopping dead in her tracks. They were walking aimlessly before. It wasn't like there was anything there to trip them or be in their way._

_Cedric looked back at her, hands in his pockets. "You know, who are you going to tell… next? It's pretty obvious what I'm talking about"_

"_No it isn't," Zoey shook her head, "If it was, I would know what you're talking about"_

"_Zoey," Cedric began, "You have to tell people. If you don't want to tell the school officials or the adults then tell your friends. I say Harry should be the next one to know, he is your godbrother"_

"_How'd you know that?" Zoey furrowed her brows._

"_I just do," Cedric grinned, "Just… let more people in. They have to know what's been going on"_

"_I… No," Zoey bit her lip, "Not all of them"_

"_Then a handful. At least tell Harry," Cedric urged her._

_Zoey took a breath and looked around. Everything was white and nothing was there except for her and Cedric. What kind of dream setting was this? It was sort of peaceful, not having anything to interrupt you, but it was also very unnerving… like there was something missing. She closed her eyes and began to think of a place, a nice place to have a talk, somewhere peaceful and calming. When she opened her eyes again, she was under a beach tree near the Black Lake. She looked back at Cedric._

"_Why are you so keen on me telling people?" Zoey asked him, "I think it's enough that Fred heard my little sob story, if I tell the rest things would just get depressing," she paused, "You saw Fred. I bet that was one of his weakest moments"_

_Cedric slowly nodded. "I see," he said, "You don't want to see the others like that"_

"_Would you?"_

"_No," Cedric admitted, "But it's for the best"_

"_For the best? How is that the best for anybody? They're just going to get protective and try to keep me away from my faith. You heard all that, he wants us to run away. I know he doesn't want to run. He wants to fight but he knows I hate the violence," Zoey's voice quivered, "I… I don't want this, Cedric. I want him to just… leave it. I know what I must do. It's simple. Surrender my freedom. If everyone's on my case, that's not going to be easy"_

_Cedric didn't say anything for a while. He simply stared at Zoey, trying to read her. The only sounds that filled the air were the small crashing of the waves. The wind was strong enough to make the water of the Black Lake move. Zoey decided to watch it._

"_It's not simple, Zoey. They love you and they don't want to let you go," Cedric finally spoke._

"_If they love me then they should let me go. Isn't that the saying? When you love something you set it free and when it comes back to you it's all yours? Or something like that," she wasn't good with quotes._

_Cedric understood what she was trying to say though._

"_What are the chances that you're actually going to come back if they did let you go?" Cedric then asked._

"_What are you trying to say, Cedric?" Zoey sighed, "What do you want me to see?"_

"_I want you to see reason. Zoey, you've felt hurt before haven't you?"_

_Zoey looked at him with wide eyes. "Of course I've felt hurt. I'm human after all"_

"_Physical hurt. Emotional hurt," Cedric continued, "You know what it feels like?" Zoey nodded. "Not good is it?"_

"_I'm not a child, Cedric," Zoey said to him. He always made her feel that way. Like she was a child. Sure, it could have been unintentional but it still annoyed the girl. Right now, it was like she was being scolded for picking on a peer. Ha! The thought of Zoey actually bullying someone…. funny._

"_Answer the question"_

"_It's not a good feeling. It's terrible. It stings your flesh and eats you from the inside out. It tugs at your heart but not in a good way. Cedric, it's a terrible feeling to have and I wonder sometimes why we have it but then I'm reminded that it is necessary for us to know that some things just don't go our way. Some times you have to hurt to learn. It's not fair but life isn't fair," Zoey told him, taking a deep breath._

_Cedric gave a small smile. "Exactly," he said, "In other words it sucks to feel it"_

_Zoey slowly nodded._

"_And it's terrible to see other people hurting, isn't it?"_

"_Where are you going with this?" Zoey suddenly felt tired. Like she just wanted to give up on this conversation. Cedric wouldn't let her._

"_When you leave. Your friends are going to feel hurt. They'll be destroyed. Hurt times ten," Cedric looked at her in the eyes, "Echo, Bridgit, Jane, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, George, Harry and Fred. They'll all feel hurt"_

"_I won't see them," Zoey whispered._

"_But you'll know that they are hurting"_

"_There's nothing I can do," Zoey's voice was teary. She brought a hand to cover her eyes. She knew what they'd feel. She would feel the same if they were taken away from her. Heck, they have been. One way or another she and her friends were painfully separated from each other. Whether it was from a fight or an act to make the other jealous, it hurt._

_Cedric placed both of his hands on Zoey's shoulders. "Really, Zoey, nothing you can do?"_

"_There's nothing," Zoey chocked out. She wanted to control her tears but it was a hard thing to do. The feeling, the thought, the idea, it was overwhelming._

"_Well, if there's nothing __you__ can do then what about your friends? What can they do?" _

_This caught Zoey's attention and she slowly brought her hand down to her side, a few tears sliding down her cheek. "They can stay out of it"_

"_Zoey," Cedric began_

"_I just don't want them to be in harms way," Zoey offered a smile, "It's for the best."_

_Cedric let out a small groan and Zoey's smile faltered. "Zoey, stop being nice," Cedric said slowly but with a little edge, "This! This whole sacrificing your freedom, keeping them from knowing the truth because it's the best for them! Be selfish! Just…. Just say what you want. It's not wrong. You've… you've given enough. Learn to take something. Just… just say what you want"_

"_I want them to be safe," Zoey told him._

"_Safe? SAFE? What about you, Zoey? Are you safe? You aren't!" _

_Zoey winced; Cedric never raised his voice at her. She inched away from him but his grip on her shoulders hardened. She was forced to look at him._

"_Tell them, Zoey. Tell them what's happening to you. Tell them you need their help. Tell them what you want," Cedric's voice changed a bit and so did his entire appearance. Zoey's eyes widened when Fred replaced Cedric, "Let us help you"_

_In a blink of an eye, Cedric returned._

_Zoey bit her lip and looked down at her feet. She felt the grip on her shoulders loosen and she took a step back. She wasn't afraid of him, no, just cautious._

"_Is it really for their best or yours, Zoey? They don't benefit anything and you don't either. They loose you and you loose your freedom and your friends. Whose best are you talking about?" Cedric's voice returned to normal. _

_A silence hung in the air. Neither of the two spoke. All that was heard was Cedric's breathing and Zoey's movements in trying to wipe her tears away. It was like a dream and a nightmare mashed up together. Zoey was confused. She didn't know what to think, what to believe. Whose best interest was she talking about? Why was she thinking this way? Was it really for the best or did she just want to be strong? Was this her pathetic attempt to prove her worth? Something to show that she isn't just some fragile little girl; she was someone who could handle her own problems? Was it really that or was there something more? Something different? Or was it… something else?_

"_A…Are you using me, Cedric?" Zoey spoke, her voice still quiet, "Are you using me for your own little repentance?"_

_Cedric took a step back in shock. "I don't know what you're talking about"_

"_I think you do," Zoey now looked at him, "You… you're feeling guilty, aren't you? You… you left me… your friends…your family and Cho behind when you died. You don't want me to do the same. You're using me to try to… to…"_

"_And so what if I am?" Cedric interrupted her._

"_Why?" Zoey's voice was shaky. _

"_Because I don't want you to feel the same way I did when I left," Cedric said, "I…my departure… I couldn't prevent it but yours… you can still do something about it"_

_Zoey felt her tears return, they were slowly streaming down her face. She looked at Cedric as her breathing became shallow._

"_I can't –"_

"_Yes you can, Zoey! You can do something!" Cedric pinched the bridge of his nose, "Just… think about it okay. I'm trying to keep you away from feeling all the guilt. It's not something you'd look forward to feeling the rest of your life"_

"_Why?" Zoey asked. She wasn't asking why she wouldn't want to feel the guilt. She was asking why Cedric was preventing her from feeling it. "You… you can be too nice at times Cedric. This… this thing you're doing for me… it's not for my own good is it?"_

"_Yes and no," Cedric answered truthfully, "I'm doing this for your sake and also everyone else's. I know what it feels like to be away from the people I love. To bear the torture of knowing what they're going through without the chance to help. To leave their side, knowing that you are what they needed the most. I don't want you to go through that and neither would I want your friends to go through that also."_

_Zoey shook her head. "There's still more to that," she told him, "Where's your selfish reason behind all this?"_

"_I'm also doing this for the sake of my own guilt," Cedric took a breath, "This is my pathetic way of trying to make up for what I've left behind. I see me in you Zoey. I left everyone who needed me there and you're going to leave them. If I stop you… I'll finally feel… clean…pure. I just want to stop you because no one was there to stop me"_

"_It wasn't your fault you died. You couldn't have prevented this"_

"_Exactly but you can, Zoey. Live the life that I could have had. I just want you to be happy. I don't want you to leave anyone"_

"_Like how you left Cho?" Zoey placed a hand on his shoulder._

"_All she does is cry nowadays. I didn't mean to cause her so much pain"_

"_You regret it. Leaving her," Zoey told him._

"_Anyone would"_

"_Even me?"_

"_Even you," Cedric sighed, "There isn't a day where I wish I was by her side. Protecting her"_

"_But if you were by her side, she wouldn't need protection"_

_Cedric took a deep breath and gave Zoey a one – armed hug. Zoey was slightly surprised by the action. Her eyes suddenly widened when she saw the Black Lake begin to disappear. The white background was replacing it once more. She looked up at Cedric. He was fading as well._

"_Just tell Harry okay? If you don't want to tell everyone, tell him at least. He needs to know," his voice was becoming a bit choppy._

"_But –"_

"_And give Cho a hug for me, will ya?"_

"_Ced –"_

"_And don't forget to take your pills!"_

Zoey was woken up with a slightly strong shake on her shoulder. Her eyes snapped wide open and she saw Jane looking down at her, worry written all over her face. Zoey slowly got up and looked down at her pillow. It was wet. She placed a hand on her cheek and noted it was slightly moist. She looked at Jane. The girl was fully dressed in her Hufflepuff robes.

"Are you alright?" Jane asked, "You were crying"

"What time is it?" Zoey looked around, it was only she and Jane in the room.

"Halfway through breakfast –"

"I've got to go," Zoey abruptly got off of her bed and snatched her uniform from the top of her suitcase. She quickly entered the bathroom and after about a minute or two, she exited fully clothed and just in the process of tying her hair in a sloppy bun. She picked up her glasses and swiftly placed her shoes on, not caring that she didn't fix her legwarmers to cover part of the shoe. She needed to get out of the Hufflepuff Basement and into the Great Hall, ASAP.

Jane was watching Zoey move with incredible speed in awe. She saw Zoey give the room a quick scan before waving her farewell and leaving. The girl was confused.

Zoey ran as fast her as newly awakened feet could take her. She rushed out the door and out to the halls, avoiding everyone and everything that came in her way. She was going fast, faster than she had ever imagined going. There was something she needed to do. It wasn't a promise, more like a favor. She reached the Great Hall in time.

Everyone was in their seats, eating, some were just standing up, ready to get their things for the day. Zoey's eyes quickly scanned the hall before landing at the Ravenclaw table just in time to see a girl with long black hair standing up from her seat. Zoey took a deep breath and made a run towards her.

The students who saw Zoey enter, watched her with confusion. Why was she running around so early in the morning? Cho, who had just stood up to head back to the Ravenclaw Tower, took a step back when she saw the Emeraude make her way towards her.

"Cho!" Zoey exclaimed, throwing her arms around the slightly scared Ravenclaw.

Cho knew who Zoey was, she had seen her hang out with Cedric, she just wasn't really well acquainted with the girl. The Ravenclaw slowly brought her hand up and patted her on the shoulder, signaling her to let go.

"Cedric sends his love," Zoey said in a soft whisper.

That did it.

Cho's eyes widened and quickly hugged Zoey in return. Silent tears flowing down her face.

* * *

Zoey stood on a high place. She didn't really know how to describe it. Maybe it was like a small mountain or just land a bit above the water all she knew was that this piece of earth was several feet above the Black Lake, perfect for jumping off from. It was a normal day and Zoey found herself wearing a simple fading shirt and shorts that reached her mid – thigh. Her hair was up in a ponytail and her glasses were being kept by Fred, who was sitting under a beach tree near the Black Lake with George. Echo was standing right beside Zoey.

She, Zoey, had realized that throughout her seventeen years of living she was still afraid of swimming. She couldn't swim. She knew that she could float but she never dared to move. Echo wasn't a fan of swimming either. Today, the Emeraude decided, was the day the two friends faced their fears. Zoey looked down. The water looked calm enough. If worse comes to worst, the Giant Squid could save them…. Right?

"There are _merpeople _down there. Don't they drag you down and tear you limb from limb?" Echo hesitantly threw a look at George.

"No point asking Mr. Boyfriend for help. He's way out there," Zoey made a gesture towards the twin, "The merpeople are in the deeper part of the lake. I'm sure they can't get to us."

Echo clutched her oversized white blouse that reached her mid-thighs, and shorts underneath them. "How can you be sure of that? They can swim fast."

"If we don't bother them then they won't bother us," Zoey placed her hands on her hips. "I think," she muttered the after thought and looked back in the lake. There weren't any merpeople swimming around.

"We jump on three?" Echo suggested.

Zoey grinned and took hold of her friend's hand, just incase the girl bailed, and nodded. "Nice to see you finally came around"

"One," Echo began

"Two," Zoey continued

"THREE," and they both jumped into the lake, a cold rush of water passing them by.

Zoey opened her eyes under water and squinted them. It was dark and murky. Hard to see anything. She turned her head and saw Echo looking around. The girl was probably looking for any signs of merpeople. When the water began to sting her eyes, Echo surfaced. Zoey remained under water and looked around. There was hardly anything to see, probably because she wasn't that far deep. She looked up and saw Echo's legs kicking so that the girl would stay above water. Zoey blew out bubbles out of her nose. She did not dare open her mouth. That would be disgusting. When the need for air became too much, Zoey surfaced as well.

The rush of water passed by her once more and she took a deep breath of air the moment her head left the water. She brought her hand up to brush her bangs away and to wipe her face.

"That wasn't so bad, now was it?" Echo smiled.

Zoey raised a brow at her friend before splashing her. "You're the one who was talking about merpeople beheading you or something!" she then laughed.

"They would've caught us by now, wouldn't they?"

"Like I said, if we don't bother them they won't bother us," Zoey paused, "Okay… we're floating. Any ideas on how to… uhm… swim back to shore?"

"Haven't really thought about that. How about paddling ourselves to shore?" said Echo. It was a moment before she realized something and spoke once more, "It would take a while and tire us"

Zoey nodded her head and looked around. They faced their fears and the next problem was doing something they had no knowledge of doing. Neither of them had their wands either. The Emeraude looked towards the beach tree and saw Fred and George leaning leisurely against it. Probably planning stuff for their next prank or merchandise for their joke shop.

"Do you think we could pull off damsel in distress?" she looked over to the Ravenclaw.

Echo smiled mischievously, "I don't see why we couldn't," and she stuck her tongue out.

"Alrighty then," Zoey grinned. "Take a deep breath," she told Echo before dunking her head under the water.

"HELP!" Zoey called out before dunking her head under the water as well.

Echo pretended to act as if something pulled at her leg, and shot down to the water before resurfacing and flailing her arms near the water. Zoey did the same. She pretended to struggle against the force tugging at her and tried to grab at something to hold her above the water.

One thing led to another and the twins had jumped into the water to save them. In the end, Zoey and Echo found themselves resting against the Beach Tree, shivering. The twins were standing in front of them, drenched, with glares in their eyes.

"It was just a harmless prank," Zoey began, tucking her legs under her as she tried to squeeze the remaining water out of her hair.

"Don't you glare at me, George Fabian Weasley," Echo spoke firmly to George, "Otherwise, someone could've really grabbed at our ankles and pulled us to the depths and never resurface"

George's glare hardened. "That wasn't funny," he told her, "Ever heard of the Boy who Cried Wolf?"

"I have," Zoey looked at him, "Didn't think you would have heard about it. It's a muggle book"

"Dad brought it home one time when we were kids. Moral of the story if you really had something tugging at your leg, we wouldn't have saved you cause we would have thought you were lying," Fred turned to Zoey, "You nearly gave us a heart failure!"

"We are terribly sorry for acting like damsels in distress and didn't think through our plan to overcome our fears," Echo shot at Fred.

"Over come your fears?" George's eyes widened, "Isn't the fear of water usually come with the idea of drowning in it?"

"Why pretend to drown?" Fred rolled his eyes, "Why not just swim back and play damsel in distress some other way?"

Zoey pushed her hair away. "Because, Fred, George, we do not know how to swim therefore we needed to get your attention to save us," she told them.

"And you couldn't have done that… I don't know… By asking?" Fred raised a brow, the glare gone but slight annoyance replaced it.

"We knew we would have an immediate response," Echo stuck her tongue out.

"Echo, if you guys just asked us for help we would have had an immediate response anyway," George said.

"Well, yes but you would have made fun of us before you decided to save us. If we were near dying you wouldn't joke around and humiliate us for our lack of swimming knowledge," Zoey pointed out.

"Why aren't you in Ravenclaw, Zoey? We could deal with a brain like yours," Echo smiled.

"No more 'Zwei'?" Zoey grinned, "I'm too nice for Ravenclaw. I wouldn't be able to handle an argument without letting the other person win or what not"

"Hey, back to the original topic," Came Fred's voice.

Zoey looked back at him. "Can't you two just say you forgive us and we should never to that sort of thing again unless you're in on it?" Zoey asked, "I mean… you two pull pranks all the time. We just wanted to see if we were any good at it"

"Turns out you only get angry," said Echo

"You two aren't going to apologize for nearly giving us a heart failure, are you?" George then asked, crouching down in front of them, Fred followed. They were tired and they were wet. The weight of their clothes weren't helping either.

"You don't apologize when you pull pranks," Echo pointed out.

The twins were silent for a moment.

"Point proven," they said in unison.

"Now that that's settled," Zoey said with a clap of her hands, "I want to change out of these wet clothes. The Black Lake is beautiful but I rather not have its waters on me. I feel dirty"

"Same here," Echo stood up and squeezed her hair for any water. Zoey followed. The two girls then waved a farewell to the twins before making their way to the castle. The two had their fun; they finished their goal and were scolded by two people who loved to be anything but serious. Their day was productive to say the least.

* * *

Zoey stood by Fred with an expression that read disgust mixed with confusion together with a look that said 'I want to know but I also don't want to know' all packed up together and made her current expression. Fred just looked at her sheepishly. They were standing with a few of the students who agreed to be Harry's students and were all waiting for Harry to show them the new place he found where he could teach them DADA. For the meantime, Harry was walking back and forth in front of a wall.

"So you mean to say that you got the desired temperature needed for the Fever Fudge but now it also gives you these pus-filled boils?" Zoey wrinkled her nose at the thought.

"Yep," Fred popped the 'p', "Very annoying ones too."

"I don't see any boils," Zoey told him.

"You wouldn't. They're not in a place where you'd display in public," Fred made a face, "And it makes sitting on a broom a pain in the –"

"Don't tell me," Zoey held her hands up, "Please. Save me the thought that would haunt me in my dreams"

Fred laughed. Zoey stuck her tongue out at him and turned towards Echo.

"What is your opinion that Twin Number one and Number two are using themselves as test subjects?" She whispered to her friend.

"I think it's stupid. Thank you for asking!" Echo smiled.

"It is not stupid!" George's voice came

"At least we aren't creating any harm towards anyone else," Fred added.

Zoey shook her head at them. "But… your ch – chair area is… err… You know," she made a face, "I don't wait to say it"

"Their rump is covered in boils. Pus-filled, to be exact," said Echo, "I wonder what it's like to sit on a very comfortable couch."

"They would probably rupture," Zoey shuddered, "Just. No. Please."

At that moment, a door appeared before them and everyone was in awe. Harry pushed it open and let everyone enter after him. Zoey took a look around and she was extremely sure this was the perfect place to be taught in. There were bookshelves filled with books with DADA spells, dozens of devices used by Aurors and more, numerous couches and cushions around and it was just… Wow.

Soon, there was a knock on the door and more people entered. When everyone was gathered, some even taking the time to ask what certain things were, Harry began to talk. He was just about to say something when Hermione interrupted him.

"I think we ought to elect a leader," she said.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Echo whispered to Zoey.

Zoey slowly nodded and soon Cho spoke up. "Harry's leader!" she said as she looked at Hermione like 'duh'.

"Well, yes but… uhm… Let's make it a formal voting, yes? Those who want Harry to be leader, please raise your hand," Hermione said.

Everyone raised their hand and Harry turned a little red in the cheeks. He thanks them and was just about to continue what he was going to say when Hermione interrupted him once more.

"We should promote the feeling of team spirit and unity, don't you think?" Hermione said brightly, "We should have a name. You know, this group we have"

"She has a point," Zoey whispered to Echo.

"Point taken"

Several people began to say their suggestions, some even sounded a bit silly (Fred) but after some time, they settled with the "D.A" or also known as Dumbledore's Army. When the decision was made, Harry was finally able to say what he wanted. He told them that their first lesson was going to be the simple disarming charm "Expelliarmus" though very easy, it saved his life numerous times. Obviously, Zacharias wasn't so thrilled in doing the spell but it turns out he wasn't even very good at it. Everyone split into pairs.

Zoey was with Echo.

"_Expelliarmus," _Zoey exclaimed and pointed her wand at Echo. Nothing happened.

"Maybe you're flourishing your wand too much?" Echo suggested.

"Flourishing?" Zoey tilted her head to the side.

"How about give me a shot?" Echo asked.

"Go ahead," said Zoey

"_Expelliarmus," _exclaimed Echo. Zoey's wand shot out from her hand.

Zoey watched as her wand made a small sound as it landed on the ground several feet away from her. She shot Echo a look that said 'What the? That's not fair!' before laughing a bit and walking towards where her wand landed. Zoey carefully bent down and picked up her wand and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw another wand fall beside her. It was Zacharias. He was grumbling incoherent words when he picked up his wand before walking over to Bridgit, who was laughing. Some paring. Zoey blinked at the two and watched them. Zacharias opened his mouth to disarm Bridgit but before any words could leave his mouth, his wand was shot out of his hand once more. Bridgit didn't even more a muscle.

_Poor boy, _Zoey thought as Zacharias once again walked away to retrieve his wand. Zoey squinted her eyes and saw from a distance, Fred and George taking turns pointing their wand at Zacharias' back. The Emeraude rolled her eyes before walking back to Echo.

"I wish I could join the twins," said Echo.

"Don't," Zoey shook her head, "The poor bloke already had Bridgit and the two of them bullying him"

"Yeah, but he's still a git. I want to strangle him"

"Make peace not war," Zoey said, _"Expelliarmus!" _

Echo's wand flew out of her hand.

"You did it!" Echo said before going to retrieve her wand.

"I did it," Zoey smiled.

* * *

Time passed and soon October came and went in a blink of an eye. The cold November air soon rushed in and Quidditch Practices were becoming more and more frequent. The D.A meetings were canceled because the captains of each team wanted to devote their time to practice. No one minded though, ever since Hermione's spectacular idea and brilliant magic work each member of the D.A were given a fake Galleon that would tell them when the next meeting would be.

Hermione was absolutely brilliant, being able to perform magic from NEWT level.

Zoey, as were the rest of the DA, were working hard to perform each spell Harry had given them and frankly, everyone was doing well. Neville was finally able to do the Disarming Charm perfectly, Colin was able to master the Impediment jinx and Parvati Patil was able to perform a very good Reductor Curse that turned a table into ash within a second. Everyone was doing well.

Each and every house was training hard for the Quidditch season. Gryffindor had practically booked the Quidditch pitch for the entire week but the other houses still had their time to practice. Zoey remembered the first time she went to meet the rest of the team. She was one of the three newbies of the team. It was scary to her. Sure, she saw how Fred, Echo, Bridgit and George trained but it was different. It was her turn. She was there in the air with the Beaters Bat in her hand, flying around and protecting her teammates. It was scary but thrilling.

Today was the day Gryffindor and Slytherin went against each other on the Quidditch Pitch. Their games were the most epic of them all for the two of them couldn't be more aggressive. Both wanted to win, everyone wanted to win, and they would do anything to get their points and the snitch. Slytherin would do everything in their willpower to win, even harm those they were against, and Gryffindor worked with pure skill and talent.

It was like watching Muggle Soccer.

The Quaffle going from Chaser to Chaser and the Bludger zooming around, trying to throw people off and with the Snitch. Well, you know how it goes.

Zoey looked up from her breakfast, she was now sitting with the Ravenclaws, and looked curiously at Luna Lovegood who was chatting with the Golden Trio. She wore a Lion's head on top of hers.

It was interesting.

"I see Luna is on team Gryffindor," Zoey said to Echo as she watched Bridgit enter the Great Hall and made a beeline towards Luna, talking to her.

"I suppose she is," said Echo

"Very interesting," Zoey then looked over to the Slytherin table. She squinted at their robes. Several of them had crown shaped badges on their chests.

_**WEASLEY**_

_**IS OUR KING**_

It read.

"I didn't know the Slytherins were pro – Weasley, did you?" Zoey asked Echo.

"I think they're pro – shallow. Picking on Ron, and the twins and Ginny, I suppose. They're just four, compared to the lot of them. They don't do well alone, Slytherins. Imprudent cowards, they are," Echo glared at the table.

Zoey blinked at her friend before looking back at the Slytherin table. "Interesting perspective," she then looked at the Gryffindor table, "We should probably save our seats in the Quidditch pitch right now"

"We should," Echo then stood up from the table, Zoey followed.

* * *

Zoey pushed her glasses up further up her nose before tapping them with her wand. It's been ages since she watched a Quidditch game, one from school, and she wanted to catch every detail. The crowd's cheers were loud but when she concentrated hard enough, she could hear singing. Why would someone be singing in a Quidditch game? Before the girl could wonder further into the thought, the players from both teams came and entered the Quidditch pitch.

"Captain's, shake hands," Madam Hooch said and Zoey could guess that the Slytherin's Captain was trying to crush Angelina's hand. She did not wince. "Mount your broom," came the next order.

The whistle was then blown and the balls released.

The game began.

The Quaffle was thrown into the air and Slytherin had gained the ball. Montague, playing along with Warrington, passed the Quaffle while Angelina and Katie were chasing after them. Alicia was gaining and was about to steal the ball from Montague when he passed it to Warrington. He threw the ball into the middle hoop and Ron missed it by an inch.

"10 points to Slytherin," Lee said, his energy quite low as he said so.

The Slytherins cheered on the stand, and as the game was going on...they began to sing a song

"_Weasley cannot save a thing, _

_He cannot block a single ring, _

_That's why Slytherins all sing: _

_Weasley is our King."_

The Gryffindors on the stands booed at the Slytherins, while they continued to sing. The game went on, and this time the Quaffle was in the hands of the Gryffindor team.

"Alicia Spinnet has the ball, passing it along to Katie Bell," Lee announced, and he was getting even more hyped up as time passed. "Katie passes it to Angelina Johnson, and she scores! Angelina Johnson scores! 10 points to Gryffindor!" He shouted, and all the other houses cheered.

"_Weasley was born in a bin _

_He always lets the Quaffle in _

_That's why Slytherins all sing: _

_Weasley is our King."_

The Slytherins began to sing again, but no one paid them mind. Ron was getting a tad but irritated, despite the nervousness he was feeling, and so were Fred and George, but they did their best to ignore it. Nothing good came out of lashing out. They needed to focus on the game. If they won, no, _when _they won the Slytherins would feel rather stupid for trying to throw them off with the insulting song.

Crabbe and Goyle, being the annoying arses that they were, hit the Bludger and sent it towards Katie's direction. She missed the blow by a centimeter and glared at the two beaters.

The Slytherins were playing dirty, what else is new?

The game dragged on and Harry had finally spotted the snitch. He made a dash for it, but he also had an irritating Malfoy on his tail.

"Give it up, Potter!" Malfoy shouted, and Harry just dashed forward. Fred and George were hitting the Bludgers in the other direction, protecting Harry and giving him a gateway to safely catch the snitch.

Slytherin scored another goal, even if Gryffindor was in the lead, and the song continued.

"_Weasley is our King, _

_Weasley is our King, _

_Weasley will make sure we win _

_Weasley is our King."_

When the Slytherin's sang the last line, Crabbe had sent a Bludger towards Harry and the ball of fury had hit the poor boy right at the square of his back lurching him forward. It hurt Harry but it was also to his benefit for when he was lurched forward, he was able to grab the snitch.

Gryffindor had won.

A Slytherin idiot had helped them win.

This little fact irked Malfoy and the whole Slytherin team, and population, to a degree.

The Gryffindor team, and everyone else who was not a Slytherin, rejoiced and flew back to the ground. Angelina was jumping with joy, also sending glares towards Crabbe, telling Harry that they won. Harry grinned at his team but all the joy seemed to wash away when Malfoy snorted.

"This can't be good," Zoey muttered from her place in the audience. She tapped her glasses once more and zoomed into the Gryffindor Team who were rejoicing for their victory.

"Nothing's ever good with a Slytherin," said Echo.

Zoey nodded in agreement and zoomed in further. She saw that Malfoy was saying something to them, something very offensive. Figures, the boy was a sore loser. Zoey then saw Ron slowly dismount his broom and headed to the changing room. She felt a small pang in her heart. Whatever Malfoy said had hurt the boy. She focused her attention back at the rest of the team.

Harry had ignored Malfoy and turned to celebrate with his friends. Zoey saw Katie and Alicia give Harry a hug while Malfoy continued to say things that she could not hear. She then saw Angelina give Malfoy a disgusted look as Harry moved towards Fred and George. The twins shook his hands.

"I have a foreboding feeling. Malfoy hasn't left the pitch yet," came Echo's voice.

"He hasn't," whispered Zoey

Malfoy said something else and Fred and George stiffened before looking over to Malfoy, glares in their eyes. Zoey then saw Angelina take hold of Fred's arm, telling him something. What was going on? Malfoy had said another thing and Harry took hold of George while Alicia and Katie were holding onto Fred as well. Zoey felt panic rise within her.

Zoey saw that Malfoy was laughing now. Harry was looking towards Madam Hooch who was scolding the Slytherin Beaters. Malfoy then said his final sore loser line and Zoey's eyes widened. Harry had let go of George and the both of them leaped towards Malfoy, tackling him to the ground.

"That slimy git, I'll have his head in the next meeting," Echo snarled

Zoey didn't reply, she just watched George and Harry begin to beat up Malfoy.

"Harry! HARRY! GEORGE! _NO_!"

Zoey actually heard the girls screaming at the two as they continued to try to restrain Fred from joining them. Zoey winced when Madam Hooch came along and waved her wand at them, separating the three. Madam Hooch had yelled something at the two before George and Harry marched away from the pitch. Zoey tapped her glasses once more. She did not want to see this.

* * *

"BANNED?" Zoey exclaimed with wide eyes as she sat with Fred under the Beach Tree near the Black Lake. The ground beneath them was covered with snow and the lake looked a little frosted. Bridgit was inside, probably playing pranks, while George and Echo disappeared, he was probably telling her the same thing Fred had told Zoey. Fred nodded solemnly, confirming Zoey's exclamation.

Zoey blinked her eyes in disbelief. "For… for how long?" she asked, her brows knitted together.

"Hmm… well… let's see. There's now, the next game, the game after that… how many left are there?" Fred was moving his fingers as if her were counting the days, "Oh, wait. No… no… This is a Life-time ban"

"Life-time," Zoey breathed out, "But why? You didn't do anything wrong!"

"It's not my fault I didn't do anything," Fred grumbled, "If I wasn't held back I would have punched Malfoy right in the kisser"

"The Kisser?" Zoey asked

"The Kisser," Fred confirmed.

Zoey nodded her head and bit her lip. She didn't know what to say. She wasn't really good in comforting. She was nervous. Fred was in a rather bad mood and she didn't know what to do. She sneaked a glance at him and saw that he was looking up at one of the towers. The Gryffindor Tower. One of its windows was open. Fred then brought his hands to the ground and began to make a snowball.

"Tell me, Zoe," Fred began as he was shaping the ball, "Are any of your Beaters good?"

"What do you mean?" Zoey looked at him oddly.

"Gryffindor is going against Hufflepuff next. With me, George and Harry gone I was just wondering if we stood against your players. So, any of them good?" Fred looked at her with a grin.

"The Beaters? Are any of them good? As in, could they go against you and George?" Zoey asked, squinting at Fred as he nodded his head, "Well, I guess… yeah, maybe"

"Really?" Fred's brows rose, "So if me and George were on the team, would they be a challenge"

Would you hit your girlfriend? "Probably," Zoey smiled at him.

"I see," Fred nodded slowly, tossing the snowball in his hands a bit before adding more snow, "Do I know them?"

"Probably," Zoey repeated as her smile widened, "I don't know who you know"

"Well, what are their names?" Fred asked.

"There's –" but Zoey was interrupted by George's voice. She and Fred turned to see Echo and George standing not to far from them, a snowball in George's hand. Zoey blinked.

"Hey you two!" George called, "Ickle Ronniekins is up in the Gryffindor Common Room all cooped up. Why don't we send him a little present from the outside?"

Fred grinned at his twin's suggestion and got up with the snowball ready in his hands. He quickly trudged towards his brother, a familiar mischievous twinkle in his eye. Zoey gave a sigh and got up as well, patting the snow of her clothes and moved to stand beside Echo, watching as Fred and George began to throw the snowballs at the open window. At one point, Ron stuck his head out and got hit in the face.

"You know, you're making him feel miserable, and this is not the way to cheer him up," Echo crossed her arms over her chest.

Fred and George continued to throw snowballs.

"I don't think they heard you," Zoey gave a small laugh before bending down and making a snowball for herself. "Have you ever played?"

"No, I haven't since I was a child," said Echo.

Before the Veela knew it, a cold force met her face. She wiped the snow away from her face and glared at Zoey who was busy laughing.

"You're still a child, Echo," Zoey said with glee before running away, seeing Echo bend down and collect snow for herself.

"I am not!" exclaimed Echo as she chucked the ball at Zoey, hitting her smack at the back of her head. Zoey shook the snow off and continued to laugh, quickly bending down, making a snowball and throwing it at Echo, it hit Fred. One thing led to another and soon they were all involved in a snowball fight.

The day ended with the four teens covered with snow, shivering and laughing.

* * *

December came quicker than a speeding bullet and soon more snow had covered the Hogwarts' grounds. Homework pilled up and the Christmas feel was in the air. It made it harder for the students to concentrate yet they were still given more homework. Sometimes, teachers were just unforgiving. It was like they were never students before and if they were, they probably enjoyed all the homework. D.A meetings were becoming more enjoyable for everyone but the news that it would have to stop over the holidays saddened them.

Harry, who told this to Zoey, even said that it, the D.A, was the last thing that was worth looking forward to. He even said that he didn't want to spend Christmas in Hogwarts anymore. Zoey patted his back sympathetically. Majority of the students were coming home for Christmas. Hermione was going skiing with her parents and Zoey was going to spend her first, to her memory, Christmas with her father back at the Noble House of Black. Ron and the Weasleys, together with Echo of course, were heading back to the Burrow and much to Harry's relief so was he. All seemed well.

It was now the day after the last D.A meeting and the day Zoey was going to leave Hogwarts for the Holiday and return to her "house". Nothing much happened during the last D.A meeting, harry had just let everyone review the spells they've learned so far. It was no use in learning a new spell if they were all going to be separated for a vast amount of time. Well, Zoey _thought _nothing much happened. Apparently, Harry had an important milestone in his life after the meeting.

"My little godbro is finally growing up," Zoey feigned a sob as she brought her handkerchief to her eyes. She was sitting on her suitcase with Harry and Bridgit standing in front of her.

"It's not that big a deal, Zee, it was just a first kiss, right, Harry?" Bridgit said, and Harry's cheeks darkened. Bridgit laughed at Harry's obvious embarrassment.

"But still!" Zoey pounded her hanky on her leg, "He's so young and to get his first kiss under mistletoe as well!"

"Young?" Harry tried to turn down his blush, "When did you get _your _first kiss?"

Zoey waved her hand in the air. "It's not a big a deal. It wasn't as cute as yours," she told him.

"Like I'll believe that," Harry scoffed.

"She got it at sixteen for sure," Bridgit answered, and laughed at now Zoey's darkening cheeks.

"No, that was the first _official _kiss," Zoey said, covering her face, "I got my first brush of lips in my fifth year"

"Official kiss? Brush of lips?" Harry laughed, "Are you ten or something?"

"It matters!" Zoey exclaimed.

"Still fifteen just like Harry!" Bridgit exclaimed. "And she scolds you…" she added, sharing a high five with Harry as well.

Zoey rolled her eyes. "I wasn't scolding him," she muttered.

"Sure you weren't, Mum," Harry whispered, making Bridgit laugh and Zoey whack his head lightly. "Sorry"

"If I must play the 'mum role' then I would have to go with you and Cho on your first date," Zoey told him, sticking her nose in the air.

"I feel so sorry for you, Harry," Bridgit said, patting his back. "But I'd help if you like," she then said, and winked at Harry. Harry suddenly remembered Bridgit's 'persuasive skills'.

"Please don't, Zoey, or else I'll have to tail your dates with Fred and take pictures," Harry suddenly said, shocking Zoey.

Zoey's shock soon dissolved and was replaced with nonchalance. "You want to be our little paparazzi? Fine. I would love to see pictures of our dates. You know for memory and for snogging record," she said to him, "I want a picture for every kiss we have and every time we snuggled into each other's arms and I want you to write down all the mushy things we say to each other" Zoey began to bat her lashes and make kissy faces. "If you're willing to do that, I mean"

Bridgit suddenly whispered into Harry's ear and she smirked. Zoey was suspicious what Bridgit had said, but Harry spoke soon enough.

"Sure I'll do all that, but when you do come on Cho and I's first date you'd have to do the same for us, and more even if we do go in to a broom closet you have to record every sound that comes out."

"Hmm? Sure why not?" Zoey shrugged, "Counted that you'd do the same for me and Fred and you know how… dominant he is"

"Oh so Fred is the dominant one? I always thought that it would be you… hmm… gotta give him props," Harry continued still pushing the subject.

Zoey snorted a bit and wrinkled her nose. "Garsh, Harry. How do you even know these things?"

"George," Harry answered, then pointed a thumb to Bridgit. "And Bridgit"

"Hey!" Bridgit said, suddenly speaking.

"Uhuh," Zoey sent Bridgit a look. Sure, George she would understand. Heck, she would understand that both he and Fred actually talk about that stuff but with Harry? That's something different. Bridgit, who seemed to be naïve on the subject actually joining in…

"I swear I never told him anything!" Bridgit said, and Harry raised his shoulder at her. "I only told him what Natalie said in the letter," Bridgit added.

"Lies!" Zoey exclaimed, "He heard what she said, the entire school heard what she said what you did was actually explain what she meant"

"Okay, yes I did, but he's fifteen he's supposed to know these things!" Bridgit answered, now hiding behind Harry, who was taller than her by a few inches, afraid of Zoey's wrath.

"Come on, Prince Harry, save me from the wrath of the mean witch," Bridgit added, still hiding.

"Prince Harry?" Harry asked, facing her.

"Yes, Prince Harry… since your name is Harry and you're very popular in our world like the third Prince of England," Bridgit answered.

"Going back to the original topic," Zoey clapped her hands to gain their attention, "When did _you _learn about those kinds of stuff, Bridgit?"

"Uhm… m – me?" Bridgit stumbled, now coming out from behind Harry.

"Yeah, you," Zoey said, "I mean… Harry learned from you and the twins. I had to learn it without a choice seeing as Aunt Maria talks about it a lot. Much to the annoyance of Dad and discomfort of Uncle Moony," she paused, "Also I have male housemates. Just because they're Hufflepuffs doesn't mean they're entirely innocent"

"Well, it was the opposite for me, I had to give some of my housemates the talk when I was fifteen," Bridgit whispered, but sadly Zoey and Harry both heard it.

"But aren't you a Ravenclaw?" Harry asked, "Surely they must know that"

"Uhm… we're smart, yes, but _academically _smart, Harry," Bridgit answered, thankful for the topic change.

Harry slowly nodded his head. Suddenly, there was a sound of a door opening and Professor Sprout began to beckon Zoey over. Zoey waved her hand at her Professor before standing up from her suitcase and taking hold of it.

"Well, I'm of to go to dad's now," she told her friends, "First Christmas with him. I'm sort of nervous"

"Don't be. We'll meet up with you before breaks ends anyway," Bridgit said, patting her friend's shoulder.

Zoey gave her a smile before bringing Harry into a hug. She messed up his hair before waving at them and entering the office. She was going back to 12 Grimmauld Place without the knowledge of her friends coming soon after.

* * *

"OUT!"

Zoey heard her father roar, waking her up from her slumber. The groggy Emeraude looked around her surroundings and rubbed her eyes. It was still nighttime, what was her dad shouting about? She went back to her pillow, closing her eyes until she heard a couple more shouts after about a minute or two had passed. Zoey shot back up and quickly wore her glasses, throwing her legs of her bed and grabbing her night robe. She simply placed it on top of her pajamas before swiftly leaving her room and making her way downstairs. She could still hear shouting. Zoey quickly made her way to the source of the voices.

"Easy for you to say, stuck here!" she heard Fred bellow, "I don't see you risking your neck!"

Zoey stopped in her tracks, eyes wide. What was Fred doing here? Why was he shouting? Who else was down there? Why were they all shouting? What was happening? Before Zoey could advance, she saw a couple of Butterbeers float passed her. She eyed them curiously before following them. Her dad probably summoned them for their unexpected guests.

The Emeraude entered the room and was surprised to see the Weasleys and Harry sitting down on the chairs, all looking angry, confused, sad or unsure. Zoey licked her lips and looked to her dad.

"What happened?" she mouthed to him, no one besides Sirius had took notice of her presence yet.

Sirius slowly shook his head, as if to say later.

Zoey accepted his reply and moved away from the rest, sinking into a dark corner, watching everything unfold She rather them not see her first.

Suddenly, there was a burst of flame followed by a letter and a golden feather. Sirius picked it up and gave it to George. The boy read it out loud.

"_Dad is still alive. I'm setting out for St. Mungo's now. Stay where you are. I will send news as soon as I can. Mum"_

"Still alive…" George said slowly, looking around, "but that makes it sound…"

Zoey watched as Ron simply stared at the parchment while Fred took it from George and read it for himself. Time passed and soon Fred and George slipped into a doze, Ginny curled up like a cat and stared into the fire, Ron sat with his head in his hands, making it hard to tell if he was asleep or not while Harry stayed away, sneaking looks at Sirius. Zoey took this time to come out.

"Zo –" Harry began but stopped when Zoey placed her finger to her lips, telling him to be quiet. Ginny didn't hear Harry nor did Ron or the sleeping twins.

"Hey, dad?" Zoey began placing a hand on Sirius' shoulder, "Mind if I do Mr. Weasley a little favor?"

"What favor?" Sirius asked before his eyes widened with realization, "No, I won't let you do that"

"Why not? It's just one little feather"

"Feather?" Harry then joined in, "You're going to give Mr. Weasley part of your soul?"

Zoey nodded. "If it would help, then yes"

"I'm not going to let you do that," Sirius said, "What if you end up giving more than you intend to?"

"If that happens then I'm giving him what he needs," Zoey said seriously.

"I forbid it," Sirius folded his arms across his chest.

"Why?" Zoey asked; she was glad that they were in a room filled with sleeping people. If it were in any other place Sirius would have been shouting at her.

Sirius didn't answer her; he just gave her a hard look. Zoey squinted her eyes at him. She knew why. He didn't want her to be in danger. He knew how her wings worked and feared that she would end up giving more than she intended to give. Zoey was the one who broke the gaze.

"I'll be fine, dad," She told him before making her way to the floo network, already getting a handful of Floo powder. "You have to trust me," she smiled at him before throwing the powder and making the green flames appear.

"St. Mungo's!"

And she was gone.

* * *

**Okay! Sorry for the wait and a rather shorter chapter than usual.**

**Summer is almost ending and I'm kinda bummed out at that fact.**

**Also, I've been trying to get out of the house more. I'm just wasting away... Not a good thing.**

**I want to thank ZoomSkater14 and HayleyParadox for the help**

**and to all my readers, reviewers, favorite-ers and alerters. I love you all. :)**

**About my little "both my parents are dead" thing Zoey said in the last chapter, I apologize for not making it clear to you all.**

**Lucy - Dead**

**Sirius - Alive but he wasn't really there for Zoey in the past years so it was like he was dead. She loves him but he wasn't there. She doesn't blame him... You get the picture.**

**This chapter had a lot of events mashed up into one... dang.**

**GAH Brain dead I don't really know what to say.**

**Oh yeah. NO Zoey did not steal Sirius' motorcycle. You know how Natalie is. She's crazy. She just wanted to say the same thing Mrs. Weasley said to Ron but they didn't own a car and yeah.**

**Natalie's weird**

**But we love her anyway.**

**Well, I guess that is all. I have nothing more to say except**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter**

**Please tell me what you thought**

**Excuse my typos and the like (Even though I beta-ed it already)**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter**

**And**

**I only own what I own**


	79. Chapter 77: All I want is you

**Chapter 77: All I want is you**

_Lucy gave a loud sneeze before withering in her bed and rubbing her nose violently, guessing that it had become red with the force. The Emeraude had a poor immune system and had found herself with a cold more powerful than the regular "Common Cold". She gave another sneeze and groaned afterwards. Lucy's sneezes were powerful and she really wished she had a different sort of sneeze. It wasn't the regular "Achoo" sneeze that you would hear on Muggle TV. No, this sneeze was an explosive one, like someone had set off a bomb. Lucy hated it. It wasn't "lady – like" at all. She sneezed once more._

"_Bis shucks," Lucy groaned once more, closing her eyes and grumbling. Her nose was clogged and her head felt stuffy. No matter how relaxing the temperature in the room was or how nice and soft her bed and pillows were, she still felt uncomfortable._

_She gave another explosive sneeze._

"_Whoa, was that you Luce?" came a cocky voice._

_Lucy rubbed her eyes and her nose before sitting up a bit, later regretting it for her head was still buzzing, and seeing Sirius with is hands in his pockets, grinning at her._

"_Chut tup, Piriush," Lucy glared, "I bon't hab tie por bis white nao"_

"_Pardon? Sorry, I don't think I understood what you said," Sirius' grin widened, leaning forward a bit as he walked towards the sick girl. Lucy continued to glare at him._

"_Chut tup," she said before letting out a sneeze_

_Sirius let out a laugh. "I don't think I've ever heard a sneeze that loud. It's amazing!"_

"_Bat gar ju boing ear?" Lucy asked, wiping her nose and laying back down on her pillow. The room was spinning._

"_Well, Miss Emeraude," Sirius began, taking a seat at the foot of Lucy's bed. She tried to kick him off. "You are much honored to have me, Sirius Orion Black, visiting you on your death bed"_

"_I'm not bying," Lucy tried to push him off again._

"_Of course you're not buying. I'm not selling you anything," Sirius paused, "Lame joke. Sorry"_

_Lucy let out a small laugh before quieting down and closing her yes once more. Her head was throbbing and Sirius wasn't making it any better but she couldn't help but feel that his presence was rather comforting. She opened her eyes again and sucked in a gasp. Sirius' face was mere centimeters away from hers. She blinked several times to make sure she wasn't seeing things._

"_Bat gar ju boing?" She asked, trying to make a distance away from her face and Sirius'._

"_What?" Sirius grinned, "Is it wrong that I want to get this close to my girlfriend who's sick?"_

"_Expactly. I'm shick and ip ju peep bis jishtance jur boing to bet shick poo!" Lucy tried to push him off but Sirius simply grinned and gave her a quick kiss on her lips. The Emeraude blushed._

"_I don't really care," Sirius said before placing his forehead on Lucy's shoulder. _

"_Bell I bo!" Lucy struggled to throw him off but Sirius only kissed her cheek. Lucy had to remind herself that she was sick and shouldn't let Sirius get his way. After much struggling, Sirius finally moved away from her, laughing._

"_Ip joo get shick, ip's nop may pault," Lucy grumped, pulling her blankets to her nose, sending Sirius glares._

_Sirius simply laughed again. "What if I wanted to get sick?" Lucy sent him a curious look. She didn't want to talk anymore. "If I get sick then I could spend all my time with you," Sirius continued, wiggling his brows suggestively._

_Lucy rolled her eyes at him and tried to kick him away once more. She succeeded and Sirius stumbled a bit but didn't fall to the floor. He squinted at Lucy._

"_Spend tie - tayme bid me? Wubbish," Lucy said simply, "Juu bust bant poo get shick poo get out op cl – cass"_

"_Oh, that's the added bonus," Sirius grinned before ducking; Lucy had thrown her pillow at him before turning her back to him and pulling her blanket to cover her head. She could hear Sirius laughing._

"_Git," she managed to say with her stuffy nose before closing her eyes and trying to sleep._

_She gave one more explosive sneeze before groaning._

It was the day the Weasleys together with Harry came to St. Mungo's to visit Mr. Weasley. The night Zoey left 12 Grimmauld Place and Apparated to the Hospital was the night she donated not one, but five feathers to Mr. Weasley. Mr. Weasley's condition was rather frightening though it wasn't the first time the Hospital staff had to deal with his sort of condition.

All they had to do now was look for an antidote.

Zoey's feathers had helped stabilize Mr. Weasley and sort out all the poison and such. Mrs. Weasley gave her a bone-crushing hug when she found out what the Emeraude had done. Sure, at first, Mrs. Weasley was really worried but in the end she had to accept that what Zoey had done had saved her husband and they couldn't really rewind time and get Zoey's five feathers back.

The same night, or rather midnight or even later than that, Mrs. Weasley had returned to 12 Grimmauld Place to rest for a bit and told her children the repot on Mr. Weasley's condition. She had not told them that Zoey had helped. In fact, she did not even tell Sirius and Harry, who knew where Zoey had gone, why Zoey had not returned with her. In truth, Zoey had met up with a familiar healer on her way out and that healer had requested Zoey to stay the night. Mrs. Weasley was rather suspicious but after much pleading from Zoey, which seemed to be forced, she had let it go, for now.

Yes, Fred was rather suspicious as to why the Emeraude had not been in the house but his questions were left unasked for what occupied his mind at the moment was his dad. The children dressed up in their muggle clothes before heading out with Mrs. Weasley, Tonks and Mad-Eye to go to St. Mungo's. They were directed to the first floor and were told to go to the second door to the right. They entered a room with only three occupants. A lady whose leg, or what remained of it, was wrapped in a bandage, a sickly looking man, who was later revealed to have been bitten by a werewolf, and their father.

Once they were reassured that their father was fine, they, the ones who were still studying in Hogwarts, began to question Mr. Weasley on what happened to him. They did not get the answers they wanted and their mother had asked them to leave the room. When the kids left (were "kicked out") Tonks and Mad-Eye replaced them. The moment the door closed, Fred and George, knowing that they weren't the only ones itching to know what the adults were talking about, pulled out their Extendable Ears and handed everyone the other end before listening in.

They heard many things that were related to what had happened to Mr. Weasley and were shocked to hear what had happened to Harry. They didn't expect to hear about the connection Harry had with The Dark Lord and Harry himself was just about to remove his end of the Extendable Ear, having heard enough, when something the adults were talking about caught his interest. He listened in and avoided the looks he was getting from his friends.

"_But I still owe my life to Zoey," they heard Mr. Weasley say with a soft laugh, "She's the one who gave me some of her feathers"_

_There was a small gasp. "So she really gave parts of her soul to you?" It was Tonks._

"_That she did," Mr. Weasley clarified, "Gave me quite a shock when I found out"_

"_Didn't those books she gave you say that you only need one feather to cure poison?" Came Moody's gruff voice._

_There was a short silence._

"_I guess, this was different," Mrs. Weasley said quietly._

That's when the Hogwarts students stopped listening. They pulled out their side of the Extendable Ears and gave each other curious looks. Zoey had given Mr. Weasley her feathers? And not just one feather…five feathers? Was that safe? Was it for the best? Before any of them could ask their questions out loud, they heard the sounds of feet approaching. The twins hurriedly pulled their Extendable Ears towards them and shoved them into their pockets before the door opened revealing Mrs. Weasley and the two Aurors. Mrs. Weasley gave them a tired smile.

"We'll visit your father again soon," she told them, "He needs his rest"

The kids didn't reply. They simply stared. Fred was the first to speak.

"Mum, where's Zoey?" he asked, seriousness in his eyes. The others nodded. Mrs. Weasley's eyes widened a bit and before she could even give her son an answer, there was a scream. All heads turned towards the source of the scream, which was soon followed by hurried footsteps. Someone was running and that someone was heading their way.

They all pulled out their wands and were ready for anything but what they didn't expect was to see Zoey, whose hair was in tangles and eyes looked bloodshot, running away from a healer. The healer had dirty blonde hair tied up in a bun, which seemed to get messier and messier with every run, and a plump body. It amazed them on how fast the woman could run.

"Miss Emeraude!" the plump healer yelled out, "Please stop running! We're only trying to help!"

"No! I don't need your help!" Zoey yelled out, her voice was hoarse. She ran and ran and even ran past the Weasleys, Harry and the two Aurors. She had not noticed them and did not even turn around to see that she had just bumped into Fred and George during her sprint. The healer; however, slowed down to apologize.

"Zoe!" Fred exclaimed, shocked at what he just saw. He was prepared to run after her but was stopped by George who looked at him in a way that said 'I think you might want to hear this'. Fred furrowed his brows in confusion and reluctantly stood his ground and turned back to the healer.

"Excuse me, but what's going on?" Mrs. Weasley asked after the healer caught her breath. The Weasley mother's brows furrowed in thought and worry. This was the Healer who asked if Zoey could stay the night.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am," the healer turned to Fred and George, "Sirs. That was Zoey Emeraude."

"We know that. She's our friend. We want to know why she's running away from you," Harry said, he didn't stop to think if what he just said was rude. The information he had just heard and what he had just seen confused him, made him worry.

The Healer wiped her forehead. "Do you know if Miss Emeraude has been taking her pills, Auctor Sanitatis?" she asked.

"Auctor what?" Ginny furrowed her brows, "I've never heard of that before"

"It's a special medicine. Not many had heard of it," The healer sighed, "Miss Emeraude has been told to take them since she was the age of ten. Those pills could last at most a month and she hasn't returned to get a new supply. It was rather worrying. We couldn't get in contact with her so when we saw her yesterday night, we just had to ask her."

Fred blinked at the mention of the pills. He recalled Zoey telling him about them. He looked back to see and empty hallway before directing his attention back to the nurse. Turns out Zoey didn't exactly tell him everything.

"Then how did that result in the wild goose chase we just saw?" Tonks couldn't help but ask. Everybody nodded in agreement.

"She's a very stubborn witch. We just wanted to ask how she was putting up with her _sickness _and if she had been taking her pills but no, she hasn't. The moment you," The healer turned to Mrs. Weasley, "left, she began to panic. Screaming and what not. She's been running around the hospital since then. We got her into a room but she destroyed everything –"

"By magic?" Ron asked.

"By her bare hands. What she did was very unnatural for her considering her body structure and health; we want to look more into her condition. Unfortunately, she isn't making it easy for any of us," The healer responded before pulling out her own wand, "I guess we have to use force"

"What are you going to do?" Mrs. Weasley's brows knitted together in worry. She remembered the time Natalie had put a spell on Bill and Charlie just to get them ready for bed. Harmless spell, but worrisome nonetheless.

The healer gave Mrs. Weasley a smile. "Something I should have done hours ago," she then waved her wand in the air. "Don't worry, it won't harm her," she added when Mrs. Weasley's eyes widened.

Fred furrowed his brows at the healer, feeling very confused and worried. He hasn't spoken a single word yet and frankly, he didn't know what to say. His girlfriend was absent in her own home and he later found out that with her feathers, she saved his father then he sees her running for her life from a healer who had just told him and the rest Zoey's case. This was a little too much information for one day. Fred looked over to George and saw his twin shrug and jerk his head towards the direction Zoey ran off to. Fred nodded his head before looking back and seeing Zoey zoom past them, like she was being tugged by an invisible force, and into the clutches of the healer.

Zoey looked like the living dead. Her skin was paler than usual and her eyes were dead. When the Healer caught hold of her, she struggled a bit before slumping and giving a tired sigh. She no longer had the energy to fight. The healer was happy at the realization. Fred pursed his lips at the sight as he felt a slight pang in his heart. He took a step forward when he saw Zoey give another attempt in struggling. He noted that she had yet to notice his and the others' presence.

"Please," they heard Zoey beg in her quiet voice, "I'll question any answers just let me go!"

"Shouldn't it be 'answer any questions'?" George asked before being nudged in the stomach by his sister. Fred ignored his twin's question and continued to look at Zoey. He then looked over to the healer and gave her a questioning look.

"Is she going to be alright?" he asked. He knew that if it were under any other circumstance, he would have gotten mad at the force the healer used on Zoey but he was smart, he knew that this was for her own good… even if he didn't like it.

"Of course," the healer smiled, "I just need to run some tests"

"Tests?" Harry asked, picturing needles and X – rays. He remembered the times he was allowed to watch TV and came across Medical shows that featured those kinds of things. Were they going to extract Zoey's blood?

The Healer nodded and readjusted her hold on Zoey.

"Yes, tests," she then looked over to Mrs. Weasley, "You are her legal guardian, yeah?"

Mrs. Weasley jumped a bit at the question. "Legal – No, I mean… Yes," she took a breath, "As of the moment I guess I am"

"I see. Will you please come with me, Ma'am? I need to ask you some things involving Miss Emeraude," the healer said.

Mrs. Weasley nodded her head and turned towards her children, Harry and the two Aurors. "Tonks, Mad – Eye, do you mind taking the kids back?" she asked them.

"Of course, Molly," Tonks saluted and placed a hand on Ginny's shoulder, "But wouldn't you want one of us to stay here and wait for you?"

"It's alright," Mrs. Weasley assured them, "Please take care and," she paused and looked over to Harry, "And Harry, dear, please take a good long rest when you get back. You look very tired"

Harry slowly nodded but then furrowed his brows. He was going to say something but Fred beat him to it.

"I'm coming with you, Mum," Fred said, looking over to Zoey. He was worried about her and wanted to know what 'Tests' they were going to run on her.

"No you will not," said Mrs. Weasley, "You are all to go back to the… house"

"And why?" Fred asked, furrowing his brows slightly, he was feeling a bit angry at what his mother had said but he did not want to start a fight with her.

"Because I said so"

"We aren't five anymore, Mum," George backed up his brother.

"I want to come too," Harry added, sending a glance towards Zoey's limp body.

"If Harry's going then I'm coming too," Ron stepped up.

And Finally Ginny joined in. "No point in me going back without them," she told her mother, "We're all worried for Zoey"

Mrs. Weasley gave a tired sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. She looked at each and every one of the kids and looked back at the healer who was holding Zoey. They had a point but it was still not possible for them to come with her. The healer had asked for her and if everyone came along it would just cause a ruckus. It was no good. She took a deep breath and gave them an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry but I think it would be best if I would go alone," Mrs. Weasley said.

"But I want to know what they would do to her!" Fred exclaimed.

"We would just run some tests," the healer said, "We'd be done in no time"

"What kind of tests?" Harry asked

"Just the kind that would tell us Miss Emeraude's condition"

"If it would be done in 'no time' then I don't see why we can't wait," Fred then said, folding his arms across his chest

"Frederick Gideon Weasley, just go back and I assure you when I return, Zoey would be with me," Mrs. Weasley said impatiently. She wanted to get this over with. She was worried and wanted to get the worse out of the way. She then looked over to the Aurors. "Please just take them back," she pause, "Keep an eye on those two," she pointed to Fred and George, "And make sure they don't get away"

"But Mum!"

"No, no more buts or anything," Mrs. Weasley said firmly before turning around and nodding to the healer, leaving the rest behind.

* * *

Zoey swallowed hard as she stood inside one of the many hospital rooms, alone. She looked around the room with wide eyes, blinking several times with each turn of her head to make sure she wasn't seeing things. When she finished scanning the room, she felt a cold sweat form on her brow as her hands began to shake. She wrapped them around her body, hugging herself and kneeling to the ground.

The room was clean and orderly.

It was perfect.

The Emeraude felt her breath quicken as she began to feel sick. She remembered something from years ago. Her head throbbed. Her shaky hands then began to reach towards her neck.

She couldn't breath.

Zoey began to choke, slumping to the floor, not caring that her head throbbed in pain when it made contact with the ground. She felt like she was back in the Black Lake, holding her breath till the need of air became to great only this time, she was on land and even though air was all around her, she couldn't breath it.

She began to scratch her neck, trying to create some kind of passageway the air could take so it would reach her lungs. Her nails weren't long so it didn't draw blood; it only made red lines decorating her pale neck. It stung but she didn't care. She couldn't breath. She was suffocating.

The Emeraude turned and looked around the room once more. Her lungs burned for air. She tried to scream out. Scream for help but no sounds came out. Tears began to flow down her cheeks as she tried to remember how she even got in this room.

Zoey remembered Flooing to St. Mungo's to give Mr. Weasley five of her feathers and was going to go back to the Noble House of Black with Mrs. Weasley when a familiar healer cornered her. She assured Mrs. Weasley that everything was fine and to go on without her, Mrs. Weasley was suspicious but obeyed. The moment the Weasley mother disappeared, Zoey made a run for it. She recalled running faster than ever, dodging several healers, patients and the like. She hid behind curtains and locked herself in many rooms. The chase went on for hours and even when Zoey was in full panic, she wondered why none of them used magic to catch her.

_Maybe it was too forceful_

She remembered thinking when the sun was up. She ran away from the plump healer and yelled at her no matter how tired she was. She bumped into a hard surface, she didn't know what it was, but continued to run. When she got far enough, she looked back to see that the healer had stopped chasing her. She slowed her pace to catch her breath.

Zoey felt safe at that point but no less than five minutes later, an invisible force began to tug at her shirt, lifting her off from the ground and bringing her back to the healer. She struggled and begged but soon her tiredness caught up with her and she passed out. The next thing she knew, she was in the room.

The Emeraude tried to take a breath of air only to find out that her throat wouldn't let any air pass through. It was like it was clogged. She tried to breath in through her nose but it didn't help either. There was no oxygen in her body and she felt like she was losing consciousness. Before she knew it, she blacked out.

When Zoey finally regained consciousness, she opened her eyes and was greeted by the same perfect room. She pushed herself off from the ground and looked around once more. She swallowed hard before getting back to her feet. Every movement she made, hurt. Her limbs were sore and if possible, she wanted to stay on the floor forever if that meant she didn't need to move but she knew that that couldn't happen. The Emeraude looked around once more, her brows knitted together before she felt something snap within her.

Before Zoey knew it, she began to destroy the room. Turning beds over and smashing whatever was breakable to the ground. She tore the curtains and scratched the walls with whatever sharp object she found. The destruction continued until something sharp hit her at the back of her neck. Zoey whirled around, her eyes wide with anger and her cheeks wet with tears, and caught sight of a healer, his wand pointed at her, and Mrs. Weasley, whose hands were covering her mouth in shock.

Zoey felt her hands drop to her side and her breathing calm down. She looked around the room and saw that it was in ruins. Her bottom lip quivered and she meant to say something but without warning her eyes rolled back and she blacked out once more.

* * *

Several voices filled the air, each talking frantically to one another. Their tones were worried and soft but also very curious. Zoey stirred in her sleep. She did not know where she was or to whom the voices belonged to, all she knew was that she was laying down on a soft surface with sore muscles and a soft pain at the back of her neck. She turned a bit and heard the voices continue to converse. Their words were muffled and frankly, Zoey did not care about what they were saying.

A few more minutes passed and Zoey concluded that she could not return to sleep; she reluctantly opened her eyes to be greeted with the dim light of her room in 12 Grimmauld Place. She furrowed her brows and turned a bit in her bed only to wince at the soreness of her muscles. She bit her lip and looked to her bedside table.

There was an Extendable Ear on it. She looked at it curiously before concluding that it was because of the Ear that she heard the voices. She meant to pick it up but stilled when she saw her door begin to open. She furrowed her brows and waited for the door to fully open. It was Bridgit.

"You're awake!" Bridgit suddenly said, eyes widening and rushing over to Zoey's bed. "Are you okay? Does anything hurt? Why didn't you tell us you were sick? With this disease no less!" She continued, checking Zoey for pains or damage.

Zoey's eyes widened at the last part of what Bridgit had said. She took a deep breath and ignored the throbbing in her limbs with every move she made. She sat up and folded her legs under herself. "How did you know?" she asked, her voice sounding foreign to herself.

"It's not as if Molly wouldn't tell us, you know," Bridgit answered

"Mrs. Weasley," Zoey corrected her before giving a defeated sigh. No use hiding things now. "How much do you know?"

"Not all of it, just what she told us." Bridgit said. "About your pills, and how this will pretty much affect your motor skills, she also told us about the little incident in the hospital ward"

Zoey slowly shook her head, remembering what had happened. "That… I think that was a test," she said, "I think I failed it"

"A test for what? If you're insane?" Bridgit asked, now taking a seat beside her friend.

"Do you think I'm insane?" Zoey looked at Bridgit worriedly.

"Well...I would say no, but your dating Fred so that begs the question..." Bridgit was saying, trying to state a joke, but when she saw Zoey's serious face, it was obvious that this was a serious matter. "No, I don't"

"Does… does anyone think I'm insane?" Zoey looked at the door, noting that it was still open.

"Nope, well I think Kreacher does, but he thinks everyone is insane so don't take it personally." She answered, giving her friend a smile.

Zoey returned the smile before looking around the room. Something seemed to be a bit off. She furrowed her brows in thought before she looked down at the foot of her bed. The sight caused her eyes to widen. She picked up a present from the small pile of Christmas gifts and read the card. It said:

_Merry Christmas Zoey!_

_Love, Jane_

"Bridgit?" Zoey began, looking away from the card, "How long have I been asleep?"

"Well, I got here yesterday so probably two days, give or take," Bridgit answered.

"Oh my… It's Christmas today…. Isn't it?" Zoey slowly got out of her bed and sat in front of her presents, reading each of the cards, not daring to open them just yet.

"Well, yes, but don't you think you should get something to eat before ripping all those to shreds?" Bridgit suggested, worrying about her friend's well being.

"Look at this tiny one," Zoey ignored what her friend had said as she showed her a small gift, "It's from Fred. What do you think is inside?"

"I don't know, but I'm pretty sure it's something special coming from your boyfriend and all." Bridgit answered, now moving closer to Zoey.

"But what do you think is inside? I mean, it's the smallest amongst everything and I'm pretty sure most of my gifts are books, clothes and prank stuff that I would not be able to put to good use but this…. This…. What is this?" Zoey turned the small gift in her hands, shaking it lightly.

"How about opening it? That is the routine right?" Bridgit suggested, chuckling at Zoey's childishness.

Zoey knitted her brows together in thought and looked over to Bridgit. "Are you sure that it is okay for me to open it?"

"Oh no, a gift bought or made especially for _you_ shouldn't be opened by you." Bridgit answered sarcastically.

"Oh ha ha ha," Zoey laughed dryly, "I mean is it okay for me to open it now? Isn't it rude if I open my gifts before everyone else opens theirs?"

"What makes you think we didn't open ours yet?" Bridgit asked, smirking.

"Ah, I see what you did there," Zoey laughed before putting the gift beside her and reaching for the others. "I'm going to save it for last," she told Bridgit with a grin before she began to rip the gift-wrap off of the present from Jane and the rest.

The process of opening gifts went by quickly, with the help of Bridgit, and soon, Zoey's last present was the tiny one from Fred. The Emeraude got books from Hermione, Ginny and Echo, a very interesting medical book and a pair of gloves from Bridgit (Zoey grinned at her friend in thanks), several notebooks and quills with scented ink bottles from Jane and Aiden, sweaters and shirts from Natalie and Mrs. Weasley, a charm bracelet from her godfather and a charm from her dad. She got a big box of Chocolate frogs from Ron, a charm from Harry as well, some candy from George (Zoey put that away for safe keeping seeing as it was _real _candy.), and others. She even got a gift from Zacharias, to hers and Bridgit's surprise. When Zoey opened it, she rolled her eyes a bit before keeping it away from Bridgit's view. It was some skills that he told her to review for their Quidditch match.

Finally, it was time for Fred's gift.

Zoey brought the tiny box to her eyes and gave a nervous laugh. "I don't know why this is making me nervous all of a sudden," she said, facing Bridgit. She then raised an amused brow to see Bridgit surrounded with the gift-wrap; Zoey figured she looked the same.

"Why? Scared it's a ring?" Bridgit asked, avoiding the sudden gift-wrap that made her way.

"Why would he give me a ring?" Zoey asked.

"Oh my goodness Zoey! You are so dim!" Bridgit laughed, falling back with her back on the floor.

"What? Why?" Zoey was genuinely confused. She lowered the gift to her lap.

"Ring! Zoey think! What does it mean when a boy gives a girl a ring?" Bridgit asked, trying to get her laughter in control.

Zoey furrowed her brows in thought. She was quiet for several seconds before her eyes widened. "You mean he's going to propose?" she exclaimed, "But – But We're still so young!"

"I don't know if he's gonna propose, Zee, but what would you say if he did?" Bridgit now asked.

"What would I say? I… I…Uh…" Zoey felt her cheeks warming up and her head spinning. The very thought was getting her all flustered.

"You…?" Bridgit urged on, still laughing at the sight of her, now, red-cheeked friend.

"I… I should open this before I jump into conclusions," Zoey then said ripping the paper and gasping a bit when she held a small box in her hand. She sent Bridgit a side-glance before opening the box only to draw in another gasp.

It was a necklace. It wasn't a fancy necklace with diamonds and rubies. No, this was a simple one with a white dove wrapping its wing around a letter F. She bit her lip, smiling, as she took the chain in her hand and made the pendant dangle in front of her. She felt her heart swell and tears were threatening to fall from her eyes. She was at loss for words.

"Well, not a ring, but still jewelry." Bridgit then said, her laughter now receding.

"It's… it's…it's… wow," Zoey breathed out, still staring at the dove and the letter F.

"Would you like me to call Fred and send him up here? He'll get freaked finding out you woke up without him at your side." Bridgit suggested, thinking that the couple could use some alone time.

Zoey gave a small laugh. "Well, can you greet Echo and George 'Happy Anniversary' for me?"

"Sure thing, if their not snogging then I'll try to put the word in." Bridgit answered, standing up and making her way to the door. She closed the door as she exited the room, and headed down the stairs.

* * *

When Bridgit finally made it to the living room, where everyone was, the sight that greeted her was one of utter chaos. Gift-wrappers everywhere, noise coming from everyone in the room. It seemed as if she was in a circus rather than a house.

"Oi! Thanks for the jerseys Bridgit!" She heard someone say, and turned her head to see Ron. She smiled as she remembered the autographed Quidditch jerseys that she had gotten them, but she was still in search of another red head.

"Have you seen Fred?" She asked Hermione, who was reading her new book.

"Yeah, he's in the kitchen. Thanks for the fascinating book by the way." Hermione answered, and Bridgit gave her a smile and thanked her as well.

She entered the kitchen, and there, indeed, was the person she was looking for.

Fred sat there, head on the table and obviously moping. Bridgit shook her head and made her way to the ginger haired boy. She whacked his head, automatically making him look up at her. "What do you want Bridgit?" Fred asked, rubbing his head.

"Your girlfriend's looking for you." Bridgit answered, smiling.

Fred's eyes widened at the mention of Zoey. He stood up and shook Bridgit's shoulders. "WHAT? She's awake? Why didn't you call me? I should've been the one there when she woke up!" Fred ranted, and Bridgit pushed his hands away.

"Just get your butt up to her, instead of interrogating me idiot!" Bridgit said, and Fred nodded. He ran out of the kitchen, leaving Bridgit alone. The brown haired girl walked out soon afterwards, and saw the couple that she wanted to see.

George and Echo were sitting on the loveseat, snuggling like the precious couple they are, when Bridgit stuck her head in the middle of their scene. "Zoey says Happy Anniversary!" Bridgit screamed, running away when Mrs. Weasley, who heard Bridgit, now harassed the couple about how she knew they would end up together and on and on and on.

* * *

Zoey sat on the floor, surrounded by gift-wrap, singing quietly to herself. She was so happy and all the thoughts on her sore body and what had happened in the hospital were erased from her mind. All she was focused on was Fred coming up. She paused. What was she going to say to him? Greet him? Thank him? Kiss him? Zoey blushed at the third option. Why was she panicking? She had been with Fred for seven Christmases already and she's panicking now? _No, _she then thought, _this is different. We're a couple now…_

"_I don't want a lot for Christmas _

_There's just one thing I need _

_I don't care about the presents _

_Underneath the Christmas tree _

_I just want you for my own _

_More than you could ever know _

_Make my wish come true _

_All I want for Christmas is... _

_You"_

The Emeraude wore a small smile on her face, watching the pendant dangle in front of her eyes.

"_I don't want a lot for Christmas _

_There's just one thing I need _

_I don't care about the presents _

_Underneath the Christmas tree _

_I don't need to hang my stocking _

_There upon the fireplace _

_Santa Claus won't make me happy _

_With a toy on Christmas day _

_I just want you for my own _

_More than you could ever know _

_Make my wish come true _

_All I want for Christmas is you _

_You baby"_

"_I won't ask for much this Christmas _

_I don't even wish for snow _

_I'm just gonna keep on waiting _

_Underneath the mistletoe _

_I won't make a list and send it _

_To the North Pole for Saint Nick _

_I won't even stay awake to _

_Hear those magic reindeers click _

_'Cause I just want you here tonight _

_Holding on to me so tight _

_What more can I do _

_Baby all I want for Christmas is you _

_Ooh baby "_

Zoey was grinning already, swaying from side to side.

"_All the lights are shining _

_So brightly everywhere _

_And the sound of children's _

_Laughter fills the air _

_And everyone is singing _

_I hear those sleigh bells ringing _

_Santa won't you bring me the one I really need _

_Won't you please bring my baby to me... "_

"_Oh I don't want a lot for Christmas _

_This is all I'm asking for _

_I just want to see my baby _

_Standing right outside my door _

_Oh I just want you for my own _

_More than you could ever know _

_Make my wish come true _

_Baby all I want for Christmas is... _

_You _

_All I want for Christmas is you... baby" _

When Zoey ended the song the door opened revealing Fred. Zoey felt her heart skip a beat when she saw him. She watched as he scanned the room, raising an amused brow at the amount of gift-wrap decorating the floor, before stopping at Zoey. He sent her a grin and greeted her. Zoey returned the greeting.

Zoey, finally deciding what to do, stood up and was prepared to hug him when Fred caught sight of what was in her hand. He blushed a bit.

"I see you… uhm… like it," Fred cleared his throat, still looking at the necklace in Zoey's hand

"Hmm?" Zoey tilted her head to the side before looking at the necklace, "Oh! Yeah, I love it" She gave him a warm smile.

"That's a relief," Fred suddenly blurted out. "I was scared that you wouldn't. I'm not really…. Ugh…. Good with jewelry"

Zoey gave a laugh. "It's cute," she paused, "Especially love the F"

"You should love the F!" Fred exclaimed, walking up to her and giving her a hug. "I was so worried about you, Zoe." He whispered.

"Thanks…I'm fine," Zoey felt herself blush and she lightly pushed him away, grinning at him, "Care to put this on me?"

"Sure," Fred answered, taking the necklace from Zoey. She turned around and took her hair out of the way. Fred clasped the necklace in place and smiled.

Zoey felt her blush deeper as she turned around and gave Fred a small peck on his lips. "Merry Christmas," she greeted him. Fred's smile widened and was just about to give Zoey a longer kiss when they were interrupted by a low grumble. Fred looked around curiously as Zoey's eyes widened and her blush darkened to that of embarrassment.

"What was that?" Fred finally asked, looking back to Zoey and noting that she would not look at him.

"Zoe?" he asked.

"Tha… that was… uhm," Zoey stuttered out, taking a step away from Fred, "That was my stomach"

"Your… stomach?" Fred asked slowly, his moth twitching a bit. Zoey nodded. Before she knew it, and she half expected it, Fred burst into laughter. The Emeraude inhaled and bit her lip. Her brows furrowed at her boyfriend and she took the object closest to her, which was an empty box. She threw it at Fred.

"Ouch!" Fred shouted, rubbing the damaged spot, "What was that for?"

"You laughed at me," Zoey folded her arms across her chest and her stomach gave another loud grumble. She blushed again and looked away from Fred, not wanting to see his face.

"Well forgive me for finding this a rather comical scene, milady," Fred answered, trying hard not to laugh once again.

"And I thought you were worried about me," Zoey then said, "Did Mrs. Weasley make anything for…(she looked out the window) lunch?"

Fred nodded his head and composed himself, taking Zoey's hand in his own and told her to shut her eyes. Zoey did as told, not knowing what he would do, and before she knew it they Apparated to the kitchen. When Zoey's feet landed on the floor, she stumbled a bit and looked around. Everyone was on the table, ready to eat. She greeted them all.

"Ah, Zoey, it's good to see you wide-awake," Mrs. Weasley appeared, smiling at her.

Zoey was about to say something when she noted Mrs. Weasley's red-rimmed eyes. She then saw a Weasley Sweater with the letter 'P' on it sitting on one of the tables. She raised a brow at it and felt Fred squeeze her hand. She looked up at him and saw him slowly shake his head. She then looked back at Mrs. Weasley.

"Happy Christmas, Mrs. Weasley," her stomach grumbled and she gave a sheepish laugh.

"Happy Christmas, dear," Mrs. Weasley then ushered her to the table, telling her to take a seat and began to serve her food, putting piles of anything on Zoey's plate. Zoey laughed and talked with her friends and family.

* * *

Zoey sat in her old nursery, playing with her old dolls, as she waited for Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys to return from St. Mungo's. Her Christmas morning, or afternoon, was one of the best Christmases she had ever had. She was with her family and friends and she had the time of her life. She was sad to hear that Fred and the others had to leave to visit Mr. Weasley but she understood their intentions. The man was going to be alone for the Christmas in a stuffy hospital if they didn't visit.

Zoey told them to send him her greetings.

The Emeraude would have gone with them; she loved talking to Mr. Weasley, except she had a new fear for hospitals. The smell and the sight of seeing the injured scared her. She remembered that while running away from the Healers, she entered a room that was filled with "Special Patients". These patients had a mental sickness that could not be undone. The girl felt a pang in her heart at the sight. She saw a man in a woman, both looking friendly yet lost and oddly familiar, and even her old DADA teacher, who was asking her if she wanted his autograph (which she politely and awkwardly rejected), in the room.

Zoey sighed as she dug her hand deep into her pocket and pulled out a new supply of Auctor Sanitatis. She was scared. She didn't want to take the pills but she didn't want to end up like the man, woman and Professor Lockhart. It was heartless of her to think different of them but she couldn't help it. She had the cure in the palm of her hands yet she didn't want to take it.

"Maybe I am insane," Zoey muttered to herself, "I just don't know it yet. Before I know it, Fred, George, Echo, Bridgit and the rest would be visiting me in the Hospital…."

At the thought, she bit her lip and popped open the lid. Apparently after her little 'Test' the healer had given Mrs. Weasley the Auctor Sanitatis and told her when to give it to Zoey (It was still one pill a day). In fact, Zoey had to take one pill after Lunch. The Emeraude was looking on the bright side that Mrs. Weasley won't always be there to give her the 'look' when she didn't want to take the medicine only Mrs. Weasley ordered Bridgit, Echo and Hermione to force Zoey to take it when they were in school.

Zoey had no way out.

She placed the pills back in her pocket and crawled over to the toy box, opening the lid and stuffing her hand deep within. Several thrown out dogs later, Zoey found the one she was looking for. It was the dog that had fur the same color as Fred's hair. The Emeraude studied the little pup, thinking to herself. She did not remember playing in the nursery nor did she remember much of her childhood. Everything was a blur. Zoey yawned. She crawled over to the crib and pulled out the pillow, placing it on the floor and laying down on it. She hugged the ginger colored pup to her chest as her eyes began to droop close. She gave another yawn before she was out cold.

"_Oh! She's such a cutie!" Molly gushed as she fawned over Zoey who was being cradled in her mother's arms. Lucy let out a laugh and looked down at her daughter. Big gray eyes looked into Lucy's brown once and Lucy felt her heart skip a beat. She let out a small squeal._

"_I tell you, Mols! This kids is going to steal your heart!" Lucy said giddily, "She already stole mine!"_

_Molly raised a brow and peered at Zoey, watching as the baby squirmed a little before looking over to her, blinking. The Weasley mother's mouth twitched a bit before she gave a soft laugh. "I know what you mean! She just stole mine!" she said making baby faces at the girl._

"_What did she do? What trick did she play?" Lucy asked excitedly, readjusting her daughter before grinning, "Ah! She stole it again!"_

"_Again? How many hearts do you have, woman? You've been going on and on about your kid's heart stealing abilities since this morning," Natalie grumbled out, placing her feet on the table. Molly swatted them away._

"_Don't use Sirius' nickname for you on me," Lucy pouted before looking back at Zoey, "She did it again!"_

_Natalie made an exasperated sigh. "Why am I even here? I could be hanging out with Lily. I mean, she doesn't have her heart being stolen every few seconds"_

"_Why are you so grumpy?" Molly asked her, swatting her feet of the table once more. Natalie didn't answer; she just huffed and crossed her legs._

"_Oh don't mind her. She's just mad cause you don't have any of that muggle food to put in hat toaster waver," Lucy smiled before readjusting Zoey in her arms and sighing, laying down comfortable on the sofa._

"_It's not my fault you wouldn't buy me any!" Natalie stuck her tongue out at her friend before focusing her gaze to Zoey, "Are you sure she's even suppose to be here right now?"_

"_What's wrong with here? The Burrow is nice and safe. I mean, there are five kids running around, it has to be safe," Lucy said._

"_I know that but Zoey's just a few weeks old ain't she? Shouldn't she still be at home?" Natalie scratched the back of her head._

_Lucy raised a brow at her friend before sharing a look with Molly. A smirk grew on Lucy's lips and Natalie flinched a bit at the sight. _

"_Someone's been studying," Molly said in a singsong voice, a grin decorating her lips._

"_Tell me, Natalie, how exactly do you know that?" Lucy began to tease, "Don't tell me you've been researching"_

"_And so what if I have? I mean, I should know this stuff seeing as all my friends are getting pregnant these days. Sooner or later it would be Lily's turn and probably Molly again or the other way around," Natalie then stood up, dusting imaginary dirt away from her clothes._

"_How are you so sure that I would have another one?" Molly then asked, "After having twins, who are quite the handful I may add, I think I'm done"_

_Natalie scoffed good-naturedly before looking back to her friends, hands on her hips. "Like I would believe that. You love kids and frankly you love girls so I know you won't stop till you actually have one," she told her._

"_You make it sound so wrong," Molly laughed before tapping Lucy's leg and standing up, saying something about preparing lunch for them and her kids. Lucy laughed before carefully standing up and watching Natalie. Natalie shrugged at her friend before sticking her tongue out at her before disapparating._

_Lucy shook her head before adjusting Zoey once more in her arms and heading upstairs like a normal person. She passed by several toys that were yet to be picked up and put away properly and broken crayons. She gave a soft smile before entering the twins' room. Natalie was most likely with Bill, Charlie and Percy. She was not ready to play with babies yet. Lucy carefully opened the door and saw the twins in their crib playing with their baby toys. _

"_Greetings Twin number one and number two," she said quietly before taking her seat on the rocking chair, watching the two look at her curiously. She had yet to learn how to tell them apart. One of the twins burped. "So which one are you?" she asked the burping one. He didn't answer. The other one simply stared at her stomach._

"_Hey you," Lucy greeted the other one, "There's nothing in here anymore," she patted her stomach, "You know where it went?"_

_The burping twin made a curious sound at the same time the silent twin did. Lucy laughed. Even as babies twins knew how to do things at the same time. _

"_Well, she's right over here!" Lucy said excitedly, showing them Zoey. The twins blinked at her and Zoey blinked at them in return. Everything went silent. Lucy bit her lip before looking in the crib and spotting a stuff toy. She raised her brow at it and picked it up .The twins protested._

"_What?" she asked them even though they could not answer her with words, "It's just a stuffed dog"_

_The twin continued to protest. They began to reach for it. Lucy tilted her head at them and was just about to return the dog when there was a soft tug on its leg. It was Zoey. The new mother furrowed her brows and tried to tug it away from her child but Zoey would not let go. The twins were now clinging onto the bars of the crib, trying to support themselves in getting the toy. Lucy began to panic. This was a bad idea… or maybe the toy was that special? She looked at it and noted it was just a ginger colored dog. What was so special about that?_

_The babies began to whimper and were going to cry._

_Apparently it was very special._

"_Okay… okay. No need for any tears. We can solve this live civilized people," Lucy began and jumped a bit when one of the twins wailed triggering the other one to wail and then Zoey. "Alright!" Lucy panicked and placed her child in the crib as well. Sucked in a breath and watched, as the dog lay limp next to Zoey, who was being supported by the pillows. The twins saw that the dog was now closer than ever and struggled to get it. Zoey began to squirm and looked pleadingly at her mother. The twins did the same._

_Lucy bit her lip and looked away, placing a hand on her chest._

It's no use, _she thought herself_, they're too cute. I can't win against them

_She then reluctantly looked back to see that the twins and Zoey were just having a staring contest. None of them minded the dog. Lucy bit her lip and inched to get the dog and froze in her spot when all three of them turned to look at her. _

"_You're plotting to attack me, aren't you?" Lucy said, slowly drawing her hand back._

_The babies didn't say anything. In fact, they couldn't even speak. Lucy gave a sigh and sat down on the rocking chair. Watching as the dog was abandoned for the other baby toys that were in the crib. The Black sat quietly, laughing at the appropriate times, as she watched as the three played. It seemed all too soon when Molly entered the room and told Lucy that Sirius was looking for her._

"_Thanks, Mols," Lucy smiled at the Weasley mother before picking up Zoey and adjusting her in her arms. Molly smiled in return._

"_Were they just playing the whole time?" Molly asked_

"_Yeah… well… at first they threatened to cry," Lucy laughed sheepishly._

"_Why?"_

"_The ginger dog"_

"_Oh," it was Molly's turn to laugh._

_Lucy laughed again before thanking her friend and making her way to the door. She was just about to disappear behind the wall when she heard a sound of protest once more. She turned back and looked into the room to see one of the twins holding the dog in one hand and the bar for support in the other. She raised a brow at him and at Molly._

_Molly shrugged before going to the crib and picking up the twin. She then approached Lucy. The twin then began to struggle in holding up the dog and thrusting it at Lucy. Lucy bit her lip and carefully took it away from the boy. Zoey cheered with glee and hugged it._

"_I think he wants her to have it," there was another sound, it was from the crib, "They both want her to have it"_

"_Molly…Are you sure? I mean, they were almost had a baby fight over it not too long ago," Lucy knitted her brows together._

"_I'm sure and they're sure too," she smiled._

"_Thanks," Lucy smiled softly at Molly and then to the baby that was left in the crib. She then turned to the one in Molly's arms. "Which one is this? He was nice enough to volunteer to get out of the crib"_

_Molly looked at her baby. "I'm… not sure"_

"_What?" Lucy's eyes widened, "And you call yourself their mother!"_

"_I'm just joking," Molly laughed, "This one is –"_

"Zoey? You in here?"

The Emeraude stirred a bit before slowly opening her eyes. She groaned as she pushed herself off the floor, letting the ginger dog fall to the floor. She pushed her hair away from her eyes and squinted at the door. She looked to the ground and saw her glasses standing on its lenses. She picked it up, cleaned it and placed it on her face just in time for the door to open, revealing her godmother.

"There you are!" Natalie grinned before raising a brow, "Did you fall asleep here?"

Zoey stifled a yawn. "I think so… yeah. Floor not that comfy," she rubbed the back of her neck.

"You slept on the floor? Why? There's a perfectly good bed beside you!"

"Aunt Maria, that's a crib," Zoey smiled.

"It's a bed"

"For babies"

Natalie paused and ran her hand through her invisible beard. "Touché," she said, "You win this round"

Zoey laughed and watched her godmother with curiosity as the woman walked around the nursery and spotted the ginger dog. She picked it up and eyed it. "The Weasleys and the others are back," she said, "Odd color for a dog"

"It's a toy. It doesn't matter," Zoey stood up from the ground and stumbled a bit.

"Good point," Natalie then dashed out the door, "Sirius! I found a dog who looks better than you and he's not even alive!"

Zoey's eyes widened and ran after her godmother. Natalie was laughing as she entered the living room and tackled Sirius, much to his dismay, and began to rub the dog in his face, literally. Everyone laughed at the comical scene, even Zoey. After about ten seconds, Sirius pushed Natalie off and grabbed the dog out of her clutches.

"What the bloody hell is this?" he raised his brow at it.

"A dog. Duh," Natalie rolled her eyes before snatching the dog and rubbing it on Sirius's head, making childish noises. She even went so far as to give the dog a voice to mock Sirius with.

"Good Lord, Woman! How old do you think you are?" Sirius shouted, grabbing the dog once more and throwing it away. It landed on George.

"How old I _think _I am? Well, I think I'm twelve so you can't really complain about my actions!" Natalie stuck her tongue out at him.

Remus chuckled. "That was a Rhetorical Question, Nat"

"And I was being sarcastic…I think," Natalie paused in thought. She was distracted long enough for Sirius to shoot a Body-Binding Curse at her. She swore at him.

Meanwhile, away from the adults who still act like kids, George looked at the Ginger dog curiously. He turned it over in his hand and pursed his lips in thought. Fred looked at his brother with amusement.

"Something bothering you, Georgie?" he asked, "Want one of your own?"

George gave a laugh before tossing it over to Fred. "It's not that, Freddie, don't you think it looks familiar to you?"

"Well, I did see it last summer, if me memory serves me right," Fred winked with his fail pirate accent. Tossing the dog back to George, hitting him on the head. George glared and threw it at Fred. The stuffed dog was continuously thrown between them like a Tennis Match until Zoey snatched it in midair.

"Foul!" Bridgit said from behind them.

Zoey smiled and placed the dog on the top of her head, balancing it. Watching as George continued to look at the dog.

"But seriously. I know I've scene it before… and not just last summer seeing as I never saw it till now," he said

"If you never saw it till now how can you be sure you saw it before?" Fred asked.

"You know what I mean," George paused before looking at Fred, "You sure you've never seen it before?"

"We probably passed by it when we walk by those Toy Stores," Fred shrugged.

George wasn't satisfied with the answer and was just about to ask Zoey where she got the dog when Mrs. Weasley walked in with a plate full of Christmas. Several people stood up to get their own while Natalie struggled against the binds. She wanted one too. Mrs. Weasley was just about to offer some to Echo when she caught sight of the dog.

"Ah, now that brings back memories," she smiled before handing the cookie to the Veela and retreating back into the kitchen, ready to get the next batch out.

"Memories?" Zoey asked out loud, sending the twins a curious look. They shrugged.

* * *

Zoey heaved a sigh as she began to climb up the stairs, careful not to look at any of the beheaded House Elves that were decorated with Beards and hats. No matter how much they looked like Father Christmas, she refused to look at them. The Emeraude gave a long yawn before rubbing her eyes. She had been asleep for who knows how long and took a nap not long after and she was still sleepy? Something must be wrong with her. She turned to head to her room when a voice stopped her. It was Fred. She turned around and waited for him to catch up. In his hands was the stuffed dog.

"Hey," Zoey greeted him, eyeing the dog. She was so sure that Natalie took it away from them not long ago.

"I think I know what Mum was talking about. You know the memories? George helped me solve the little problem," Fred grinned.

"You were really curious about what she said?" Zoey was amused.

"Weren't you?"

Zoey shrugged. "Sort of but I just figured she had her own version when she was younger… maybe?"

"Not quite," Fred began as he and Zoey began to walk towards her room. The walk wasn't long and in a matter of seconds, they had ceased walking once more.

"Really?" Zoey asked, placing her hand on her door, ready to push it open after wishing Fred goodnight. "So what's the backstory?"

Fred cleared his throat. "It all began with," he took a dramatic pause. Zoey rolled her eyes at him and shoved him lightly.

"Just spit it out," she laughed.

"Right. Repeat," Fred cleared his throat once more, "It all began with a – Mistletoe?"

Zoey blinked at him. "I got him as a Christmas present?"

"What? No, I mean… there's Mistletoe right above you," Fred pointed at the top of Zoey's doorframe. The Emeraude followed his finger and indeed there was the little decorative item hanging above them. She tilted her head at them. "What lives in them again? Mergles? No… Nargles?"

"Nar – is that all you can think about when you're under mistletoe?" Fred asked, a twinkle in his eyes.

"Well, I am curious about them. You know Luna? She was talking to Bridgit about them during our last DA session and frankly I was rather curious about how they looked like and why they han –" but Zoey never got to finish when a pair of lips landed on top of hers, stopping her. The Emeraude felt her eyes slowly close as she placed her hands on Fred's chest, slowly making their way behind his neck.

The kiss lasted for only about a few more seconds before Fred pulled away. Zoey slowly reopened her eyes.

"Nice way of shutting me up," she smiled before taking the dog band and opening her door.

Fred grinned at her, scratching the back of his neck and watched as his girlfriend shyly retreat into her room. When the door closed, Fred gave a laugh and headed to his room.

Zoey bit her lip and played with her necklace. This was the best Christmas Ever.

* * *

**I am REALLY sorry for my long absence. **

**I truly wanted to update but you all know how a pain in the butt Writer's Block is D:**

**Ten more days till my school starts. I'm going to be a highschool student. I'm afraid! Any advice?**

**Also, For those who asked, I live in the Philippines and my Summer Began April 1 (My graduation day) and will end on June 12. June 13 is the beginning of my new school year. No, I don't have "Fall" :P Only Summer and the Rainy Seasons. So while most of your summers began, mine is ending.**

**Poor me!**

**Thanks ZOOMSKATER14 for the help and everyone who reviewed and the like.**

**Much appreciated :D**

**Anything more for me to say? I don't think so. :P**

**Been gone for so long... I feel so sad D:**

**I wish I could find lots of time to update even when School comes along. I'm nervous even though it's still 10 more days away.**

**Well, I guess that is all. I have nothing more to say except**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter**

**Please tell me what you thought**

**Excuse my typos and the like (Even though I beta-ed it already)**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter**

**And**

**I only own what I own**


	80. Chapter 78: Misunderstandings

**Chapter 78: Misunderstandings **

"_Sirius…" Lucy began in a sort of threatening voice as she scanned her surroundings, glaring at everything in sight, "What is this place?"_

_It was Valentines Day and Sirius had taken this opportunity to ask Lucy out on a date. Lucy, being the kind of girl that she is, did not expect to be taken to suck a frilly place. In truth, she didn't even know Hogsmeade had such a restaurant. The restaurant was pink with frills and bows in every which way. The entire place was in a Valentine mood as there were hearts and glitter wherever Lucy looked. There were even golden cherubs hovering over each of the tables, which occasionally threw pink confetti over the people sitting below them. Lucy was unfortunate enough to get confetti-ed._

"_Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop," Sirius said casually, looking over the menu, "What else?"_

_Lucy grumbled, looking over her menu, which caused her right eye to twitch a bit. She did not understand a thing. The Valentine Specials had such complicated names that she couldn't decipher if it was regular tea or something else. She looked around and saw that most of the couples looked fine. Heck, they weren't even looking at their menus; they were all too focused on ogling at each other._

_The Emeraude felt a little bit embarrassed at the shameful flirting everyone was doing in the room that she did not notice that Sirius was talking to her. She felt him tap her hand and she looked up to see him giving her a questioning look as a waitress stood beside their table, notepad in hand. Lucy blushed._

"_What would you like to order, Miss?" the waitress asked, her voice a little bit strained. Lucy could see that the lady wished that she were in her place right now, like every other girl in Hogwarts. Lucy did a double take on the woman and began to feel a bit self-conscious. She looked back at her menu to hide her face._

"_Uhm… whatever he's having," Lucy stuttered out when she couldn't decide what to get. She watched as the waitress jotted down her order before asking if she could take the menus. Lucy handed hers silently while the waitress seemed to linger longer than needed when Sirius gave his to hers. Sirius paid no mind to her._

_When the waitress walked away, Lucy took this opportunity to look around once more. Couples were holding hands, chatting and blushing. She then looked over to Sirius. He looked the same as ever. She gave a sigh._

"_What's wrong?" Sirius then asked, "You not like it here?"_

_Lucy shook her head. "I think this place is lovely… just that…" she trailed off a bit at the end, thinking back to the waitress. She was tall and beautiful and had a voice like silk. The perfect woman for Sirius yet he paid no mind to her. Lucy felt a bit stupid for feeling a small pang of jealousy._

"_Just that?" Sirius urged on, curious at her odd behavior._

"_Don't you find it annoying whenever the cherubs throw confetti at –" she paused just in time for confetti to cover both she and Sirius, "You?"_

_Sirius gave a laugh at Lucy's obvious distaste for the confetti. He brushed some off of his shoulder as Lucy did the same. He smiled at her sheepishly, reaching over to pull one out of her hair. The girl blushed._

"_I think it's there to set the mood," He said before flicking the confetti away, "I don't mind it"_

"_But what if it enters your tea?" Lucy asked and at that moment, the waitress came back and gave them their orders. She placed Lucy's drink in front of her while she did the same to Sirius; only she lingered again and began batting her lashes at him. Lucy felt her eyes role. She couldn't believe she was jealous of this bimbo. She was trying to hard. Sirius didn't like that._

_Lucy then cleared her throat. The waitress looked at her before straightening up. "Well if you need anything else, Sir, you can call me," she said with another bat of her lashes before sashaying away. Lucy snorted into her tea._

"_What… was that?" Sirius asked slowly, tipping the cup to his mouth to drink. He rose a curious brow, looking at the waitress before looking back at his girlfriend who seemed to be having a hard time drinking for she was trying hard not to laugh._

"_That," Lucy began, putting her cup back on the table, "Is a desperate woman"_

"_Really now? Haven't seen one is so long," Sirius shrugged before drinking his tea. He put the cup back down on the table and made a face. It wasn't that he didn't like it; it was very delicious, it was just that he preferred Butterbeer more or the occasional Fire whiskey (not to Lucy's or the school's knowledge.)_

"_Haven't seen one?" Lucy scoffed, drinking her tea, "Don't lie. There are at least five desperate girls trying to get your attention everyday. Don't tell me you don't notice them"_

"_But I don't," Sirius looked her in the eyes._

"_What? How could you not notice all those girls?"_

"_Cause you're the only girl I notice, Luce," Sirius told her with sincerity in his voice._

_Lucy's eyes widened at his words and she felt her cheeks heat up. She did not expect him to say that. Sure, they were dating and yes, she knew about all the girls that craved for Sirius' attention and truth be told she was jealous at times but for sure she knew Sirius loved her but for him to say such a thing… it made her heart leap._

"_D…. Don't say such things all of a sudden!" Lucy said, flustered as she chugged the remaining of her drink._

"_Why?" Sirius began to smirk at the sight of the flustered girl, "It's true. You're the only one I see among all the other girls"_

"_S – Stop it!" Lucy looked away; her cheeks becoming warmer and warmer with each passing second, "Give me a warning before you say such things"_

"_But I love you," Sirius grinned_

_Lucy took a deep breath, her facial expression becoming very cute for it was a mixture of happiness, confusion and embarrassment. Sirius chuckled at the sight._

"_I love you, Luce," he repeated, "You love me too, right?"_

"_I…. I…. I'm leaving!" Lucy then stood up, grabbing her things and began marching to the door. People stared at her and Sirius but Sirius paid no mind to them, he was simply snickering to himself._

"_She's embarrassed~ She's embarrassed," he sang to himself with a grin, "I got to see her flustered face"_

The Holiday Season came and went faster than Zoey expected and before she knew it, she was back in Hogwarts. Sure, she was happy to be back in her school. After all, it was her second home and it was also her last year there but something about coming back just didn't feel right to her.

The Emeraude had not realized how distracting, for lack of a better word, the Holiday festivities could be until she saw her _beloved _DADA professor, Umbridge. Zoey had in fact forgotten that the woman was even in the school to begin with. Her giggle, her pink wardrobe, her toad like features and her entire existence, Zoey forgot about them but the moment she stepped foot on the Hogwarts grounds, the reminder hit her like a ton of bricks. Zoey wished that Umbridge was just a nightmare; she wished that the Holiday Season would prove that to her but sadly, it wasn't.

"What do you mean he hasn't asked you yet?" Jane exclaimed, banging the bottom of her fork on the Hufflepuff table, looking at Zoey with wide eyes.

Zoey held up her hands in defense as she let out an uneasy laugh. She and Jane, mostly Jane, were just talking about the upcoming holiday, Valentines Day, when Jane asked if Fred and Zoey had anything special planned seeing as she and Aiden did. Zoey simply spoke the truth; Fred made no mention on Valentine Dates

"Jane, calm down. It isn't a big deal," Zoey said, placing her utensils side by side, signaling that she was finished with her meal. She then looked back to Jane and saw that she was running a hand through her hair.

"Isn't – Zoey, this is your first Valentines with him as a couple. It's a big deal," Jane told her, looking at her in the eye.

Zoey raised her brow at her friend before moving slightly to look over the Gryffindor table, from a distance she could see Fred, George and Lee joking around with the other members of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. She began to play with her new necklace. "It's alright," she smiled softly, "I don't mind"

"Don't mind? DON'T MI – Oh the hell with it…. This is tiring," Jane groaned before folding her arms on the table and placing her head on them. "Playing the friend who cares _that _muchabout her friend's love life…. That's tiring. I just can't do it"

"You should have chosen another 'friend role' to play then, Jane," Zoey laughed.

"It's not my fault that I'm that bored. Going back to school… it showed me how boring my life is outside of the festivities," Jane propped her chin on her hand and made grumbling noises.

"I doubt it. You seem pretty excited whenever you're with Aiden," Zoey began as she got up from her seat, slinging her bag over her shoulder, "You always seem to be having a great time"

Jane gave a smile. "Of course. He's my boyfriend," she said simply before looking around the room and making a face, "What's with all the date talk anyway? It's so unlike us"

"You started it," Zoey told her.

"Must be the atmosphere," Jane sighed, standing up as well, "Valentines day is closing in, isn't it?"

Zoey looked up in thought, "I guess so. What do you and Aiden plan on doing? It's your Anniversary right?"

"I don't think we'll be doing much…probably just a regular date. It's no big deal," she grinned, "I mean, we've been dating for so long that Anniversary celebrations don't matter so much."

"I see," Zoey said with a nod before looking at something that caught her eye. It was a hand. The owner of the said hand was her Quidditch Captain, Zacharias Smith. Zoey furrowed her brows. He was calling her, beckoning her over.

"What does the little bugger want?" Jane asked.

Zoey shrugged one shoulder. "Not sure. I better go check," she gave her an apologetic look before making her way to the boy. Jane sighed and shook her head. "The nerve of that guy. Sending her a Christmas present that ended up being Quidditch strategies. What a git," she muttered before making her way to the Ravenclaw table.

* * *

Fred was just controlling his laughter when he caught sight of Zoey making her way towards Zacharias. He raised a questioning brow at the pair. It was an odd sight. He only ever saw the two interact during DA meetings and even then it usually happened whenever they were paired up with each other. Sure, they were in the same house and it was inevitable _not _to meet but all the same, he was suspicious.

"What is that little bugger up to?" he asked out loud.

"What bugger?" George asked, "Where?"

The older of the twins jerked his thumb towards the direction of Zoey and Zacharias. George raised a brow at the scene and watched as Zacharias had said something to Zoey which made her blush and smile sheepishly, shifting from one foot to the other.

"You know, Fred, it's not very nice of you to call your girlfriend a bugger. She would break up with you," George said with a straight face. Fred whacked his head.

"You know who I'm talking about," Fred said before looking back to the two Hufflepuffs. Zoey was scratching the back of her head now, blush still on cheeks and sheepish smile still on her lips. "I wonder what they're talking about…"

George mocked a gasp. "Ish wittle Fweddie jeawous of Zackie?" he said in a baby voice before pausing and scrunching up his nose, "That's just sad"

"Who's Fred jealous of this time?" A voice suddenly called out, making the twins shoot their head up in the direction it came from. It was Bridgit.

"This ti – Butt out, Bridgit. Besides," Fred looked back to George, "You would feel the same if you saw Echo randomly snogging that Boot Bloke"

"Like that would ever happen," George said confidently.

"I don't know about that," Fred used an airy voice, glancing over to the Ravenclaw table, "I feel sorry for you bro. Looks like you've lost her"

George's eyes widened and his head whipped towards the Ravenclaw table so fast that Fred wondered why he had not heard his twin's neck crack. George scanned the table to see Echo quietly eating her food, pocket book next to her, while Terry Boot was over with Aiden and Jane, chatting. He slowly looked back to Fred, glaring.

Fred shrugged. "You know my pain now," he said with a roll of his eyes before looking back at the Hufflepuff table. Zacharias and Zoey were still talking.

"Butt out?" Bridgit asked, taking a seat in front of the twins. "Since when have I ever 'butt out' Fred? It pains me to know you still don't know me after all these years." She continued.

"Anyway, I'm sorry to tell you this Fred, but if Zoey dumps you for Zacharias 'the prat' Smith over there. I will deny even being in the same room as you." Bridgit then said, looking over at the two Hufflepuffs.

Zoey was now waving 'goodbye' to Zacharias and was walking away with a small skip to her step. Before she could even reach the door, Aiden, who made a quick excuse to Jane, had ran over to her and was a bit flustered in talking. Fred pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Oh, another suitor?" George mused, "Didn't think Aiden was the type"

"Shut it," Fred grumbled, "He's probably asking her something. Just something"

"Asking her on a Valentines Day date perhaps?" Bridgit said, smirking

"They… he wouldn't," Fred looked back at the two and saw that Aiden was still a little flustered but had a thankful smile on his face. Zoey had a smile too and a look in her eyes that Fred saw as admiration. He felt his eyes twitch and his hand forming into a fist. He then looked over to Jane who was looking at the pair as well only she didn't look to bothered by it for when Aiden gave a wave to Zoey and retreated back to the table, Jane looked away.

"Who knows? Maybe he would," Bridgit continued, teasing Fred.

Fred felt a nerve snap as he stood up from the table and began making his way to Zoey, not even saying goodbye. At the sudden reaction of Fred from Bridgit's teasing, George smiled and laughed.

"Nice to know he's really serious about this," he said.

"Yeah, well, Zoey was and is the only thing that makes Fred serious." Bridgit retorted, watching as Fred walked up to the Hufflepuff.

"Love sick gidiot," George said with a laugh before looking away from his brother and back to his plate. The food was all gone but he still felt a little hungry. A Weasley is hardly full. Stomachs made of Black Holes

"Well it was nice talking to you, George, but I have to go to the library and look for Hermione about something...have a nice meal." Bridgit now said, standing up and walking out of the hall.

* * *

Zoey walked with a skip in her step as she hummed a random tune. She was a bit giddy at what she had just heard. First, Zacharias called her over to talk about the Quidditch Strategies. Sure, it was a bit of a pain but from what Zoey observed, Zacharias cared for the team up to some extent. Yes, he was rude in talking to her but Zoey could see that he wanted to make sure Zoey was fine with the plans. Hopefully, he could be that caring everyday though the Emeraude doubted it.

Then, another reason to add to Zoey's skip-walk was the fact that a flustered Aiden had approached her for some help. From what Aiden had told her about his plan, Zoey couldn't help but admire him. He really cared about Jane from what she saw. It was sweet.

The Emeraude continued her little hum as she thought about what Jane had asked her earlier. Was it really important that Fred ask her out on Valentines Day? Sure, Jane was just playing with her but the thought bothered her a bit. The girl read numerous girly sorts of books, courtesy of her boredom, and more than half of them featured a Valentines Day date of some sort. Zoey didn't want to admit it but she did feel a bit sad that there was nothing planned. She groaned.

_It's just a day. Nothing special, _She scolded herself, _Stop being such a girl_

_But I am a girl! _A part of her mind countered.

Zoey felt her head throb a bit. She did not like having mental battles with herself. They were too tiring. She slowed her skip-walk to a normal walk as she readjusted her things in her arms. She was overreacting. It, Valentines Day, was just like any other day, she shouldn't worry about it. The girl was just about to make turn when the sounds of running caught her attention. She turned around to see Fred.

"Whoa, where's the fire?" she asked him; brows raised when Fred got near enough to be able to hear her. He bent forward a bit, hands on his knees, catching his breath.

"No…no fire," Fred took a deep breath and laughed a bit, "I… I just… wanted to catch up to you before you left for class"

"But why? We're in the same first class," Zoey raised a brow, bringing her hand to wipe his hair away from his face. He was slightly sweaty.

Fred felt like his head was hit with a metal tub. His eye twitched again. She was right, he ran for nothing. He ran when Bridgit was obviously teasing him. Like hell Aiden would go behind Jane's back and the possibility of Zoey going behind _his _back for Zacharias was just very unlikely and pitiful on his part. He felt like a gidiot.

"Are you…okay?" Zoey asked with caution when she saw that Fred seemed to be having a mental battle with himself, a battle that he was losing.

"Yeah," Fred responded with a mock pissed of look, "I'm just being an idiot"

"Why?"

"I actually believed that woman," Fred looked back at the Great Hall, "Remind me to strangle her next time."

Zoey raised a brow at his choice of words and figured he was talking about Bridgit. She began to laugh as Fred continued to mutter plans on his revenge on "that blasted woman". At the sound of her laughter, Fred stopped and looked at her.

"What are you laughing at?" Fred asked

"Nothing," Zoey snorted into her hand, which she brought up not moments ago when she tried to silence her laugh, "It's just that…. Your relationship with Bridgit reminds me of how dad and Aunt Maria are"

Fred raised a brow before giving a laugh himself. He scratched the back of his head. "Really?" he asked, grinning at her. All thoughts about Zoey having an affair were thrown out the window. The idea was really unlikely. He couldn't believe he even considered it happening.

"Yes, Really. You even called her 'that blasted woman'! You're using my dad's nicknames for Aunt Maria," Zoey grinned in return, "It's really funny. Having to see that"

"I guess you're right," said Fred with a chuckle, "So if I'm like your dad and Bridgit is like Natalie then who are you like?"

Before Zoey could reply, a throat-clearing cough interrupted her. Zoey felt her body freeze and she saw Fred's eyes narrow into a glare. The Emeraude stiffly turned her head a bit to catch a glimpse of the toad queen.

Umbridge was casually standing a few feet behind her, hands folded in front of her with a wide smile on her face. Zoey knew that that smiled was everything but pleasant. She took a breath and turned around in order to fully face her DADA professor.

"Good day, Miss Emeraude, Mister Weasley," Umbridge greeted, ending with her giggle. Zoey winced a bit, she could never get used to that.

"Good Morning, Professor Umbridge," Zoey replied automatically before nudging Fred in the ribs, telling him to do the same. She heard him grumble and figured he placed a hand over the injured spot before muttering a "Morning, Professor".

"I would like your greeting to be more formal next time, Mister Weasley," Umbridge said, her smile tightening, "After all, I am your professor. You must learn your place"

Zoey felt her heart skip a beat at what she just said. She took a look at Fred and saw that he was till glaring, breathing slowly as to come him down. Zoey bit her lip.

"I apologize," he began, "Professor"

Umbridge seemed to be slightly satisfied with this for she just gave them a look before walking away. When the professor was out of eye and earshot, Zoey felt like she could finally breath again.

"That's odd," Fred then said, "Would have thought she would be more… violent? No… strict maybe or unfair."

Zoey shook her head. "She… she has something up her sleeve," she told him before turning around and taking his hand in hers. "Let's go to class now, yeah? We'll worry about Umbridge when it's necessary"

Fred slowly nodded before grinning. He sneakily snaked his arms around Zoey's waist, surprising her. "Go on a date with me," he blow in her ear.

Zoey's eyes widened and her cheeks flushed. She began to struggle out of embarrassment. Fred found this amusing. He tightened his grip on her and nuzzled his nose in her neck. Zoey froze and then continued to struggle again after.

"F – Fred! Let go!" she said, flustered as she tried to loosen his grip on her. He only tightened it.

"Not until you say it~" Fred sang in a teasing voice, "Say you'll go on a date with me on Valentines Day and I'll let you go~"

"I'll go! I'll go!" Zoey said automatically and stumbled to the floor once Fred released his hold on her. She wobbled a bit.

"You okay?" asked Fred, chuckling.

"I would have gone with you if you asked normally," Zoey muttered, trying to calm down her blush.

Fred gave a laugh before messing up Zoey's hair.

"Where's the fun in that?"

* * *

_Tik. Tok. Tik. Tok. Tik. Tok._

Was the sound Zoey's watch made as she sat at the far corner of the library. The library, as it should be, was very silent and Zoey could listen to the ticking of her watch easily as well as her breathing and the normal pace of her heartbeat. The Emeraude took a breath. It was her free period and she wanted to take her free time alone. The girl dug into her bag and pulled out her quill, ink bottle and diary. She laid out each of them in front of her and opened her inkbottle, then her diary, flipping to an empty page. She dabbed her quill and began doodling in her diary.

Zoey's hand was quick in her drawing for she did not want to spent too much time on a mere doodle. She drew straight lines and connected each one to make a sort of box shape; she then began to draw designs on it and shaded it. Before long, her little doodle became a somewhat detailed drawing of her mother's box. At the realization, Zoey dropped her quill, causing it to make a small mess on the page.

The box.

She hadn't thought about it in so long. It had ceased becoming a burden to her but now, seeing it once again made her heartbeat quicken its pace along with her breathing. Zoey swallowed hard as she pushed her chair back and continued to stare at the drawing. How long had it been since she last looked inside the box? How long has it been since she opened it? Will her Aunt still want it after all these years? Zoey didn't know. She remembered the last time she drew it though; it was back in her third year when Bridgit and the twins had told her and Echo about the prank they pulled on Percy.

_Has it really been that long? _Zoey thought to herself, running her hand through her hair and messing it up.

Zoey took a breath and scooted her chair closer to the table. She remembered all the times her Aunt had bullied her into giving her information on the box. Would her Aunt want those attempts to go to waste? Would she continue to harsh spells when Zoey returned to the Emeraude Suburb to stay forever? The thought sent shivers down Zoey's spine. She didn't want to think too much about it. She was just about to close her diary when something caught her eye. It was a corner of a photograph that was just carelessly placed in between some random page in her diary. Zoey raised a brow at it and flipped over to that page, eyes widening at the picture.

The picture was of her and Cedric back in their fifth year. They were dressed in their Hufflepuff robes with their scarf wrapped snuggly around their neck as they waved at the camera. Zoey felt her eyes soften at it and her mouth twitch up to a small smile. They both looked so young yet nothing has changed. Zoey bit her lip and placed the photograph properly on the page, making sure it wouldn't get folded when she closed her diary once more.

It had been ages since she dreamt of Cedric, talked to him, gotten advice from him. She missed him and missed the times they spent together, both in real life and in her dreams. Her dream conversations with her friend had ceased when she began taking the pills again. When she found that out, she almost stopped taking the pills entirely but then something at the back of her mind told her it wasn't such a good idea.

Cedric would have wanted her well in both body and in mind rather than talk to her in a place where only she knows.

He was nice that way.

Zoey gave a sigh before closing her diary, fixing her quill, ink bottle and bag and pushing up her glasses. She adjusted her things and gave a quick scan of the table before leaving the library. Her free period was done and now it was time for lunch. Her schedule was awesome that way.

When the Emeraude made it to the Great Hall, she quickly caught sight of Fred, George and her friends and made a quick beeline towards them, taking her seat and greeting them. Fred and George took a quick glance at her, greeted her as well before resuming their conversation with Harry who looked a bit confused and flustered. Beside the Boy-Who-Lived was Bridgit and beside her was Echo, who was more focused on her food than the people around her. Zoey looked at them questioningly.

"The thing is, Harry, to get the girl to like you even more is to shower her with compliments," Fred said, looking at Harry in the eye.

"Yes, simple things like 'You look nice' or 'Lovely dress you're wearing' would make any girl swoon," George added, "It is a must!"

"Yes, and when she says that she looks like a rather horrible mess, you tell her that no matter what she looks like, she's perfect to your eyes. Got that?" Bridgit then said, agreeing with the twins.

"And don't be too pushy," Fred then said, "If she's shy, take Zoey for example, you shouldn't move to fast. You might scare her away"

"Excuse me!" Zoey said, blushing.

"See, note the blush. It means she likes you," Fred grinned, earning a smack from Zoey who was still confused at what was happening.

"Right! But also remember that the little things are what usually pull girls in." Bridgit then said. "Let's say Zoey, she's attracted to Fred because of the little things that differentiate him from others. That's why she likes Fred and not George. Same goes for Echo and George."

"Exactly," George nodded, "Also, if the girl is confident it's easier. Shy ones are the hard ones to woo. Well, it also depends seeing as Zoey fell in love with Fred at first sight"

"You did?" Fred looked at Zoey with glee in his eyes.

"Would you guys please tell me what's going on?" Zoey said loudly, getting embarrassed at what her friends were saying. Harry looked up from his notebook, something he was writing on while Fred, George and Bridgit were talking, and looked at Zoey sheepishly.

"I'm just asking for advice," He told her

"Advice? Advice on what?" Zoey asked with furrowed eyebrows, "Advice on teasing me mercilessly?"

"Zoey, Harry won't need advice for that." Bridgit suddenly said turning to her friend. "He'd just need to watch Fred and You for an hour and it's teasing galore!"

Zoey did not look amused. Harry decided to explain. "I was just wondering what to do on a… date," he said, scratching the back of his head.

"A date?" Zoey asked.

"Yes, a date. You see, Zoe, Harry here has finally gotten the balls to ask Miss Chang out on a Valentine Date," Fred said, wrapping his arm around Zoey's shoulder. Zoey shrugged his arm off and smacked him once more at his choice of language. She then turned to Harry.

"And you're asking advice from," she jerked her thumb towards Fred and George with an incredulous look on her face, "Them?"

Fred and George feigned hurt.

"That hurts Zoey," George said, placing a hand over his heart.

"You make it sound like we don't know what to do," Fred added, "We treat you and Echo right, don't we?"

Echo snorted but didn't say anything. Zoey laughed softly.

"Well...at least I'm glad Zoey doesn't think I'm a wrong person to ask." Bridgit said, smirking.

"You're a girl. It's only reasonable that you know what girls like," Zoey pointed out.

"Yeah, ask the girl who currently is the only single one in this little group." Fred whispered, but Bridgit heard. She immediately whacked Fred's head.

"Moving on," Fred said, rubbing the back of his head, "Be her friend. Girls don't fall for strangers… well some do but those kinds of relationships don't last very long"

George nodded his head in agreement. "Friends first. True, the 'friend zone' is rather hard to get out off at times but it's better than being just some bloke in her class or something. Oh! And don't do the whole 'If you like her, bully her to show how you feel' thing. That hardly works and besides, you're fifteen"

"I doubt Harry is the type to bully," Zoey added, not really knowing how the twins knew all this stuff. Harry simply jotted down notes.

"Oh and of course you have to know what kind of girl your going out with." Bridgit then said, making Harry look up from his notebook.

"There are 'types' of girls?" Harry and Zoey asked in unison, confused.

"Yes, haven't you been listening?" Bridgit answered. "There's the shy types, like Zoey, who don't usually like public displays of affection and prefer the typical holding hands and acting like your just friends, but when your alone together your all lovey dovey and such." Bridgit continued.

"I'm not lovey dovey!" Zoey interjected, her blush returning.

Bridgit sent Zoey a look saying 'yeah, you are and you know it' before continuing. "Then there are the ones like Echo who love to show affection quite freely. They cease any moment to show the world that her and her boyfriend are indeed together and have no care for what the public eye thinks."

"Then you have the emotional kind of girl who would want a boyfriend who will listen and or solve their problems for them. This is what some call an annoying girl. Making you listen to problems all day long, and always wants to talk about feelings." Bridgit added, and Harry was writing as fast as he could to follow.

"Lastly you have the playgirl, the ones who switch boys practically every week, and don't really want a committed relationship." Bridgit finally ended.

"And what type of girl are you Bridgit?" George asked, making Bridgit turn to him.

"Don't know, never been in a relationship." Bridgit answered plainly.

"Maybe you're a guy, since you know all of these classifications." Fred then said.

"Or..." Bridgit said. "I've been hanging out with you two too much."

"Anyway," Zoey then said, "What type is Cho?"

"Uhm...not sure." Bridgit answered, then turning to Harry. "What type do you think she is?"

Harry looked up in thought before looking back at his notes, flipping a page to look back at the other types. The four looked at him curiously, awaiting an answer, before the young Gryffindor gave a sigh, running a hand through his hair.

"I don't really know," he admitted before looking over to Zoey, "If she's the shy type, though I sort of doubt that she is, how should I approach her?"

"Well then we ask the person with a shy girlfriend." Bridgit answered, turning to Fred. "This is your expertise."

"What? Me?" Fred said, turning to Harry. "I'm sorry but to look _this _good is a miracle. You should just ask Zoey, she is a shy type after all."

Zoey rolled her eyes and hit him on his chest, making him go 'oomph'. "Looks aren't everything," she told him before looking over to Harry, "I'm really labeled as the 'shy type' then?"

All her friends, even Echo who now began reading one of her many books, nodded their heads. Zoey gave a sigh before thinking.

"I… don't really know. Just be yourself… I guess?" it sounded more like a question. Just then, the Emeraude got an idea, "Make her laugh. Girls like the funny guys… well I do," she ended sheepishly.

"Was...uhm...was Cedric...err...funny?" Harry asked, not wanting to bring up the subject. He felt guilty about it as it is, but the only way to win Cho's heart, was if he was her ideal guy.

Zoey bit her lip in thought as she recalled all her time spent with her deceased friend. Not even a minute passed by when she looked at Harry with a smile on her face. "Yes, yes he was," she told him.

"Oh…" Harry said, jotting down the note in his notebook.

After that, Fred, George and Bridgit continued to give him advice. Often debating who was right and who was wrong. Their words and speed of talking became complicated over time that Zoey felt her head swirl in confusion. Suddenly, a thought passed through her mind.

"That all aside, Harry, where are you going to take her?" she asked, "It's your first date after all."

"And what are you giving her? I'm pretty sure you have a gift right?" Bridgit added, stopping her current debate about the way Harry should dress with the twins.

Harry began to look troubled on the matter as he thought about things that he could give her. He needed something simple but nice. Something that didn't show that he was trying to hard.

"Gifts?" Fred then spoke up with a raised brow, "Why would he need to give one?"

"Isn't the date satisfying enough? Gifts are just going overboard," George agreed.

"Idiots." Bridgit whispered. "It's Valentines Day dumb and dumber. Girls expect gifts on Valentines Day, it's tradition, you know flowers, chocolates, hell even proposals...but still a gift." Bridgit retorted.

Zoey shook her head. "Are you sure? I mean I would just be happy with spending time with my date. I think it's good as it is," she paused, "People actually propose on Valentines Day?"

"Yes Zoey, but you have to admit that getting a gift wouldn't be so bad,"

Bridgit answered, turning to her friend, "And yes, people do propose on Valentines Day."

The Emeraude made a face. "I would actually hate for that to happen," she admitted, "I mean, isn't that a bit… cliché? Besides, it's scary too"

The conversation had drifted away from Harry's date to a debate between the two girls.

"A proposal? Yes it's cliché, but some girls are fans of clichés you know," Bridgit answered, "And we're talking about gifts, Harry can't propose he's just fifteen!"

"Oh! And you didn't answer 'No' that you wouldn't like a gift from Fred on Valentines Day," Bridgit added.

Zoey turned to Fred and held up her finger. "Don't you dare give me a gift on Valentines Day. If you do, I would hate you forever," she told him sternly.

"You know Zoey, if Fred did get you a gift, are you sure you wouldn't want it? I mean you seemed to love that necklace," Bridgit then said, pointing at the trinket on Zoey's neck.

"But this is a _Christmas _gift. Completely understandable," Zoey said, placing a hand over her necklace, "But Valentines Day? Psh, no," she turned to Fred again, "I would never forgive you if you _did _get me a gift. Save it for my birthday"

"A gift none the less, and I'm pretty sure that if he ever did get you a gift, you'd end up kissing him and declaring your love for that gift." Bridgit retorted. "The point is that, you would still love to accept a gift no matter what you say, because it's a person's way of thinking that getting gifts is a good thing, unless someone has died."

Zoey furrowed her brows in thought. She then looked over to Fred and the others, all looking at her and Bridgit with confusion. Zoey's words had shocked Fred into speechlessness. The Emeraude then snapped her fingers.

"No, that won't happen because if I did kiss him then that's like a gift as well. So I'd be giving him a gift. And that kind of gift works two ways…Hmm… I don't really like gifts for with no reason," she then looked serious, "Alrighty then, I'll show you that girls don't really need gifts". Zoey pointed at Fred, "From this day onwards we would no longer kiss or hug. The most we can do is hold hands and not even for a long time, you hear?"

"What? Why do I have to be dragged into this for you to prove your point?" Fred asked with wide eyes.

"Oh I'd like to see you two try," Bridgit said, holding in her laughter. Fred sent her glare obviously saying 'This is your fault' making Bridgit put her head in her hands, again trying to stop her laughter.

Zoey folded her arms across her chest. "It's not just trying to make it work. It will work. You say I'm the 'Shy type' who doesn't like Public Displays of Affection? Well, there won't be any _private _displays of affection either," she said, her nose in the air.

"Then that would make you 'friends' if there is no affection." Bridgit now retorted back. "This just proving that you are stubborn and won't admit that you are wrong and I am right." Bridgit continued. "Oh and I'm sure that even if you won't consent to it, Fred will try, and no matter how many times you say you'll hate him for doing it, you can't because you're head over heels in love with him."

"Really?" Zoey slammed her hands on the table, standing up, "Well we've been friends for six years before we even began dating. I'm sure we can handle going back to that." Without waiting for anyone else to speak, she left the table, heading off to the Ravenclaw table and sitting beside Aiden, talking to him.

When Zoey left, Fred ran a frustrated hand through his hair and glared at Bridgit. "You just had to do that didn't you?"

"I didn't have to do anything, she was proving me wrong even if she knew I was right." Bridgit answered. "Besides, she won't last...according to psychology once friends cross the line of romance, it's hard to go back to normal. She'll be back into your arms asking to be loved by you by the time Valentines Day comes. You'll see."

"I hope you're right," Fred sighed before looking back at the Ravenclaw table just in time to see Aiden give Zoey a tight hug. George gave a low whistle at the sight.

"No hugs huh Zoey?" Bridgit whispered, letting out a chuckle. "She can't even keep herself from being hugged by a friend, it will be interesting how this turns out."

Fred was going to respond when the sound of someone sitting on the table distracted him. It was Jane. She sat beside Bridgit with both her hands under her chin, propping them up as she gazed over to the Ravenclaw table. George had gone back to giving Harry advice and talking to Echo, thinking that it was not his place to join in this sort of conversation.

"Do you think Aiden's cheating on me?" the Hufflepuff asked bluntly.

"Uhm...Hi Jane." Bridgit greeted, shocked by her appearance.

Jane gave a slow nod before using her finger to point towards Zoey and Aiden who were now talking with a sheet of paper between them. "You think he's cheating on me with Zoey?" she asked.

"I'm sure he's not." Bridgit answered, looking at Fred, who was also staring at the pair, and asking for help.

"Zoey wouldn't cheat on Fred, they love each other-" Bridgit was saying, but Fred interrupted.

"Her saying that she didn't want me kissing or hugging her was suspicious don't you think?" Fred suddenly blurted out.

"And Aiden has been spending time with her a lot." Jane then added.

"Besides she never said she loved me in return," Fred then said.

"That was just Zoey being stubborn and- wait what? She still hasn't said that she loves you back?" Bridgit asked. She has had this talk with Zoey, and she knew Zoey loved Fred, but she was shocked that she has never told him yet.

"Look at them, Bridgit," Jane said, making the Ravenclaw turn to her two friends in the Ravenclaw table. Aiden and Zoey were laughing and seemed to be enjoying themselves.

"No, I still don't think that they're cheating on both of you." Bridgit pointed out, making both Jane and Fred turn to her.

"What makes you so sure?" They both asked.

"Because Aiden was willing to beat up a guy for you..." Bridgit began, turning to Jane. "...And Zoey was willing to suffer just to make you happy." She continued, turning to Fred. "That's not something you do to a person you'll cheat on."

Fred furrowed his brows in thought and was just about to say something when the sounds of catcalls and wolf whistles caught his attention. The trio looked over the Ravenclaw table to see Zoey and Aiden blushing while the other Ravenclaws seemed to be cheering.

"They kissed," Jane muttered.

"No way, of course they didn't." Bridgit said, refusing to believe it.

"Stop denying it Bridgit." Fred then said, putting his head on the table.

"You two should trust the two of them more." Bridgit retorted, looking at the pair.

"How can we when they're like that?" Jane asked, pointing at the two as they got up, hand in hand, and walked out of the Great Hall. "Those two… you would have never thought but then again…. You should always watch out for the shy ones…."

"Seriously, this is why I hate relationships...people should just have pets." Bridgit said, and on cue Shinji came out of her pocket.

"Can you two have a little more faith in your partners?" Bridgit asked, taking the little dog and putting it on the table.

Fred looked away from her, though he was still listening, while Jane looked down at her hands. "…. I wouldn't blame Aiden if he was cheating on me"

"Jane, don't say that!" Bridgit suddenly said, turning to Jane. "Aiden's lucky to have you!"

"No! He's lucky to have Zoey!" Jane said in a chocked voice, at this Fred looked over. "Her family won't be bitching about his blood status or anything!"

"Jane..." Bridgit whispered, rubbing the Hufflepuff's back. "...you and I both know that if Zoey had a choice, she wouldn't have her mother's family, and her dad is in total approval of Fred. Don't think that Aiden would cheat in you just because of your family or blood status, give him more credit."

"It is because of my blood status!" Jane paused, "what do you mean Zoey's mother's side?"

"It's nothing," Fred interjected, sending a look towards Bridgit, "How could blood status be a factor in this? Zoe's a pureblood too"

"And so are you!" Jane pointed out.

Fred was getting confused. "Jane, you aren't making much sense here."

Jane violently rubbed her eyes, trying not to let any tears out. "It's easy for you and Zoey seeing as you're both purebloods. No one cares, but Aiden's a muggleborn so my family isn't accepting him!" she told him.

"It's not like that at all!" Bridgit said. "Why would Aiden cheat on you Jane? Think about it. Let's say it's about blood status, but Zoey's a pureblood too, so there's no chance it's that reason. And what about Zoey and Fred both being purebloods? It's not like blood cares to the two of them. Right Fred?" Bridgit ended, turning to Fred.

"Well…. I _am _a blood traitor," Fred muttered, before catching the look Bridgit was giving him, "But Bridgit's got a point."

"See, even Fred can see my point! Meaning that you should too!" Bridgit said, turning away from the Weasley and looking towards Jane. "Also, please don't say you're a blood traitor Fred, Malfoy might hear you and you and I both now who's the real scum."

Fred gave her a thankful smile before looking back at Jane who looked just a bit distraught.

"It's different with me," she told them, "Years… they've been insulting him. Saying that he isn't worthy of my attention and love is just for fools and stuff like that. I apologize to him for their words and he just brushes them off saying he doesn't mind but what if he _does _mind? What if… oh no… Christmas… What if it was the last straw for him? "

"What happened at Christmas? I'm pretty sure it wasn't that bad." Bridgit asked.

_Jane was sobbing into her hands as Aiden was rubbing her back soothingly. It was Christmas Eve and both were up in Aiden's room. They were having the time of their lives at Aiden's family Christmas Party when Jane's parents decided to ruin it for her and her boyfriend. No, they did not enter the house. They did not want to enter "Muggle Territory". The Chatsworth Parents simply stood outside and called for their daughter via magic. Jane was both surprised and scared by their presence._

"_I'm so sorry," Jane apologized to Aiden when she tried to calm down her sobs, "I didn't know they'd come here"_

"_It's alright," Aiden comforted her, "It's not your fault"_

_When Jane had left the party to talk to her parents, Aiden had followed. Her parents had ordered her to come back with them for their own family Christmas Party but the Hufflepuff refused, saying that she rather stay with Aiden. Her parents glared at the boy before glaring at his home. _

"_Why would you want to stay with this Mudblood?" her father sneered. His words were soon followed by more insults, her mother joined in. Jane was horrified at her parents' behavior and shot a look at Aiden. The boy simply kept a pleasant smile as he stood his ground, not once acting. The insults continued until Jane just lashed out at her parents telling them to leave._

"_If you're finished fooling around with this fool's heart, you know you can always come back with us," her mother sniffed, nose in the air before Apparating away with her husband._

_Sure, the insults didn't seem so harsh anymore on the count on Aiden had to endure them for years already but Jane was simply embarrassed. _

"_I'm not fooling around with your heart you know," Jane looked up at him, "I really do love you"_

_Aiden didn't say anything. He simply smiled and gave her a soft kiss._

"It may not seem that bad but…. But… Aiden… you never know what he's thinking!" Jane said, furrowing her brows, "He could have just run off with Zoey because it's easier on him!"

"Do you really think Aiden is that kind of guy?" Bridgit asked, petting Shinji as she did. "Cause he isn't"

"Then why is he with Zoey so often now?" Jane asked, "He's usually with her when I'm with her!"

"Have you tried asking him?" Bridgit asked back.

Jane looked down. "No, because like I said he's always with her and when he's not with her he's with his friends and when he's with me I don't want to ruin the mood by bringing her up or accusing him," she looked at Fred, "What about you? Have you been spending any time with Zoey?"

Fred stared at her and thought back. "I have my own friends and she has hers. We can't always spend time together," he paused, "Damn…"

"Oh come one you two!" Bridgit exclaimed. "Ask them about it before coming up with any kind of conclusion!" She added, a bark from Shinji emphasizing her point.

"It's not that easy!" Jane said, standing up, "How about you ask them then?"

"Me?" Bridgit said, "I'm their friend, not their boyfriend or girlfriend"

"If you were Zoey's boyfriend I could just die," Fred muttered, "And it's better that way. They wouldn't get suspicious"

Bridgit whacked Fred's head. "Idiot," she whispered, "But why not let Echo or George ask her?"

Fred rubbed the back of his head. "Because," he began, jerking his head towards the empty seats beside him, "They left and wouldn't have any idea what we're talking about"

"Please, Bridgit!" Jane was begging now, "I really got to know!"

"Uhm… What do you think, Shinji?" Bridgit asked, turning to the teacup poodle on her hand. The dog gave a loud and happy bark, meaning he agreed.

"For the first time in my life, I'm going to tell this to you Bridgit," Fred began, "Listen to your dog"

"Oh…. Ugh… FINE!"

Jane cheered gleefully.

* * *

Zoey and Aiden were laughing together as they sat near the fountain. It was the day before Valentines Day and the two were just finishing some preparations. On the day Aiden approached Zoey all flustered, he had requested her in teaching him some singing lessons. Aiden, being the sweet, romantic guy that he is, had wanted to sing Jane a song for Valentines Day. The boy had told Zoey what had happened last Christmas as a reason for the song he chose. Zoey, being who she was, agreed. The two had spent most of their free time together, practicing. There was to be no room for error. Everything had to be just right.

Aiden's voice cracked making Zoey laugh once more, leaning her head on his shoulder from the strength of her laugh.

"Gahaha! Aiden! I know you can sing well! Don't do that!" she wiped a tear from her eye, pushing him gently. Aiden simply chuckled.

"I couldn't help it," he said sheepishly before picking up one of the music sheets, "So what am I suppose to do here again?"

Zoey rolled her eyes and leaned, looking at the lyrics closely. "Honestly, you're going to sing to her tomorrow and you can't even remember what you're going to do? Might as well just croak 'I love you' to her"

Aiden laughed at the thought.

"You prolong the last note," Zoey then said, telling him to make note of it. The boy repositioned himself in order to write on the piece or parchment properly. Zoey silently watched him work before a thought passed her mind.

"Fred and Jane have been hanging out an awful lot lately," she said, making Aiden look up at her.

Aiden tapped the feathery and of his quill on his lip before grinning. "You're right! It's good Jane found another friend," he told her, "I was beginning to worry that she was getting lonely seeing as I've been hanging out with you most of the time."

"Doesn't she have other friends?" Zoey asked.

"She does, she just doesn't like them very well," Aiden laughed, "Says they're too girly for her taste"

Zoey was confused at that but shrugged it off before taking Aiden's quill away from him and doodling on his face, surprising him. She grinned at his current look. He had an inky, cartoon moustache on his upper lip now.

"You look very macho," she laughed, "I'm sure Jane would fall head over heels now"

Aiden's eyes widened before moving to his knees and looking into the fountain to look at his reflection, he made a displeased sound at the sight of the messy moustache. "Zoey!" he exclaimed.

The Emeraude simply laughed before picking up her wand and waving it, making the moustache disappear. "Just having a laugh," she grinned before putting down her wand. Aiden was about to make a retort, holding his quill in his hand threateningly, when the sounds of footsteps stopped him. He looked over to see Bridgit. He greeted her.

"Hey there," Bridgit greeted, approaching her two friends.

"Hi," Zoey smiled and saw Aiden fix their scattered music sheets, piling them up, "What's up?"

"What? Can't I see my two friends for no reason?" Bridgit answered, grinning.

At this, Zoey and Aiden shared a look.

"Me thinks the lady is rather suspicious," Aiden told her. Zoey nodded in agreement.

"And the lady thinks that you are no Sherlock Holmes at all," Bridgit retorted, laughing at Aiden, "But if you must know, I am here due to two very concerned parties"

"You read him too? Aiden was talking about him the other day," Zoey laughed, "Who are the concerned parties?"

"Of course I do! Sherlock Holmes is quite fascinating! And I know Aiden reads them, we were discussing it the other day in the common room...I seriously can't believe you find Watson to be more interesting than Holmes." Bridgit answered, shaking her head. She was getting of topic. "The concerned parties are no other than Mister Fred Weasley and Miss Jane Chatsworth...in other words...your lovers"

Zoey blushed at Bridgit's choice of words while Aiden just laughed it off. Zoey softly shoved him before looking back at Bridgit. "If this is about the 'No PDA in both private and public ways' thing. It still stands," she said.

"Well...yes and no…mind if I ask a mild, but not slightly off topic question not including this one?" Bridgit answered.

"I don't see why not," Aiden shrugged.

"Have you two ever _cheated?_"

At Bridgit's words, Zoey began to look down with guilt and play with the ends of her sleeves. She bit her lip and looked up at Bridgit. "Honestly? Yes… I have," she said, regret in her eyes.

"WHAT?" Bridgit exclaimed, "I stood up for you two and they were right?"

"Whoa! No need to get so mad, Bridgit," Aiden spoke up, "Everyone does it!"

"What do you mean everyone does it? I'm pretty sure Jane and Fred never did!" Bridgit retorted.

Zoey snorted. "Fred? Yeah right. He's been doing it ever since the beginning," she said, "You even do it, Bridgit!"

"What? Fred's been doing that? And what do you mean me? I don't even have a freaking boyfriend!"

"Boyfriend?" Aiden asked, "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about you two cheating on Jane and Fred! What else?" Bridgit answered.

"Cheating on them? Why would we ever do that? Aiden loves Jane!" Zoey exclaimed

"Wait...what? You just...uhm...what we talking about?" Bridgit said, confused.

"We're talking about homework and such," Zoey said. Aiden nodded in agreement.

"What? So you're not cheating on Fred and Jane?" Bridgit asked.

Aiden looked shock at her words. "Why would we do that?"

"Because they think you're doing it and you two have been hanging around with each other more than them." Bridgit answered, quoting Jane and Fred

Zoey shook her head. "We've only been hanging out because Aiden's got something special for Jane," Aiden blushed at this, "Why would they think that? Fred knows I'll never do that… right?"

"You better tell them both that… especially Jane, she's in hysterics," Bridgit answered.

At this, Aiden stood up, wide-eyed. He looked at Bridgit with shock and to Zoey. Zoey simply shrugged, standing up as well. Aiden then pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is about last Christmas, isn't it? She told you about it?" he asked.

"Yes," Bridgit whispered.

Aiden nodded his head before giving Zoey an apologetic look. "I guess I have to straighten things out," he told her, "Thanks for the help"

Zoey waved him farewell and watched as the Ravenclaw walked away. She gave a sigh before looking down and seeing that he dropped one of the music sheets. She picked it up before looking at Bridgit.

"They asked you to ask us for them?" she raised a brow.

"Yeah, they did," Bridgit answered, "I still think they should've asked you personally"

"Where the cheezwhizz is Fred's Gryffindor courage?" she laughed a bit.

"I might ask you the same thing." Bridgit suddenly said, covering her mouth. "Sorry it's just that...Fred's been worried about you not saying the three words that he always seems to say to you."

Zoey blinked at her friend in confusion. "Three words?" she tilted her head to the side, "'Where's the food'?"

"No… you know… three most important words in a relationship," Bridgit answered.

"Three… most?" Zoey paused, "Oh"

"Exactly," Bridgit said, thinking that Zoey had gotten her point.

The Emeraude looked away from her friend for a moment before giving off a sigh. She ran a hand through her already messy hair and looked at Bridgit with a sort of sadness to her face. Zoey knew what Bridgit was talking about…she knew it very well. Heck she wondered about it very often when she had the time.

"It's… it's not that easy," she told her.

"I know," Bridgit said, trying to comfort her friend.

Zoey smiled at her before looking at the music sheet once more. She then handed it over to Bridgit. "I'll tell him when the time's right," she said with a confident smile, "On other news, do you know this song? It's a muggle song."

"Okay then… oh I love this song!" Bridgit suddenly exclaimed.

"It's nice right?" she grinned, "Aiden's going to sing it to Jane"

"It suits them, the song I mean"

Zoey nodded her head. "Well, I guess I should clear things up with Fred now, yeah?"

"Yeah, you probably should"

* * *

Zoey looked at her reflection a little self-consciously. It was Valentines Day, the day she was going to go on a date with Fred. She had gotten the misunderstanding about she and Aiden cheating straightened out and was even able to convince Jane that the only reason she and Aiden were hanging out a lot was because he needed help in Charms (Zoey had told Fred the truth behind her and Aiden's 'hang-outs'). Jane, who was back to her cheery self, being the helpful friend that she was, even gave Zoey clothes to wear on the date seeing as Zoey was prepared to go in simple jeans, turtleneck and a scarf.

The Emeraude was now wearing a black, sleeveless turtleneck dress that reached to her knees with a baby pink off-shoulder sweater on top. Her shoes were black flats and her hair was down with her bangs clipped. Jane was even able to convince Zoey to ditch the glasses for the meantime. Zoey sighed.

"Jane, is all this really necessary?" Zoey asked; smacking her lips together after Jane had applied colorless strawberry flavored lip-gloss on the girl. Zoey liked the smell of strawberries; she just didn't like the taste of _natural _strawberries.

"Hmm? Of course it is," Jane said, looked at the mirror herself, "It's your first Valentines together with your hubby"

Zoey blushed at Jane's choice of words. "We aren't even married," she told her, her blush still on her cheeks. Jane laughed.

"I know," she helped Zoey to her feet, "You know, you blush easily. That's a bit dangerous"

"Dangerous?" Zoey asked, "How so?"

Jane looked up in thought for a moment before grinning at the confused Hufflepuff. "Oh, it's nothing," she said before gently pushing Zoey towards the door muttering stuff like "We shouldn't keep the boys waiting" or "Just don't blush when a stranger smiles at you"

Before Zoey could even get a word in, Jane had already directed her to the gates leaving Hogwarts and entering Hogsmeade. Zoey was speechless when Jane hooked arms with Aiden and waved goodbye to her and Fred. The Emeraude, giving up on thinking what Jane was on about, waved at her in return before looking up at Fred. She smiled at him. Fred grinned, a small blush decorating his cheeks.

"You… you look nice," he complimented her, rubbing the back of his neck

"Thank you," Zoey blushed as well and saw that his hand was twitching a bit, reaching over to her hand though being a bit reluctant. She grinned a bit before lacing her fingers with his. "I said holding hands was fine," she told him before leading them to Hogsmeade.

The walk was silent except the occasional small talk and joke. Zoey looked around the village and noted that some of the shops took the liberty of hanging up Valentine decorations while others didn't even bother. Other cases, they even forgot to remove their Christmas decorations. Zoey laughed at that before looking at Fred to see that he was in thought. She squeezed his hand.

"Sickle for your thoughts?" she asked him, slowing her walk.

"Only a sickle?" Fred smirked.

"Keep that up and you get nothing," Zoey stuck her tongue out at him before laughing and looking at some far off distance, "Hey, I don't want to seem rude and all but can I just meet you up at Madam Puddifoot's?"

Fred released his hold on her hand and stuffed his in his pockets. "Is this about Aiden's little surprise for Jane?" he asked.

"Yeah, Bridgit's going to be there too," Zoey swayed back in forth, "You don't mind if I go away for a while?"

"Of course I mind. It's our date. I should be the only man you're focusing on," Fred said hotly before grinning, "Why can't I join? I would love to see what Bridgit would be doing"

"Only Bridgit?" Zoey raised a brow, smile playing on her lips.

"You'd be doing something too?" Fred asked.

Zoey shook her head and grabbed hold of Fred's hand once again. "Come on, we're heading to the Shrieking Shack"

The pair made their way through the crowd of other couples and successfully reached the Shrieking Shack in time to see Bridgit, who was wearing a waiter's outfit (seeing as she refused to wear a skirt), setting up a table with two chairs and Echo who was sitting by the piano (A piano that made Fred wonder how it even got there or where they got it), flipping through music sheets. George was standing not to far from her, waving at them.

"You got dragged into this too?" George called over.

"Wanted to see what Bridgit would do," Fred grinned before looking over to the Waitress, "Nice outfit"

"Har har, very funny, and why are you so interested into what I would do?" Bridgit asked, glaring at Fred while now fixing the table setting.

"Feisty," Fred said, holding his hands up. He then looked down at Zoey who was scanning the area. "What would you be doing?"

"Hmm?" Zoey hummed, looking up at him.

"If Echo's going to play the piano and Bridgit's waitressing. What are you going to do?" Fred asked.

Zoey shrugged. "Nothing. I already did my part," she told him before pushing him towards George and telling them to stay there quietly.

"You mean you're just going to stand by and watch like the rest of us?" Fred pouted, "I came here for nothing."

"I thought you wanted to see Bridgit do something?" Zoey asked.

"I figured you were going to do something too," Fred grinned with a shrug.

"Fred's got a point, Zee, why are you here?" Bridgit asked, putting the final touch of a single rose in a vase in the middle of the table. "Done!" huffed Bridgit, now fixing her brown hair into a ponytail.

Zoey looked away from George looking at the music sheets from over Echo's shoulder and turned to Bridgit. "I just wanted to see if everything would be alright. If you want, I could leave," she said, not really offended by Bridgit's question.

"I bet Fred would be happy with that," Bridgit said.

"I'm fine with anything," Fred spoke, "Maybe seeing how this date would go could give me some tips"

"Suit yourself, just don't make a sound. This is real life, not a movie," Bridgit retorted.

Fred made a motion of zipping his lips together as George walked away from Echo and stood by his side. "She's really serious about this, huh?" he whispered to his twin. Fred nodded. Zoey looked over to them and placed a finger to her mouth, telling them to be quiet.

Suddenly, Echo began to play a gentle tune when the sounds of footsteps approached. Everyone turned over to the sounds of footsteps to see Aiden and Jane approaching. Aiden had a polite smile on his face while Jane was surprised at the setting and a little embarrassed at the sight of all her friends.

"Aiden, you didn't tell me this was going to be a group date," she whispered to him.

"It's not," Aiden said, directing her to the table and pulling the chair back for her to sit. She sat and he gently pushed it closer to the table before taking a seat himself. "They're just here to help out. Nice of them, huh?"

Bridgit made her way towards the couple, as they were both finally seated, and plastered a smile on her face. "Good afternoon Madame, Good afternoon Sir, due to Mr. Durham's request I am here, and my name is Bridgit and I will be your server for today." She said, making the couple smile back at her.

"On today's menu we have a deliciously made mushroom soup for your entre, salmon, accompanied by a tomato salad for your main course, and a nice and smooth chocolate moose for your dessert." Bridgit continued, stating the food.

"All my favorites huh?" Jane said, making Aiden give her a sheepish grin.

"Only the best for you." Aiden answered, making Jane's face light up with glee.

"That sounds good," Fred and George muttered; they earned a painful nudge from Zoey who gave the couple and apologetic look.

Bridgit gave the twins a stern look, before putting back her smile and facing the couple once again. "Would you like anything to drink before I serve your entre?" Bridgit asked the two.

"Butterbeer would be good, Bridgit." Aiden answered, making Bridgit nod. She snapped her fingers and their glasses were filled with Butterbeer, and since it was Bridgit serving them, it was topped off with a strawberry on top of the foam.

"How does the strawberry even float? It's just foam," Zoey spoke out loud before her eyes widened and her hands quickly shot up to cover her mouth. She blushed in embarrassment as the twins snickered at her.

"Magic, Zoey, have you ever heard of it?" Bridgit remarked, not facing her friend. The smile never left her face.

The waitress then took out her wand and waved at the plates. Two bowls with mushroom soup appeared in front of Jane and Aiden. "This looks good Bridgit." Jane said, turning towards the brown haired girl. "Did you make it?

"Nope, all these dishes were prepared by Winky and Dobby the House Elf." Bridgit answered, smiling.

"House elves?" Jane asked before Aiden suddenly stood up. He gave her a smile before looking over to Echo, giving her a signal.

"Before we eat, m'dear," Aiden said facing Jane once more, "I want to start with a little performance"

"Performance?" Jane asked, looking at him and then at Bridgit and to Zoey and the rest. None of them said anything, all simply smiled.

"Yes, a musical number, if you will," Aiden then pulled out his wand and gave it a wave. A microphone flew to him. Jane looked at the muggle tool for a while before looking at Aiden. She watched as he opened his mouth and began to sing.

"_If I had to I would put myself right beside you_

_So let me ask, would you like that? Would you like that?_

_And I don't mind if you say this love is the last time_

_So now I'll ask, do you like that? Do you like that? No!"_

Jane was a bit shocked at Aiden's singing but a smile slowly made its way to her lips. She never heard Aiden sing before and truly, she liked it. Sure, the song wasn't really a Valentine Song but she didn't care. This song had a deeper meaning than any of those mushy lyrics they played in shops on the day itself. Aiden began to sing the chorus.

"_Something's getting in the way_

_Something's just about to break_

_I will try to find my place_

_In the diary of Jane_

_So tell me how it should be!"_

Aiden took a small breath as he waited for his cue to continue. At the note, he began to sing again.

"_Try to find out what makes you tick as I lie down_

_Sore and sick, do you like that? Do you like that?_

_There's a fine line between love and hate and I don't mind_

_Just let me say that I like that, I like that"_

He began the chorus once more, not tearing his eyes away from Jane.

"_Something's getting in the way_

_Something's just about to break_

_I will try to find my place_

_In the diary of Jane_

_As I burn another page_

_As I look the other way_

_I still try to find my place_

_In the diary of Jane_

_So tell me how it should be!"_

Aiden took another deep breath. Jane couldn't believe her ears. It was all simply wonderful. It tugged at her heart and brought tears to her eyes, not sad ones thought but tears of joy and relief. The song showed her how much Aiden was willing to stay with her. She really loved this boy.

"_Desperate, I will crawl, waiting for so long_

_No love, there is no love_

_Die for anyone, what have I become?_

_Something's getting in the way_

_Something's just about to break_

_I will try to find my place_

_In the diary of Jane_

_As I burn another page_

_As I look the other way_

_I still try to find my place_

_In the diary of Jane"_

* * *

"I never thought Aiden could sing like that," Fred said as he took a sip of his tea. He and Zoey were now in Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop.

Zoey, having never been there before, had not expected the place to be so… frilly. Everywhere she looked she saw pink, hearts, red, glitters, frills and bows. The entire place was like the descriptive meaning of the words "Valentines Day". The Emeraude looked up and saw golden cherubs hovering over each of the tables. They occasionally threw pink confetti over the people sitting below them. Zoey cautiously brought her tea closer to herself.

"He's very good," Zoey said, drinking her tea and looking around the restaurant. She caught sight of Harry and Cho sitting not to far from them. They were talking.

"Aiden says you taught him how?" Fred placed his drink down for it was now empty. He sat more comfortably on his chair. Zoey nodded. "Why don't you teach me then?"

"You're a hopeless cause," the girl said bluntly, drinking her tea once more.

Fred felt like a metal basin was dropped on his head. "That… that hurts," he says with a chuckle, running a hand through his hair. Zoey, seeing his reaction, smiled softly at him and placed her drink down as well. The tea was wonderful only it didn't last long.

"When you're free, I'll try my best," she laughed.

Zoey then looked back to Harry and Cho and raised a curious brow. Cho looked a little bit upset now and Harry didn't seem to be really taking any notice to this. The Emeraude sighed. "Harry's not doing a good job on his first date," she whispered.

"Really?" Fred asked, sneaking a peak at the pair before looking back at Zoey. "You're right," he paused, "Wait, why are you paying attention to them?"

"Job of the older godsister slash mother figure," Zoey said, giving him a peace sign, "It's my job"

"I fear for our children," Fred muttered to himself before taking note of Zoey's frozen state and red cheeks. The girl blinked at him several times before raising both her hands to her cheeks, looking away from him. She was embarrassed. "Zoe?" he asked, a smirk playing on his lips, "What did you think of just now?"

Zoey made a noise sounding like a whine as she still refused to look at Fred. Fred laughed before leaning forward, elbows on the table as he propped his chin on his hands. He took a breath and blew out air towards Zoey's direction, making her hair move a bit. The girl shivered at the sudden wind.

"Zoey~" Fred said in a singsong voice, "Come on, we've known each other for years, you can tell me"

The Emeraude shook her head and slowly brought her hands back down on the table, her cheeks still red. Fred grinned. She casted a look towards Harry and Cho's table and saw Cho stand up abruptly, telling Harry something and marched out of the restaurant. She was about to make a comment about it when Fred took her attention once more.

"Do you love me?" he asked out of the blue.

Zoey looked at him with wide eyes, her blush returning stronger than ever. All her concerns on how Harry's date went were thrown out the window for all she was focused on was the piercing look Fred's blue eyes were giving her.

"P – pardon?" she squeaked out as her heartbeat took a quicker pace, "I think I heard you wrong."

"No you didn't," Fred shook his head, "I asked if you love me"

"Fred –"

"Do you?" he pressed on, "I mean, here I am practically saying I want to be with you for a very long time seeing as I already see us with kids and I've said I love you a lot of times but never hear you say it in return. Zoey, how do you really feel about me?"

"Don't…"

"Don't?" Fred raised a brow.

"Don't say things like that all of a sudden!" Zoey said, her face red and her brows furrowed together, she was flustered, "Give me a warning next time!"

Fred straightened up. "A warning? Zoe, you don't plan these sorts of things. They just come out"

"Y – yeah but still! You nearly gave me heart failure!" The Emeraude began playing with the ends of her sleeves, "I – I mean we were just having a nice cup of tea in this doll house when Cho just stomped off and now… now you're asking me these sort of things!"

"So you don't love me?" Fred asked.

"I never said that! I just said give me a warning before you ask!" Zoey hid her face.

"So you do love me?" Fred asked, a look of hope in his eyes.

"What's with all the questions?" Zoey was really embarrassed. She felt like the whole world was anticipating her answer. She hated Valentines Day. It just gave an excuse for couples to express their love without warning. "Isn't the answer already obvious?" she stubbornly looked away.

"Not really," Fred admitted, "You hardly say it –"

"Actions speak louder than words, don't they?"

"But ever since you put on that 'No PDA' rule for but public and private situations there isn't much action to prove," Fred pointed out, "Holding hands? We did that when we were still 'Friends'."

Zoey gulped a bit before looking back at Fred. She still hid behind her sleeves, making her look very childish, as she studied her boyfriend. He looked genuinely curios and a bit concerned. Was he feeling insecure? Zoey didn't know. She bit her lip and felt her heart beat loud and clear. She wondered if Fred, or anyone else in the little restaurant, could hear it too. The Emeraude lowered her sleeves and opened her mouth to speak.

"I – iyah!" Zoey squealed as confetti suddenly covered herself and Fred, surprising her.

The Emeraude slowly looked back at Fred and saw that he was biting his lip, which was twitching upwards. She knitted her brows together and looked around the room. Everyone was looking her way. Zoey's eyes widened and jumped a bit when Fred's hand slammed on the table, making it shake. He began laughing, soon everyone joined in.

"I – I – Iyah? Hahahaha! Zoe! What the hell was that?" Fred laughed, clutching his stomach.

Zoey looked at him with wide eyes, her cheeks burning with embarrassment. She then looked around the room and saw that everyone was really laughing at her. She puffed her cheeks and stood up from her seat, pushing the chair back violently. Fred looked up at her, still laughing.

"I…. I will never say it!" she told him, still embarrassed. She swiftly turned around and marched out of the room. Fred straightened up and wiped a tear from his eyes.

"Oh, she's embarrassed," he teased before getting up from his seat as well, leaving to follow his girlfriend back to school.

* * *

**I'm really sorry for the delay!**

**I used to update every other day. Like one day apart but now it's one week!**

**It's 12 am right now and this is the longest chapter EVER**

**and it's pretty much dedicated to the Valentine day which wasn't even that much of importance in the book XD**

**Sorry about that :P**

**I would LOVE to thank ZOOMSKATER14 for her mega help**

**Also to all of those who reviewed and the like. I really appreciate them :)**

**Those who want to see Zoey's Quidditch match would have to wait for the next chapter which would hopefully be up soon for it already has a beginning planned out and a middle written. Odd procedure huh?**

**School starts on Monday.**

**Am I excited?**

**Not sure. Scared and nervous but happy too :P**

**Not much "MEGA DRAMA" in this chapter, huh?**

**Well, I sorta wanted a chapter without much suffering. Seeing as a lot of Drama would come in the near future so I needed something that was light hearted and all :P**

**I wish I could say more but it's really late and I should get to sleep now.**

**Well, I guess that is all. I have nothing more to say except**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter**

**Please tell me what you thought**

**Excuse my typos and the like (Even though I beta-ed it already)**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter**

**And**

**I only own what I own**


	81. Chapter 79: Unfair Punishments

**Chapter 79: Unfair Punishments **

"Good Evening, Miss Emeraude," came a sugar coated voice that caused Zoey to stop in her tracks. It was nighttime and Zoey just wanted to walk around the school before heading of to bed. Her Valentine Date with Fred had ended with her walking out of the restaurant, blushing with embarrassment and was prepared to avoid Fred for who knows how long but was stopped when the said boy caught up with her and apologized, though laughing as he did so. Zoey, being who she was, forgave him but still initiated the rule of 'No PDA in both ways' for her small 'revenge'.

She was stubborn.

Zoey took a silent breath and turned around, a forced smile plastered on her lips. Umbridge was wearing her usual pink wardrobe with her eyes piercing into Zoey's soul, and not in a good way. Zoey felt her heartbeat quicken as she shuffled uncomfortably on her feet.

"Good Evening, Professor," Zoey greeted slowly, cautiously, "I didn't expect to see you here"

"Yes, of course. I don't normally walk around these parts of the castle but from what I know, you don't either, Miss Emeraude," Umbridge gave a giggle, "This is the way to the Gryffindor Tower after all"

"I – It is? I… I didn't know that. I apologize, I was just wandering," Zoey stuttered out, making a quick scan of her surroundings. She had not realized she walked this far. The Emeraude scolded herself for not paying attention to where she was going.

"You know I do not tolerate lies, Miss Emeraude," Umbridge said, her smile widening making Zoey think that the woman was going to open her mouth to release her tongue and catch a fly that was unfortunately flying by.

"But I'm telling the truth!" Zoey said, her eyes wide.

"Really now, Miss Emeraude?" Umbridge said, taking a few steps towards Zoey. Zoey took a few steps back to keep the distance the same. "If I remember correctly, you walked out of the Gryffindor Common Room one night. Tell me, what were you doing there?"

Zoey took another step back. "I was just visiting some friends," she told her, "They… They needed my help and… I did what I could do…"

"Help… you say? Why couldn't you do that the next day in the Great Hall or in the library or even in class? Why must it be in their Common Room, a place that is exclusive for Gryffindors only, Miss Emeraude? Correct me if I'm wrong but you're a Hufflepuff"

"It was Medical problems," Zoey said awkwardly, Umbridge's stare and smile was scaring her. She took another step back. "It had to be treated right away."

Umbridge's smile widened, almost as if Zoey just gave her another reason to bully her further. "Medical? If it was that urgent, why couldn't they have just gone to Madam Pomfrey, Miss Emeraude? Surely, if it was that serious they would rather go to a professional healer rather than ask some friend, who knows a couple of healing spells, to go past her curfew to heal them"

"I'm training under Madam Pomfrey," Zoey blurted out, her brows knitted together as she tried to look for an escape, "I… it wasn't that serious that they needed Madam Pomfrey…but… I… I knew what to do and did what I could."

"Training? You want to be a Healer, Miss Emeraude?" Umbridge asked, standing her ground, hands folded in front of her. Zoey merely nodded. "Does, hmm… your dear Auntie know about your… future profession?"

"I – I never got around to talk to her about it," Zoey bit her lip, "She's awfully busy"

"I'm sure she would make time to discuss the important matter of your future, Miss Emeraude. After all, you _are _her favorite niece"

"I'm her only niece, Professor"

"Yes, you are, aren't you?" Umbridge looked Zoey up and down, "Is studying to be a Healer your only plan on the future or do you have something else in mind?"

"I'm afraid I don' t know what you mean," said Zoey, playing the ends of her sleeves.

"Marriage, Miss Emeraude. Do you plan on getting married after school?" Umbridge asked, giggling at the end.

Instead of blushing, a reaction Zoey would normally do if asked the question, Zoey paled. She placed a hand over her necklace and clutched the pendant. "I'm a little too young for that, don't you think, Professor?"

"Sources tell me, you're dating this… Fred Weasley boy?" Umbridge then said, "Does your aunt know this?"

"I… didn't think it would be important information for her," Zoey told her.

"I see. Well, I'll take it upon myself to inform her on your progress in school then," Umbridge smiled.

"You don't have to do that, Professor," Zoey felt her panic rise.

"It's no trouble," Umbridge said before turning away, "Well, if you have any business go on and do it before curfew… you wouldn't want another detention, now would you?"

Zoey bit her lip and shook her head, though knowing Umbridge didn't see her action.

"Oh, by the way, Miss Emeraude," Umbridge turned around again, "Has Mister Potter been up to anything… odd?"

"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean, Professor," Zoey said stiffly.

Umbridge squinted at the girl, not at all convince, and walked away. When Umbridge was finally out of eye and earshot, Zoey felt like she could breath properly again. She brought her hand to her chest and felt her heartbeat begin to steady. She licked her lips and made her way to the portrait of the Fat Lady, she didn't feel like returning to her dorm any time soon.

* * *

"Ah, Harry, you idiot," Fred said, placing a hand on his forehead, leaning back a little into the couch, "You shouldn't have said what you did."

Zoey walked further into the Common Room with curiosity at Fred's words. When she fully entered she saw the twins sitting on the couch with Harry at their feet. Fred was leaning back with his hand on his forehead while George was leaning forward, elbows on his knees, looking at Harry. Harry's back was to Zoey as he craned is neck a bit to be able to talk to the twins, looking them in the eye.

"What? What did I say wrong?" Harry asked, genuinely confused.

"You told her about Hermione," George said.

"What's wrong with that? Hermione's my friend!" Harry ran a hand through his hair, scratching the back of his head. At this, Zoey decided to make herself known. She cleared her throat and in an instant, all three boys looked at her.

"Zoe? What are you doing here?" Fred asked, straightening himself and patting the area next to him. Zoey gave him a smile but decided to sit down on the floor, next to Harry.

"The more important question, I think, is _how _she got here," Harry smiled at her in greeting. "You're not a Gryffindor"

"Obviously," Zoey laughed, "Bridgit told me the password for Gryffindor"

"How the bloody hell did she know that?" George raised a brow.

"She's Bridgit," Zoey said simply before answering Fred's question. "I ran into Umbridge a few minutes ago. Didn't want to leave the area so I decided to pay you guys a visit," she told them.

"Umbridge? She didn't do anything to you did she?" Fred asked, placing his elbows on his knees as well.

Zoey shook her head. "She just interrogated me. Nothing big," she turned to Harry, "Why's Fred calling you an idiot?"

"Because Harry, here, just screwed up his date with Miss Chang," George answered for Harry.

"How?"

"According to them, it was because I was talking about Hermione," Harry said with a shrug. "I don't see the problem. Hermione's my friend and I didn't see her having any bad vibe with Cho or anything."

"Harry, did you not learn anything from our advice?" Fred shook his head.

"You never gave me conversation tips," Harry pointed it out.

"We thought it was common knowledge _not _to talk about other girls when you're on a date," said George.

"Unless they're your mum or your sister, you can't speak of anyone else," Fred explained further, "It would just get the girl jealous"

"Jealous? Jealous of Hermione? But I just said she was simply my friend! Sister even!" Harry then said.

"Take it from a girl's perspective then," George shrugged. He and Fred then turned to Zoey. "If you were on a date with Fred and he began talking about… I don't know… Angelina or something, how would you react?" George asked.

Zoey blinked at him in confusion before furrowing her brows and biting her lip in thought. She then looked up at them again. "React? I would ask how she's doing," Zoey shrugged, "I mean, if Fred were to bring her up he would either be talking about Quidditch or Lee..."

At this, Fred and George smacked their forehead in unison. Harry then sent them both a 'See! She's not jealous!' look.

"Let's change the situation then," Fred readjusted his position and looked to Zoey. "Say, we were on our first date ever and we haven't confessed to each other or anything yet. We hardly know anything about each other and then I begin talking about Angelina or Alicia and even Katie. How would you feel? "

"Nothing. They're your friends. You're free to talk about them," Zoey shrugged one shoulder.

"No, you aren't seeing my point here, Zoe. You are madly in love with me and you know nothing of my feelings towards you. How would you feel when I begin talking about other girls and saying stuff like: She's amazing or I like her hair or something!" Fred used hand motions to see if he could get Zoey to see what he meant.

Zoey looked Fred dead in the eye and said. "I would think you're gay for talking about her hair," she said bluntly.

"Fred, you're asking the wrong type of girl," George laughed, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder and forcing him to lean back into the couch.

"You mean you won't feel anything? Jealous? Anger? Think I'm rude? Nothing?" Fred continued to ask Zoey.

The Emeraude simply shook her head. "Nothing wrong with talking about friends. I mean, if you _did _like her or something wouldn't you have gone out on a date with her instead?" she asked.

At this, Harry continued to give the twins a look that said: 'You see! I did nothing wrong!'

"You're not seeing our point," George then said, "I think Cho is the 'jealous type' of some sort. She wanted you to be more focused on her."

Before Harry could say something about Cho wanting his attention, the door of the Common Room burst open and a shoe came flying in, hitting Harry square on the head. The Twins and Zoey, Harry having fallen to the ground from the surprise attack, looked towards the entrance with wide eyes. Echo and Bridgit came bursting in, Echo wearing only one shoe, looking pissed as hell.

"YOU IGNORANT BLOODY EXCUSE OF A REAL MAN!" Echo bellowed.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?" Bridgit then asked, "I THOUGHT THAT YOU WERE A GOOD GUY!"

"What?" Harry asked, sitting back up, rubbing the back of his head, "What are you talking about?"

"YOU OF COURSE!" Bridgit answered, marching up, "BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU DID TO CHO!"

"IT'S YOUR BLEEDING FAULT I HAVE TO FACE CHO CRYING A RIVER AT THE RAVENCLAW TOWER!" Echo shouted, "SHE"S DAMN BLOODY ANNOYING!"

Harry was frozen to his spot, his eyes reading terror. Cho was crying? He made her cry? He was about to say something but Echo beat him to it.

"EXACTLY!" Bridgit agreed. "SHE KEEPS ON RANTING ABOUT YOU! IT'S STARTING TO GET ON MY NERVES! I CAN'T BLOODY HEAR MYSELF THINK IN THERE!"

"See, Harry," Fred began, patting his shoulder.

"Look what you do," George ended, patting his shoulder as well.

Zoey then pulled out her wand and waved it around the room, silencing it. She did not want anyone interrupting them. In fact, she was wondering why no one had come down to investigate on the shouting yet. She placed her wand down and looked at her two friends.

"Indoor voices please," she told them.

"INDOOR VOICES MY ARSE!" Echo retorted.

"TELL THAT TO THE SOBBING GIRL IN OUR BLASTED COMMON ROOM! BOY WOULD WE LOVE HER TO SHUT UP!" Bridgit retorted as well. They were both pissed.

"Language," Zoey scolded once more before standing up, "Why are you so angry anyway? Frankly, I think Harry has done nothing wrong"

"Ah, you still didn't get our point," the twins said in unison

"Judging on Bridgit's and Echo's reaction," Fred began

"And what they told us about Cho," George continued.

"Harry did something really wrong," Fred ended.

"EXACTLY!" Echo threw her arms in the air.

Zoey furrowed her brows and pointed her wand at Echo, muttering a spell silently before pointing her wand at Bridgit, doing the same. It was a silencing spell. "I can't hear myself think with all the shouting," she told them, "Sit down"

Echo only crossed her arms across her chest and stuck her tongue out before breaking a few seconds and starts thrashing at everything in her reach.

When the girl began to thrash at everything, George pulled out his wand and casted a Body-Binding Curse at her, forcing her limbs to stick to her sides and making her fall to the floor. He ignored the glare he received.

"Don't take your anger out on our Common Room," he told her, "Not your property"

Bridgit sat down beside the fifteen year old in the room and began to stare daggers at the boy. Harry moved away a bit in discomfort.

"Now, I'm going to lift the spells, the silencing ones not the Body-Binding one, and you two are going to tell us in your _indoor _voices what's going on," Zoey said pointing her wand at Bridgit and then at Echo, "Now, what's going on? What's Cho saying?"

"Saying that Harry's an insensitive git," Echo glared.

"Because he was talking about Hermione?" Fred asked.

"Yes, Miss Chang has been complaining all night about how, and I quote, 'that bloody prick Potter' can mention another girl during their date." Bridgit said

"I don't see the problem with that!" Harry exclaimed, "We're just _friends_"

"To be honest, Harry, some think you're more than 'just friends'," George then said, "You guys are awfully close"

"Just make her shut her bleeding trap." Echo struggled against her invincible binds. George lifted the spell silently.

"And who the hell planted in your mind that you talk about another girl during a date with one?" Bridgit asked. "Did you not listen to any of the advice we gave you?"

"According to him, we didn't give him any topic ideas to talk about," Fred shrugged.

"Thought it was common knowledge, to be honest," George added.

"Honestly, I do not see what Harry did wrong," Zoey spoke, her hands folded across her chest. She looked at each and everyone one of her friends dead in the eye. Only Harry shared her confusion as to what he did wrong.

"Zoey, Zoey, Zoey..." Bridgit began in her 'I'm going to explain now so you better listen' voice.

"What?" Zoey then asked, still very confused.

"Have you ever thought that maybe mentioning Hermione, on a date with Cho, while she is still heartbroken from her previous relationship, is rather harsh? What do you think Cho felt? Knowing that Harry's attention was divided between two girls?" Bridgit now said, asking Zoey.

"Ah, now you sound like a Muggle therapist," Echo said, she got up and started looking for her shoe.

"I think I've been the therapist of these couples for so long to be honest." Bridgit suddenly said.

"Still the only single one though," Fred said, coughing after.

Zoey ignored what her friends were saying and blinked several times, processing what Bridgit had just said. "Divided?" she muttered before furrowing her brows, "I honestly don't know how she could ever feel. Is this like, I should put myself in her shoes?"

At Zoey's choice of words, Echo face-palmed.

"Okay, Zoey, let's try this." Bridgit said. "Imagine that you're on a date with Fred," she began, hopefully able to explain to her friend.

"This again?" Zoey asked before nodding her head, "Okay, then?"

"You're both having a splendid time, you're holding hands, walking through Hogsmeade and Fred turns to you with a smile on his face," Bridgit continued, "How do you feel?"

"Blimey, this is therapy," George suddenly spoke.

"Normal," Zoey said bluntly.

"Not much of a reaction from her," Fred sighed before chuckling, "Good luck explaining things, Bridgit"

"Normal? Just normal? No feelings of happiness, romance, maybe even bliss?" Bridgit continued to ask, refusing to believe that her friend was as hopeless as everyone thought.

"Seeing as this is Zoey's problem now, I'm going to go. Thanks guys," Harry said sheepishly before sneaking away and heading to his dorm. No one paid him mind. It was Zoey who was the hopeless cause now.

Zoey tilted her head in thought and looked over to Fred who just smiled at her. She blinked at him before looking back at Bridgit. "Well, you got to understand that me and Fred were friends way before we started dating so his smile is rather normal to me," Zoey then said, not noticing Fred's reaction. The boy felt like he was just hit on the head with a Bludger.

"You become more hopeless every single passing minute, Zoey," Echo shook her head.

"Would have thought you would learn something from all those muggle romance books you read," George added.

"I'm so sorry about that, Fred," Bridgit said, patting the red head's shoulder before looking at Zoey. "Don't you think that's rather harsh, Zoey?"

Zoey's eyes widened a bit before looking at Fred who refused to look at her. "Was I being to harsh? I was just saying the truth"

"My wounds… she's rubbing salt on them," Fred laughed bitterly.

"There, there, Bessie," Echo patted Fred's shoulder. George snorted.

"Seriously, I think you two need couple's counseling. Go find yourself a psychiatrist," said Bridgit.

"Zoey just needs a pot of plant to land on her head," Echo spoke

"I – I'm sorry," Zoey then apologized, "It's just that…. Uhm…. Well, I've fancied Fred since our second year… probably even earlier so… seeing his smile just seems normal to me now. If you want my heart leap with every grin, it's already done that…so… yeah…"

"FINALLY! PROGRESS!" Bridgit suddenly exclaimed.

"That's it. One day a flower pot will land on your head," said Echo.

"Okay, I think I know how to make Zoey understand what Cho felt now!" Bridgit then said, turning to the others.

"Do we need to celebrate?" asked Echo, who was gazing at something far away.

"How?" the twins asked, ignoring what Echo had said, while Zoey continued her curious look

"Maybe," Bridgit answered, she actually took note of Echo's semi-random comment, "If this succeeds we just might celebrate"

"Just tell us how you're going to explain to Zoey," Fred then said, running a hand through his hair

"Right," said Echo.

"Okay...here we go. Zoey, do you remember how you felt when you first began to fancy Fred?" Bridgit asked.

"Err," Zoey looked at Fred and blushed before looking away, "Yes."

"Okay, now think that during those times, when you were a bit confused about how you felt, and let's say...Fred asked you out on a date- no Zoey I don't care if it was all the way back in second year." Bridgit said, stopping her friend from protesting.

Zoey held her hands up in defense. "Just so you know, there wasn't much confusion. I just accepted it," she told her before thinking, "Alright, We're second years and we're on a date. Now what?"

"No confusion? Alright then...so now you're on a date and you're probably nervous. When Fred tries to take your hand, you act shy and blush, and you're still a bit shy about admitting your feelings. In other words you're a bit uncomfortable with the situation. Are you following me?"

"I… I think so, yeah," Zoey nodded her head.

"Now, Fred acts all kind and comforts you and tells you it's going to be okay… how do you feel now?"

"To tell you the truth," Zoey began, her blush returning and darkening with every passing second, "Embarrassed"

"What?" Fred exclaimed but was ignored by the girls and laughed at by George.

"I think and invisible pot landed," Echo laughed.

"It's the truth! I'd be so embarrassed because it seems like I'm the only one nervous about the date," Zoey retorted.

"OKAY! I give up on this angle, let's try this in a different way!" Bridgit now exclaimed.

"Good luck, I think nothing is gonna work," George then said.

"Oh trust me, this will work," Bridgit now said, turning towards Zoey.

"Maybe I'm just dumb in love," Zoey said, looking up in thought.

"Nope… you just don't know how to handle it unless you're placed in that situation," Bridgit answered.

"You want me to talk to Zoey about different girls?" Fred raised a brow.

"Nope, that won't work, but let's try reverse psychology shall we?" Bridgit began. "Zoey, you're gonna talk about different guys in front of Fred."

"G- Guys? Like who?" Zoey asked, seeing the shocked look in Fred's eye

"Oh I would love to see this!" Echo squealed.

"Cedric, Lee, Aiden, hell even Zacharias, just talk about them in front of Fred." Bridgit answered. "Then observe Fred while you talk."

"Wha… what do I have to say about them?" Zoey asked, really wanting Bridgit to make everything clear to her.

"Compare them to Fred," Bridgit said bluntly.

Zoey looked over to Fred and saw that he didn't like where this is going. The Emeraude took a breath before looking up in thought.

"Well, Cedric was a bit more serious than Fred and that was good. Lee, he didn't really take pranks too far, he just took part in them. Aiden can sing and he's really sweet without trying to be… Zacharias….I… I feel like comparing Fred to him would hurt Fred's ego but then again… Zacharias has a pretty big ego too, doesn't he?" Zoey listed, not noticing the shocked looks of her friends and the petrified look Fred's body took as he listened to what Zoey was saying. Little by little, you could hear something crack. Whether it was his heart or something else, no one could tell.

"There's Harry who's very polite and also Ron who's really awkward at times. Oh, wait, Neville is awkward in that cute fashion and I find it well… cute. I just want to hug him at time when that happens. There's also Seamus with his accent oh Oliver Wood and _his _accent." Zoey bit her lips as a small blush crossed her cheeks. "Percy, well, he's alright I guess. Nothing to compare except Fred's more carefree than him. Charlie works with dragons and that's pretty cool. Bill is pretty cool too and… hmm… who else? Oh! George is also the nicer twin, well, that's what Echo told me…."

"Are you observing Fred while you talk?" Bridgit now asked, turning to Fred.

The Emeraude turned to look at Fred as well and her eyes widened. The boy was bowing his head and fiddling with his fingers. He looked almost like a puppy that was just kicked out of its house for doing something bad. He looked lost and refused to look directly at Zoey. It was obvious that he was hurt; it was simple as that, even someone like Zoey could see that. Zoey gulped and looked at her friends. Echo winced when Zoey looked at her and George seemed a bit angry, Brigit looked sad. Zoey felt her heartbeat quicken and realized what she had done was unforgivable.

"I didn't know you could be so cruel, Zoey," George said, looking at her as he patted his twin's shoulder.

"I may be sadistic, but not too sadistic. So, Bessie, I hope you're okay," Echo then said, patting Fred's knee.

"Now do you see what Cho felt?" Bridgit asked, turning towards Zoey.

Zoey slowly nodded. "I think I know what you guys mean now... from what I see… Fred's feeling a bit insecure now… You guys should have said that in the first place!" Zoey paused, her brows furrowing, "I mean… even I feel it. If Fred were to talk about Angelina, Katie or Alicia personality and looks wise I would feel very insecure because when I think about it, compared to them… I'm just… plain. Angelina is tall, beautiful and funny while Katie is very attractive and kind Alicia is very friendly as well and outspoken but then there's me.

"I'm tiny, scrawny, socially awkward and come with loads of problems, emotionally, physically and mentally. I don't know how everyone else thinks and frankly because of that I cause loads of misunderstandings and such…. I'm just too fragile and weak…" the Emeraude paused in thought, "I should be the one being insecure about this, not you, Fred. Why _do _you even like me? I'm too much trouble and I'm not even worth it. All I do is cause you pain and confusion"

"I don't like you cause of your physical appearance Zoe, I like-wait no, I love you, because you're you." Fred answered, but still he had a wink of sadness and disappointment in his voice.

"For me? I'm… I'm too broken. How could you love someone like me?" Zoey asked. She didn't care that her other friends could hear her and Fred's conversation right now.

"Cause you're not perfect." Fred said plainly. "You have flaws, and you admit them. You don't try to hide it like most girls do, and you embrace them. Yes, you could say you're broken, but to some degree I love the thought that maybe I'm the person that could fix you."

Zoey's lip quivered and heartbeat quickened. She saw Fred look at her in the eye and Zoey felt nothing but guilt inside her. She bit her lip and looked away.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, "I… I compared you to all of them and… that was cruel of me. I… I… They may have some qualities that I like but… there's something that they don't have. It's your qualities. I fell for you, Fred, not them. I've known you longer than all of them and well…I like you better. You're fun loving and you know when to be serious. You have a heart and you're mighty brilliant. I could list a whole lot more but I won't cause I'll just be wasting time."

The Emeraude paused and looked back at him.

"What I really admire about you, Fred is that you were always there for me, you know? The others… they don't know what's going on with my life but you do and you still chose to stick by me. You put up with me and my flaws and… and I…" but Zoey couldn't continue. She was already getting dizzy from the intensified heat that was sent up to her face. She looked away from Fred once more, hiding her face.

"It's alright, Zoe… I… I understand and I … I don't hold it against you," Fred said.

"You're too nice to me," she told him before looking at her friends. Echo simply had a placid expression on her face as she glanced at George, who was staring at the two, every few seconds. Bridgit, on the other hand, had the look of guilt written on her face. She felt bad for making Fred and Zoey go through that. The couple was unstable and trying their best to stick together. The Emeraude looked back at Fred and saw that he was simply watching her.

The atmosphere was getting awkward.

Zoey could not handle awkward.

She suddenly made a loud clap of her hands before saying: "Well, since we finally got me to understand this thing after much effort, thanks Bridgit, I have one more thing to say and it's about Harry and Cho once again," she paused, "I don't really feel that bad that it didn't work out between them, you know? I don't find Harry and Cho… fitting to be honest"

"I second that," said Echo.

"Really? Then who do you think would fit young Mister Potter?" Fred asked joining in. He didn't want to be the only serious one now. It was needed but tiring. "I say he would do splendidly paired up with Mister Malfoy"

Zoey made a face. "Eww! Fred, no. He should be with Ginny"

"Harry is supposed to end up alone. Forever," said Echo before laughing.

"The Boy-Who-Lived? Alone? That's unlikely," George said.

"I say he should be with Miss Granger, I mean she was the cause of this fight in the first place." Bridgit suddenly said, stating her opinion.

"But Harry said it himself, didn't he? They're just friends," Zoey then said, "I say he should be with Ginny. She's liked him for the longest time."

"I'd be happy if he stayed away from our baby sister, thank you," Fred told her.

"How about Harry and Snape?" George chimed in, "They could be 'Snarry' or something"

"Why do you keep paring him up with guys?" Zoey asked, her face reading confusion.

"It's fun but moving on," Fred turned to Bridgit, "Why do you think Harry should be with our little Miss Granger?"

"I mean, think about it...who gave Harry his first hug? His first kiss on the cheek? She's willing to drop anything for him! How more obvious can you get?" Bridgit answered.

Her friends stayed quiet for some time.

"She's got a point," George shrugged, leaning back into the couch.

"Yeah," Zoey tilted her head, "But I think she should be with Ron. Opposites Attract after all"

Fred snorted. "Like hell Ron would be able to get someone like Hermione," he said, "You give him too much credit."

"Don't be too hard on Ron," Echo said, whacking Fred with her shoe.

"Bloody footwear," Fred muttered, throwing the shoe back at the Veela.

"She can't be with Ron, Ron is an attention freak, he would want Hermione's full attention, and we all know who Hermione cares for more!" Bridgit then said.

"Right… I would still want him to end up alone," Echo said

Zoey's eyes went wide. "Why are we bashing on Ron? It was just a thought. Not like it would actually happen. We would never know," Zoey shrugged before looking up in thought, "But you know, when you think about it… Ginny _could _go with Draco. What do you think, Bridgit?"

"No way in hell are we letting that slimy git," Fred began

"Anywhere near our sister," George ended.

"I say yes!" Bridgit exclaimed.

"I don't think Draco's all that bad…" said Echo, "I mean, he's living off his father's authority and fame"

"It would end this stupid family war of yours," Bridgit added.

"I concur," Echo smiled. At that, the two Ravenclaws shared a high-five.

The twins furrowed their brows and made X marks with their arms, making a beeping noise that told them they were wrong.

"We object," they said in unison.

"Fine then, but you have to admit, most Slytherins swoon over Ginny." Bridgit smirked as she said this.

"Why?" Echo snapped, "Draco's just a person. He has a weak side, just like you lot."

"It's just an opinion," Zoey told them with a laugh, "I mean what are the odds? You may never know. You can never control whom you love. Like, you never know, Bridgit could marry a muggle some day"

"Whoa! Why my love life? For all we know, I could end up alone and successful and become Minister of Magic!" Bridgit retorted.

"Oh we fear the day that comes." Fred and George suddenly said.

Echo rolled her eyes. "Bridgit will be better than that pudgy Fudge."

"Point one for Bridgit and Echo," Zoey laughed before she was interrupted by the sounds of footsteps. She looked over to the source and saw Harry coming down the stairs, a small blush decorating his cheeks.

"I… left my wand," he muttered, pointing to the ground next to Zoey before approaching it and picking up the fallen item. "Carry on," he said before dashing back up the stairs.

"Uhm… you think he heard us?" Zoey asked, wondering if her silencing spell wore off.

"Nope. Doubt it," Echo smirked

"We would never know," Fred shrugged

"Unless we ask him," George grinned.

"I think he did. Did you see the blush on his face! Man, Fred, I'd watch your back when you sleep, you said he'd end up with Malfoy!" Bridgit suddenly said, causing color to drain from Fred's face

"What? Opposites Attract, right? You can't get any more opposite than those two!" Fred folded his arms across his chest.

"They're the same gender," Zoey told him.

"Talk about opposites." Echo laughed.

"Boy. Girl. We don't judge Harry's taste," George laughed.

"They're not opposites!" Bridgit suddenly said.

"Elaborate," Zoey looked at her.

"Both stubborn, ignorant, trying to prove themselves, come from horrible family backgrounds- yes Malfoy comes from a horrid family I've seen him get beat up by his dad, George, and they both share a hatred for each other." Bridgit answered, smiling.

"I suddenly feel more sorry for Draco." Echo muttered.

"Same here," Zoey muttered before looking at her watch. Her eyes widened and she scrambled to her feet. "It's so passed our curfew," she told them, panic in her eyes.

"I'm in no rush," Echo stuck her tongue out.

"You just realized this now?" Bridgit asked.

"Yes," Zoey said, making her way to the door, "I'm sorry but I rather not encounter another detention with Umbridge. Zacharias would kill me!"

"Why would he do that?" Fred asked suspiciously.

"Why?" Echo raised an eyebrow.

Zoey shook her head. "I don't have time for explanations," she said in a rush, opening the door, "Goodbye!"

And she was gone.

* * *

Fred stood in the audience along with George, Bridgit, Echo, Harry and the rest, waiting for the match to start. He hated the fact that he couldn't participate in the game for he had a lifelong ban. If he had his way, he would already be out there on his broom, whacking Bludgers at unsuspecting Hufflepuff's along with his twin. Sadly, he could not have his way. The Weasley looked around his surroundings and raised a brow. It was a few more minutes before the match began and there was no sign of Zoey.

"Where's Zoe?" he asked out loud.

"Uhm… probably in the Hufflepuff stands, she has to support her house, you know," Bridgit answered.

Lee Jordan had already begun introducing the members of the Gryffindor Team; he was going to do Hufflepuff next.

"That's odd," Fred said, "She usually stays at our side even when it's her House Team."

"Well, she needs to show some Badger Pride sometime you know," Bridgit replied.

There was a pat on Fred's shoulder and he looked to his brother who was looking at up in surprise. Fred raised a brow as he vaguely listened to Lee introducing the Hufflepuff Team. "I think you would want to pay real close attention to this match," George told him.

"What? Why –"

"AND INTRODUCING HUFFLEPUFF'S NEWEST BEATER," Lee's voice echoed, "ZOEY EMERAUDE!"

Fred's eyes widened at the name and swiftly looked towards Hufflepuff's side of the field. He took a quick scan of the members before his eyes landed on a girl riding a Firebolt with her hair tied up in a tight ponytail and holding onto the Beater's bat. A look of determination on her face.

"What? Did Lee just say...Zoey?" Bridgit asked.

"Bloody hell," he muttered, not believing his eyes.

"He just did," said Echo.

The elder Weasley didn't say anything, he just watched as the Captains of each team flew closer to each other, shook hands before Madam Hooch threw the Quaffle in the air. The game began.

Zacharias immediately dashed towards the Quaffle, but Angelina had beaten him towards it. She flew towards the rings, with Zacharias hot on her tail. As she threw the ball and passed it towards Katie, Katie threw the ball towards the second ring and scored a shot. Screams like "Go Katie" and "Great shoot!" were heard from the crowd as Lee announced the ten points awarded to the Gryffindor team.

"Do we uhm...cheer for Gryffindor or for Hufflepuff?" George suddenly asked, turning to his friends.

"I have no idea," Fred answered

"HUFFLEPUFF!" Echo yelled.

Zacharias now had possession of the ball and was dashing through the Quidditch Pitch. A Bludger was about to hit him, when Zoey dashed forward hitting the little bugger away from him.

"Yeah! Go Zoey!" Fred shouted, cheering for his girlfriend.

"You finally found your match boys." Bridgit said, wrapping her arms around the twins' shoulders.

"Hey!" They both shouted, making Bridgit move away back to her place beside Fred.

Suddenly, gasps were heard as they saw replacement Beater, Andrew Kirke, fall from his broom. They looked up to find Zacharias with the Quaffle and scoring his second goal for Hufflepuff.

"Cedric would have never done that," Bridgit said plainly.

"Cedric wasn't a Chaser." She heard George retort, making her stick her tongue out at the redhead.

"Go Alicia!" The Gryffindors suddenly shouted, making the four friends turn their attention back to the game, and they saw Alicia pass the Quaffle to Angelina. Too bad Angelina never caught it, for a Bludger made contact with the Quaffle making it go off course and ended up being caught by Zacharias.

Fred, George, Bridgit, Echo, Harry, and the others all turned towards where the Bludger had come from, and was shocked to see Zoey there with a shocked face as well. She seemed surprise to what happened.

"ALRIGHT ZOEY!" Someone shouted from the Hufflepuff crowd, and they realized that it was no other than Jane. The girl had a pretty loud voice or maybe she was just amplifying it with magic. No one took the time to wonder about it for the game was getting rather intense.

"GO ZOEY!" Harry had shouted, now making Bridgit turn to him.

"Way to show your lion pride, Harry." Bridgit said.

"Tsk tsk," Echo said teasingly.

"Hey, blood is thicker than water you know," Harry answered, making Bridgit confused.

"What does blood have to do with anything?" Bridgit asked.

"She's my godsister, technically my relative." Harry replied, making the others shake their heads.

As the game continued, Zacharias and the other Chasers had scored more points than the Gryffindor team, and the Slytherins were once again singing that annoying song, getting Ron heated up in anger.

"Don't mind them Ron!" Fred and George shouted, hoping their brother had heard it.

Angelina was currently in possession of the ball, and the Gryffindors were cheering. She was getting closer to the rings, and Zacharias suddenly shouted towards Zoey.

"Stop her!" Zacharias shouted, making Zoey turn to him with a questioning look.

"How will I do that?" Zoey asked, her eyes wide. She wasn't panicking, no; she was just confused at Zacharias' sudden orders.

"Do whatever it takes! Knock her down if you have to!" Zacharias answered, making Zoey's eyes go wide.

"But...But..." Zoey was saying, but Zacharias gave her a stern look causing the Emeraude to shut up and swallow her excuses.

Zoey could do nothing but follow, so she gripped her bat tight, went nearer to the Bludger, and even if it was against her wishes, hit the Bludger and sent it towards Angelina's way. It hit Angelina's broom causing her to fall off. A Hufflepuff Chaser saw this as an advantage and took the Quaffle as it fell out of Angelina's hands and scored seeing as Ron was distracted by what Zoey had done.

"ANGELINA JOHNSON IS DOWN, DUE TO ZOEY EMERAUDE'S STRONG AND STRATEGIZED HIT," Lee said, shock evident in his voice. "EVEN IF YOU'RE A GOOD FRIEND ZOEY, THAT WAS STILL BLOODY SHOCKING!" Lee continued, making Professor McGonagall send a glare his way. She hated foul language.

"No way Zoey planned that." Fred suddenly said.

"I agree. I bet that was Zacharias' idea." George replied.

"ZACHARIAS SMITH HAS THE BALL, MAKING HIS WAY TOWARDS THE RINGS." Lee announced, making everyone focus on Zacharias and Ron.

_Weasley is our King~_

The Slytherin's sang in glee and again, causing Ron to glare at the whole Slytherin crowd. His temporary distraction caused Zacharias to score a goal.

"I feel so sorry for Ron." Echo muttered

"ANOTHER TEN POINTS TO HUFFLEPUFF DUE TO ZACHARIAS 'THE BLOODY PRAT' SMITH'S GOAL!" Lee announced.

"Mister Jordan!" Professor McGonagall shouted, but still Lee continued.

"RON GET YOUR HEAD IN THE BLOODY GAME WILL YOU! WE'RE GETTING KICKED OUT THERE! DON'T MIND THE FREAKING SLYTHERIN'S AND PROTECT THE GOALS!" Lee shouted.

"Mister Jordan!" Professor McGonagall shouted once again, making Lee stop shouting into the microphone.

Everyone's attention was now on Ginny, who was going after the Golden Snitch. She followed it, her arm outstretched, trying to catch the fast little golden ball. When her hand wrapped around it, finally catching it, Lee announced it right away. "GINNY WEASLEY HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH, ENDING THE GAME!"

The Gryffindors cheered, they thought they had won. When suddenly Lee followed up his announcement.

"HUFFLEPUFF WINS BEATING GRYFFINDOR BY TWO HUNDRED FORTY TO TWO HUNDRED THIRTY"

Fred's eyes widened, and turned towards George.

"This is like Ireland and Bulgaria all over again!" He shouted, making George nod. The twins both turned their attention towards the Hufflepuff team, and saw that Zoey was shocked herself.

"WAY TO GO ZOEY!" Jane shouted once again, seemingly to be the most proud of the Emeraude. But she wasn't of course. Who else would be more proud than fellow beater and also her boyfriend...Fred Weasley.

Fred vaulted over the stand, making his way towards the center of the pitch. He waited for Zoey to land on the ground, and when she did, he ran up to her and gave her a strong hug.

"Why didn't you tell me you were in the Quidditch team? A beater no less!" Fred asked, Bridgit, Echo, and George making their way towards the pair.

Zoey grinned before giving them a peace sign. "Surprise!" she laughed. She looked like a kid on her birthday, a grin on her face that could not be wiped off.

"Yeah, but you do know that you're lucky that we weren't the Beaters right?" George suddenly said, appearing beside his brother.

"Oh really? I bet I could beat you guys," Zoey raised a brow, folding her arms across her chest.

"Don't get too cocky, Zoey," Echo smirked.

"And don't forget Zoey, just because you're our friend, doesn't mean that we'll go easy on you." Bridgit suddenly said.

The Emeraude laughed before wiping the sweat from her forehead. "I wouldn't expect you to," she bit her lip, "So how did I do in the game?" she asked them, wanting feedback.

"Oh, very good. Didn't know you had it in you." Echo smiled.

"Bloody fantastic!" Bridgit answered. "But I didn't like you knocking down Angelina, that was such a Slytherin play."

"Captain told me too," Zoey said, looking a bit guilty, "She's not mad is she?"

"It's a game, Zoey. Grudges will disappear," said Echo.

"Not at you, but she'll probably give it to Zacharias when she wakes up," George answered.

"She's not that hurt is she?" Zoey's eyes widened.

"Of course not!" Fred answered. "Don't worry Zoe, Angelina's had harder hits."

"If you say so," Zoey smiled before looking over to her Hufflepuff teammates, "I would love to stay and chat but it seems like they want a celebration."

"Then celebrate with us then!" Fred suggested.

"Sorry lover boy," Jane then said from behind Zoey, hugging her, "But she's coming with us! See ya!"

Zoey began stumbling as Jane dragged her back to the Hufflepuff crowd. The Emeraude was just about to disappear amongst all the black and yellow before she broke free from Jane, ran to Fred, kissed him swiftly on the lips and smiled up at him sheepishly.

"I won. That's my congratulatory gift," she told him indicating the kiss as a gift. She waved at him before running back into the crowd, disappearing.

"I THOUGHT YOU SAID NO KISSING!" Bridgit shouted.

* * *

Yells filled the air together with white mist as everyone in the DA tried to perfect the latest spell taught to them, the Patronus Charm.

"_Expecto Patronum!_" Zoey exclaimed, like the rest of her fellow DA members, as she pointed her wand in the air, doing what was instructed, and expected to see a silvery animal shape. Sadly, she got nothing but a white mist emitting from her wand.

"You got nothing too?" Jane's voice said from beside Zoey as the girl pointed her wand towards a random direction and doing what Zoey had just done. She got nothing but mist as well. "I didn't think it would be this hard," Jane admitted, dropping her hand to the side and giving Zoey a sheepish grin, "I'm starting to run out of happy memories"

Zoey gave her a sympathetic smile in return. She then pushed her glasses further up the bridge of her nose and brushed her bangs away, securing them at the top of her head with her hand as she scanned the room. It wasn't just her and Jane who were having a bit of trouble with the spell; majority of her peers had the same problem. Zoey bit her lip. So far only the teacher himself, Harry, and Ginny had been able to make a proper Patronus. The Emeraude looked at the silver horse with envy before a silver otter caught her attention.

It was Hermione's. Zoey watched as the otter danced around its caster before fading away. Zoey blinked. Only three people were able to get it right. She observed that she was doing exactly what they were doing but it didn't seem to work out for her.

"What do you think your Patronus is?" Jane brought Zoey out of her unintentional procrastination. The latter looked up in thought before shrugging.

"A fish?" She guessed, laughing a bit in the end.

"I'm being serious here," Jane let out a laugh of her own before scanning the room herself. "You know, I'm sort of surprised that the Weasley twins haven't gotten it yet; their Patronus. I mean… Ron got his out."

Zoey followed the Jack Russell Terrier with her eyes before laughing softly when it ran between Ron's legs, shocking him and causing him to fall.

"This isn't exactly and easy spell to do…" Zoey trailed off. She then tried to cast the spell once more. Still mist.

"I know that. It's just that those two are always joking around, laughing, and having the time of their lives. I would have thought that getting a powerful happy memory would be easy for them," Jane explained before looking over to Aiden who successfully casted his, a lion cub ran around his feet. "How come he gets one!" she paused, "And it's cute!"

Aiden, hearing his girlfriend's exclamation, turned to look at her and grinned. He waved at her as his lion cub sat dutifully at his side. Jane pouted at the sight before turning away. Zoey saw Aiden's hand lower as he looked at Jane in confusion. The cub disappeared. The Emeraude rolled her eyes before tapping Jane's shoulder.

"Don't do that. I know you're joking but Aiden got real worried," Zoey told her friend.

"So what? He should be used to that," Jane said stubbornly. The girl took out her wand and tried it again. Nothing. She did it again and there was still nothing. Again and again and again. "Dammit!" Jane threw her want to the floor, "I am a pureblood and he's just a muggleborn! Why can't I do it?"

"Jane!" Harry then exclaimed, shocked at her actions. Jane didn't mind him.

Zoey's eyes widened at her friends actions and turned around the see Aiden making his way towards them. His head was downcast, eyes covered by his bangs. The perfect couple in Zoey's eyes… What was going to happen to them? Zoey always admired them but now, Jane said something unreasonable.

The Emeraude licked her lips and took a step back, watching as Aiden took hold of Jane's wand and handed it over to her. He then reached up to her face and wiped a single tear away. Jane was flustered and looked away from him. Zoey felt flustered as well, just seeing what he did made her embarrassed so she looked away to see that not many people were noticing her or her friends; just Harry, Bridgit, Echo and the twins. That was good.

"Hey," Aiden began in a soft voice, "Why don't we practice together?"

"You don't want that," Jane looked away. The girl was sweet and fun loving but very stubborn when she wants to be. "I just insulted you… I… acted like my parents…"

"You were too stressed," Aiden then said, "You didn't mean it"

Jane violently wiped her eyes. "Stop it. Stop acting so nice! You're like the male version of Zoey!" she said in a whisper. She was mindful that she did not want to attract too much of an audience. "What I just said was out of hand! I just said I was better than you! You should hate me!"

Zoey froze in her place when Aiden looked over to her. She bit her lip and watched as he looked over to Harry next, sending him a message with his eyes. Harry nodded in understanding and Aiden took this as his chance to place a hand on Jane's lower back and led her far away from the trying DA members. Zoey figured that they were going to talk in private. The Emeraude sighed with worry before looking over to her friends.

She saw that Echo was successful in casting the Patronus charm and an interesting bird, a Chickadee, flew around her head before disappearing. George ran over to her, placing an arm around her shoulder and teasing her lightly. Zoey then looked over to Fred and gave him a small smile; he returned it with a grin before trying once again to cast the Patronus charm.

_Happy memory… happy memory… _Zoey chanted with her eyes closed. In a distance she could hear praises. From what she heard, Luna had successfully casted a Patronus Charm. Zoey figured she would have to ask what it looked like later seeing as she was preoccupied now. The Emeraude pushed away the noises of her friends and the thoughts about Jane and Aiden. All she needed to do is find a happy memory and use it. It shouldn't be hard. She has had lots of good memories ever since coming to Hogwarts. She furrowed her brows and concentrated.

_Zoey brought the tiny box to her eyes and gave a nervous laugh. "I don't know why this is making me nervous all of a sudden," she said, facing Bridgit. She then raised an amused brow to see Bridgit surrounded with the gift-wrap; Zoey figured she looked the same._

_"Why? Scared it's a ring?" Bridgit asked, avoiding the sudden gift-wrap that made her way._

_"Why would he give me a ring?" Zoey asked._

_"Oh my goodness Zoey! You are so dim!" Bridgit laughed, falling back with her back on the floor._

_"What? Why?" Zoey was genuinely confused. She lowered the gift to her lap._

_"Ring! Zoey think! What does it mean when a boy gives a girl a ring?" Bridgit asked, trying to get her laughter in control._

_Zoey furrowed her brows in thought. She was quiet for several seconds before her eyes widened. "You mean he's going to propose?" she exclaimed, "But – But We're still so young!"_

_"I don't know if he's gonna propose, Zee, but what would you say if he did?" Bridgit now asked._

_"What would I say? I… I…Uh…" Zoey felt her cheeks warming up and her head spinning. The very thought was getting her all flustered._

_"You…?" Bridgit urged on, still laughing at the sight of her, now, red-cheeked friend._

_"I… I should open this before I jump into conclusions," Zoey then said ripping the paper and gasping a bit when she held a small box in her hand. She sent Bridgit a side-glance before opening the box only to draw in another gasp._

_It was a necklace. It wasn't a fancy necklace with diamonds and rubies. No, this was a simple one with a white dove wrapping its wing around a letter F. She bit her lip, smiling, as she took the chain in her hand and made the pendant dangle in front of her. She felt her heart swell and tears were threatening to fall from her eyes. She was at loss for words._

_"Well, not a ring, but still jewelry." Bridgit then said, her laughter now receding._

_"It's… it's…it's… wow," Zoey breathed out, still staring at the dove and the letter F._

Zoey's eyes snapped open as she took a deep breath. "_Expecto Patronum!_" she said in a loud voice, her wand shook a bit before a spraying out a silvery mist that began to take form of a small dove. Zoey's eyes widened as her mouth twitched upward with glee. She watched as the dove flew around her before flying up in the sky joining the bouncing rabbit of Luna. Zoey gave a small laugh before her dove twirled a bit before disappearing. She looked over to Harry who gave her a congratulatory nod and she looked over to Fred who grinned at her, yelling out "That's my girl!" Zoey blushed with embarrassment.

She looked over to Bridgit and saw that the Ravenclaw had successfully caster her own Patronus Charm. It was a dog. Of course. Before the Emeraude could say anything, there was this unnerving sound that was coming from the other side of the wall. Everyone looked towards the wall, inching closer and closer to it, wondering why it was making such a sound. Suddenly, there was a hole in a wall. Harry, being the leader and closest to the wall, looked into the hole and his eyes widened. On the other side of the wall was Umbridge, holding her wand up and wearing a pleasant smile on her face.

"Bombarda," she began in her poisoned honey voice.

"Get back!" Harry ordered, running away from the wall along with everyone else just in time to hear Umbridge say: "Maxima". The wall exploded. Large chunks of the wall fell and smoke covered everything. Zoey coughed a couple of times before squinting towards the direction where the wall once stood.

When the smoke started to ease up, Umbridge stood before all of them, wand still at hand. She looked at each and every one of the DA members before stopping at Harry, sneering.

"Every single person in this room would be having detention with me every night at eight o'clock starting tomorrow," she seethed out, "You are all in big trouble for breaking the rules. All of you… especially Mister Potter and Miss Emeraude"

Zoey's eyes widened at the mention of her name as she looked at Umbridge with fear in her eyes.

"Why is Zoey going to get punished?" Harry glared at her, hand tightening around his wand.

"You all are, she's part of this little… club of yours," Umbridge looked at him.

"But you said her name exclusively along with mine," Harry pointed out.

"Enough!" Umbridge said in a loud voice making her words echo in the now broken room. "You will come with me, Mister Potter," Umbridge began, grabbing hold of Harry's arm, "The rest of you shall follow Mister Malfoy"

Draco walked up to them when Umbridge left and wore a smug look on his face as his cronies stood by his side, each of them puffing out their chests to show the little badge glimmering under the now dim light. Most of the DA members rolled their eyes at what they did while the others reluctantly followed Malfoy as he forced one of the members out the hole Umbridge created. Zoey saw Fred's and George's hands tighten their hold on their wands as they walked out the hole themselves. The Emeraude took a breath and followed.

* * *

Zoey looked up at Umbridge with fear in her eyes. It was another detention with the woman and Zoey was slightly glad that she was not here alone. No, she was with everyone in Dumbledore's Army. It was slightly comforting to know that she would not be alone during this detention yet it was also unnerving to think about what they would have to do for that day. Sure, so far they've been doing nothing but writing lines with that dreadful quill but you never know what could be in store, especially with a woman like Umbridge.

The members of the Army would either glare at the toad queen or look at her lazily for they were simply bored during their time with her. It was not like this was their first detention with the woman; no this would be their fifth to be exact. In truth, every single student in the room was used to the quills, the bleeding and the sting and already had the essence of Murtlap ready back in their Common Rooms to ease the sting.

They were prepared for the quills only… today, they weren't going to use quills.

"Today, we're going to do something a little different for detention," Umbridge said with a little giggle in the end. Her hands neatly placed in front of her as she looked at each and every member of Dumbledore's Army with disguised loathing.

"You are all going to witness what it's like to be completely unprepared during a battle," the toad look a like continued, toying with her wand, "You will see how important it is to read the books thoroughly instead of playing around with spells you don't even know how to properly use"

"Then why don't you teach us then?" someone shouted from the Army, "If we don't know how to 'properly use' these spells why don't you show us rather than have us read about them?"

Umbridge's eyes squinted at the student who spoke before her mouth stretched into a smile. "Is that so? Well, we have Miss Emeraude here to prove to us who is right in the matter," Umbridge faced Zoey, "She will go through a little test to see if it is better to see the spell in action or read about it… see how she will use it or how to defend herself against it."

Zoey bit her lip at the mention of her name and from the corner of her eye she saw Fred move a bit, ready to defend her when the time comes. Umbridge saw this and waved her wand in the air, creating an invisible barrier between Zoey and the rest of Dumbledore's Army.

Fred and Harry angrily banged at the invisible wall. They yelled something at Umbridge but Zoey couldn't hear them, Umbridge; however, said something that everyone at the other side of the wall was able to hear.

"Now that I'm sure no one would disturb this lesson. Miss Emeraude would show us the effects of not knowing how to use the correct spell," Umbridge then pushed Zoey to the floor. Zoey gasped when her body made contact with the hard ground. She looked up to see Fred and everyone else in the DA glaring daggers at the woman.

"And now, introducing a good friend of mine, Damiana Emeraude," Umbridge giggled and a beautiful woman opened the door from Zoey's side of the wall and entered. The DA members watched as Zoey's eyes widened at the woman and scrambled to get away from her.

"Damiana, if you please, show these students what would happen to them if are faced against a life threatening situation and don't know what spell to use or how to execute it," Umbridge ended with a sinister smile, taking a few steps away from the Aunt and Niece.

Zoey's Aunt smiled and took out her wand. "Of course, Dolores," she said before pointing her wand at Zoey. A large lightning looking spark came out of her wand and hit Zoey's straight in the chest, Zoey let out a bloody curdling scream at the pain and tried her best to get away from it but was paralyzed by the pain. She couldn't hear the screams of protest from her friends or their banging's on the wall. Her friends; however, could hear everything.

The lightning spell stopped and Zoey took in a deep breath. Tears streaming down her face. Umbridge was telling something to the DA but Zoey could not hear her; all she could hear was a buzzing noise. Her eyes widened when she felt her limbs being glued to her side and she was lifted in the air. Several cuts appeared on her body.

Each and every curse Damiana had casted on Zoey was the summary of everything she used the past years she had been torturing the girl. Zoey did not know how much time had passed or how many spells her aunt has used. All she knew was that she was in pain and it was not stopping any time soon.

Suddenly, Zoey was dropped painfully on the floor and she saw the DA. Fred was angrily banging on the invisible wall, shouting words she could not hear. Several of the girls were crying while everyone else was just doing what Fred was. Zoey slowly blinked her eyes; that action alone was painful for her to do.

"And that's why… number one rule is to always have your wand at the ready," Umbridge ended with a giggle and threw Zoey's wand at her. Zoey thought that was the end, she was free but she was wrong.

Damiana ended the torture with her favorite curse.

"_Crucio"_

* * *

**SPECIAL THANKS TO ZOOMSKATER14 AND HAYLEYPARADOX FOR HELPING ME OUT WITH THIS CHAPTER **

**:D**

**Also, thanks to all of you who reviewed, favorited, alerted and read this story. I really appreciate it **

**I'm really sorry that I wasn't able to update sooner. My chapters are now about a week apart and it hurts me to say that the following chapters would probably be the same.**

**Today is actually my third day in high school and I am Auditor in my class and part of the "Readers and Writers" Club.**

**That and I'm sort of sick today.**

**I'm not used to being sick D: **

**Hmm… what else to say?**

**Well, once again, my chapters would most likely be at **_**least **_**a week a part. And if some miracle happens and I update the next day, then YAY!**

**Sigh… still have homework to do.**

**Procrastination has begun.**

**I have lost the ability to end chapters at a happy note once again… sorry for that….**

**Well, I guess that is all. I have nothing more to say except**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter**

**Please tell me what you thought**

**Excuse my typos and the like (Even though I, and ZoomSkater14, beta-ed it already)**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter**

**And**

**I only own what I own**


	82. Chapter 80: Their Promise

**Chapter 80: Their Promise**

"_Hey," came a voice that belonged to a man. It sounded both happy and worried, an odd combination. _

_Zoey blinked her eyes several times before they readjusted to the light. She was in the Hufflepuff Common Room… only… it wasn't really the Common Room. The Emeraude slowly got up, for she was lying down on her back, and looked around. She saw Cedric lounging on one of the chairs. Her eyes widened._

"_Ced…ric?" she said slowly, not believing her eyes. "Wh…What are you going here?" she asked in confusion. She hadn't seen him in ages. He had stopped appearing after she began taking her pills. The Emeraude closed her eyes. The last thing she remembered was being hit by the Cruciatus Curse, after that, everything was a blank. Was she dead?_

"_No you aren't dead," Cedric chuckled, reading her mind as he stood up from his seat and walked over to her, "Just unconscious"_

"_Uncon – oh," Zoey bit her lip. It was because of the Cruciatus Curse, of course, "Then… how come you're here?"_

"_That hurts, Zoey. I see you haven't missed me at all," Cedric joked, placing a hand over his heart. _

"_You know what I mean. I haven't seen you in my dreams in the longest time," Zoey swatted him._

"_And that's a good thing," Cedric told her._

"_How?"_

"_It means you're getting better," he replied, "You have been unconscious for the longest time now. You haven't been able to take your pills. Hence, why I'm here"_

_Zoey blinked at her friend, thinking quietly to herself. It made sense, sort of but it made her feel bad. She wanted to see Cedric more but she did not want to be sick in the head to do so. Cedric seemed to have read her mind once more for her patted her shoulder comfortingly._

"_You know I'm always here for you, right?" Cedric asked, smiling at her._

"_You're dead," it stung Zoey to say so, "How can you be there for me?"_

_Cedric chuckled softly. "You know how I'm here for you, Zoey. It's every cheesy movie line put into one. I'm here, in your heart."_

"_Does it really go like that?" Zoey paused, "What's a movie?"_

"_Muggle thing. I'm dead, I know everything," Cedric said vaguely before stretching. He looked up at the ceiling for a moment, thinking to himself before looking back at Zoey. "You know, you still haven't told Harry anything yet."_

"_I know," Zoey said guiltily, "I haven't found the appropriate time."_

"_Appropriate time? Zoey, these are hard times. Just walk up to him and spit it out!" Cedric told her._

"_Yeah, that would be a pleasant conversation," Zoey then said sarcastically._

"_Zoey, I know you need me here to tell you what to do. Don't deny it. I've noticed that I've been telling you what you need to do and I'm also here as your consultant, yes?" Cedric spoke._

"_Cause you know what I have to do," Zoey agreed._

"_I can't be here to tell you what you have to do all the time, Zoey, you need to learn how to make decisions on your own," Cedric sighed, "Bridgit's been taking my place as your 'therapist' hasn't she?"_

"_I ended up dragging her into my mess of a life," the Emeraude laughed._

"_Then why not drag Harry into it as well?" Cedric asked, "He has the right to know"_

"_Ced –" Zoey began but was interrupted by her fellow Hufflepuff._

"_No, Zoey, this is the last time I'm ever going to tell you what to do, okay? So listen up. Tell Harry. Please, just tell him," Cedric looked her in the eye, "Promise me you'll tell him."_

_Zoey bit her lip and looked away from her friend. She didn't know what to say. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes._

"_I promise I'll tell him," she began, "When I think the time is right."_

"_Zoey –"_

"_You said that was the last thing you'll ever tell me to do, Cedric and I'm taking over. I'll do it only when I feel it's right, okay?" Zoey offered a smile, "You're right, I have to make my own decision now…"_

_Cedric smiled. "Glad to see that," she messed up her hair before slowly disappearing_

"You and George did what?" Zoey exclaimed, her eyes wide and her brows almost shooting out of her face.

A few days passed since Zoey had encountered Damiana and it was only recently that the Emeraude had awakened. She had woken up to find herself in the Hospital Wing surrounded by her friends and members of the DA, all very worried about her. Fred was on her side, his hand in hers, while George, Echo, Bridgit, Harry and Jane were circling around her bed while the rest were spread out behind them. When Zoey had opened her eyes, Fred's grip around her hand tightened while everyone let out relieved sighs and smiles. A few girls even broke into tears. They were all worried for Zoey, the girl felt loved.

Anyway, minutes turned into hours and soon everyone had already wished Zoey well and dispersed from the Hospital Wing, going back to their business. Soon, it was just Fred and her left. That was when she asked what he had been up to. Sure, her friends had filled her in on the events that had taken place while she was asleep but she was still very curious as to what has been happening in Fred's life. That's when Fred decided to tell her about the Inquisitorial Squad, made up of Draco and his cronies along with some other chosen Slytherin students, and what they have been doing lately. Which houses they decided to remove points from and for what stupid reason. Also, Fred decided to tell Zoey a little something he and his twin had done to Montague not too long ago. It was after the Inquisitorial Squad was formed and a little before their first detention.

"Don't act so surprised, Zoe," Fred snickered, "You know he deserved it"

"You could have killed him!" Zoey's eyes widened further, if possible.

"You know George and I wouldn't go that far," Fred rolled his eyes, leaning back in his chair.

"I know but you two wouldn't go as far as to actually _hurt _someone. Slytherin or not. You didn't know what the Cabinet would do –"

"It's a _Vanishing _Cabinet, Zoe, I'm not that dim," Fred interrupted.

"Yes, but still. That sounds a bit extreme, to push him into one of those. Why'd you do it?" Zoey asked with concern lasing her voice. Fred and George weren't the type to go as far as to put someone into a Vanishing Cabinet, even if that someone was Montague. They knew they could get into serious trouble for what they've done.

"George and I don't care about the rules anymore," Fred said simply.

"Have you ever?"

"'Course we have. We've never been expelled, right?" Fred shrugged, "We knew where to draw the line."

"What happened to that said line then? I'm pretty sure throwing Montague into a Vanishing Cabinet is _way _past that line," Zoey furrowed her brows.

"We don't care anymore," Fred then said, "With Dumbledore gone, George and I think a little mayhem is just what our new Head needs"

Zoey bit her lip when she saw the twinkle in Fred's eye. The 'oh so familiar' twinkle. Fred was enjoying this. Nothing was there to hold him and his brother back anymore. They were going to go all out in pranking and causing chaos in the school. Zoey was prepared for the worst.

"I still can't believe she's our new Head though," Zoey sighed, "Scares the bananas out of me"

Fred snorted at her use of euphemism before his face turned serious. He placed a hand on Zoey's cheek causing her to blush.

"I'm fine, Fred," Zoey whispered, reading his mind. He was still freaked out about what had happened to Zoey during their fifth DA detention. Everyone was scared, Zoey especially, but Fred was worried beyond belief. He wanted to curse Umbridge and Damiana right then and there, heck _everyone _wanted to but there was something stopping them, the invisible wall. By the time the wall disappeared, Damiana was gone and Umbridge had retreated into a different room. "I'm used to it. I can handle it," she added, smiling at him gently.

"That's the thing," Fred breathed out, "You're used to it. No one should be used to the Cruciatus Curse. It makes me cringe every time I wonder how many times its been used on you"

"And it makes me cringe every time I think about what you've done to the other students in order to cause mayhem in the school," Zoey joked lightly, making Fred crack a smile, "I'm fine, really, Madam Pomfrey even said I can leave tomorrow"

"Excellent. Then you won't miss George and I's special plan for Umbridge," Fred grinned from ear to ear.

"Wait," Zoey moved away from Fred, his hand dropping on the bed, "What special plan?"

"It's a surprise," Fred said, the twinkle never leaving his eyes.

"Fred…" Zoey whined a bit, giving him the best puppy dog look she could muster.

"Nope, that's not going to work on me," Fred laughed, looking away from her.

Zoey rolled her eyes and leaned back into her pillows. Her head hurt a bit but it was nothing serious. She looked at Fred. "At least tell me where you sent Montague."

"Let's just say, wherever he is now, it could take him weeks before he could return," Fred smirked, getting up from his chair, swiftly kissing Zoey on the forehead and left the room.

"Fred!" Zoey exclaimed but it was no use. All she could hear was Fred's laughter.

* * *

"Zoey! Check out what I found!" Ginny called as she ran over to the older girl. Zoey had just been released from the Hospital Wing earlier that morning and was making her way to the Great Wall when the Weasley girl called out to her. The Emeraude slowed down her pace and looked back to Ginny, waiting for her to catch up.

"Good Morning, Ginny," Zoey greeted her politely, tilting her head to the side curiously, "What have you found?"

"This!" Ginny said with a grin, holding up a photo album. It was of Gryffindor colors and was rather thick. Zoey raised a brow at it and took it from Ginny's hands, opening it. Her eyes widened.

It was a picture of the Weasley family that took up the first page. Zoey had guessed it was taken before Ginny's first year at Hogwarts. It had Mrs. Weasley with Fred and George behind each of her shoulders, Ron standing in front of her with Ginny next to him, Mr. Weasley behind Ginny and Percy standing between both of his parents. Then, there were two cut out pictures of Bill and Charlie, which were placed on either side of the photo. Zoey smiled.

"This is a very cute family photo," Zoey commented, toying with the page, ready to flip it, "Is this your photo album?"

"No. It's Neville's," Ginny said sarcastically before laughing, "There are more pictures."

"Really? I wouldn't have guessed," Zoey rolled her eyes before flipping the page.

The next picture was of Ginny standing next to the Hogwarts Express, a wide grin on her face. Behind her, you could see Percy already in the train, Fred and George entering the train and Zoey and Echo doing some last minute checking on their stuff. Zoey gave a small laugh.

"Has it really been this long?" she asked, "I was in fourth year when you came to Hogwarts. I'm in my final year now"

"Time sure flies, huh?" Ginny smiled, taking hold of Zoey's arm and began dragging her towards the Great Hall. "Come on, we can continue looking at photos in there. I'm sure the others would love to see them"

Zoey nodded her head, placed a finger on the page she was on and followed Ginny into the Great Hall. They quickly made their way to the Gryffindor Table were they saw the Golden Trio sitting together with Fred and George. Echo and Bridgit were nowhere in sight. When the two girls sat down, Zoey asked the locations of the Ravenclaws.

"Echo was called by Umbridge," George grumbled, "Said she needed to discuss something important with her."

"Important? What could it be?" Zoey asked, placing the photo album in front of her.

"Who knows," Fred shrugged, "But knowing Umbridge. It can't be good"

"Obviously," Ron muttered.

"What about Bridgit?" Zoey then asked, "Where's she?"

"I haven't seen her in the longest time, come to think of it," Ginny looked up in thought.

"Could she have gotten in trouble?" Hermione asked.

"What difference would it make?" Harry then said, "She was part of the DA. We're _all _in trouble until each and everyone of us graduates from this school"

"You really think Umbridge is going to be Head Mistress for _that _long?" Ginny raised a brow.

"With Dumbledore gone," Zoey shivered, "She could be."

"Glad this is our final year," George said, "The sooner we leave this place, the better"

"I agree," said Fred, "Heck, I'd leave tomorrow if I had the chance."

"You can't do that. You still have to take your final Exams!" Hermione told them.

"I thought we already told you, Granger," Fred began.

"We don't care about those things," George ended.

Hermione was about to say something else today when Zoey cleared her throat, holding up the photo album. Everyone eyed it curiously and hunched over a bit when Zoey opened it to the third page.

The picture had Ginny, Zoey, Fred, George, Ron, Harry, Hermione and Echo all standing in front of the Great Hall, laughing. Fred and George were wearing silly hats while Harry and Ron had foolish drawings on their faces, courtesy of the twins. Hermione and Ginny had balloons tied to their wrists while Echo and Zoey were wearing matching sweaters, with some sort of design that was hard to determine. In Zoey's hand was a cake with messed up frosting. The frosting was on the nose of Fred and the cheeks of George.

"Now isn't that a happy memory," Fred grinned, watching his picture self nudge Zoey causing the cake in her hands to fly to Ron, spilling on his clothes.

"Bloody amazing," George added.

"You're only saying that cause cake fell on me," Ron laughed as his cheeks took a deep red color.

"You got to admit, the cake _was _pretty delicious," Harry said with a smile. The picture made him feel better seeing as ever since the DA was found out, his life in Hogwarts has been going crappy-ly.

"Yeah, but I would rather have eaten it than stain my shirt," Ron then said.

"You deserved it to be on your shirt," Ginny rolled her eyes.

"She's right, Ronald," Hermione laughed, "You ate more than half the cake!"

"Which would have been fine on any other occasion," Fred then said, "But not on Zoey's birthday."

"Yeah, where are your manners, Ronnie?" George piped up, "The birthday celebrant should have gotten the first slice not the gluttonous monkey!"

"Like you're one to talk!" Zoey laughed, "You guys began playing with the frosting of my cake!"

"Us? Never!" The twins played a serious look. Ginny rolled her eyes and took the photo album away from Zoey and shoved it into her brother's faces.

"I'm pretty sure that that's proof," She told them.

"Next picture," Hermione then said.

Ginny nodded her head and placed the photo album back on the table, flipping it over to the next page. It was a lone picture of Zoey, gazing of into a distance, occasionally brushing her bangs of off her face. Decorating the page were glitters and charms that swirled when touched. Zoey raised a brow at the picture. She was about fourteen when it was taken.

"Why am I here?" she looked over to Ginny.

"I just found the picture pretty unique," Ginny laughed, "Watch what happens next"

Everyone looked back to the picture to see Fred pass behind Zoey and the Zoey in the picture blushing as he did so. The Zoey in real life bit her lip in embarrassment.

"Pretty unique, huh?" Zoey raised a brow at Ginny, catching a smug look on Fred's face from the corner of her eye.

"What? It shows your early crush years!" Ginny defended with another laugh. Zoey rolled her eyes before flipping the page.

Page after page and picture after picture, Zoey and her friends would laugh and reminisce. Their earlier years were filled with joy and carefree attitudes. Zoey missed those days when there seemed to be no problem with the world. She inwardly sighed as she compared the latest events that have been happening to those that happened before. If she had the chance, she would want to return to the better years.

"Ginny!" Ron exclaimed as the rest laughed at his red cheeks and ears, "Where did you get this picture?"

Zoey bit back a laugh as she recognized the picture. It was the one she took of Ron when the twins pulled a prank on him back in 12 Grimmauld Place. She broke out into a grin and apologized to Ron for taking the picture.

"Can't believe you'd do something like that. Seems so unlike you," Ron grumbled.

"Oh, let it go, Ron," Harry laughed, "It's a first for Zoey. Give her some credit."

Ron sighed and flipped to the next page. Zoey laughed.

* * *

The Ravenclaw was walking aimlessly along the hallways of Hogwarts during her Breakfast Period. She had just left Umbridge's office only to realize that her next class was with the same woman. She hated it. She had just gotten rid of the Toad – like face only to have to see it again in a matter of minutes. Echo, trying to distract herself from the annoying realization, was looking at the back of her hand as if it were a book. Red cursive lines were etched through the use of the blood quill.

It wasn't right.

She hadn't applied essence of Murtlap to it like the other students; for she will not give Dolores the satisfaction of Echo not going through the pain. Her status as Head Girl is no more; part of her feels so good, yet some feel quite bad. Echo had always expected to remain Head Girl throughout the year, but it seems that can't be fulfilled.

Echo didn't know how far she went, or why she hasn't hit a dead end yet; one thing's for sure, Blaise Zabini had stilled her walk. To her utter annoyance, Echo held her tongue, fearing to be taken away to that monstrous pink room.

Blaise sneered at Echo and warned, "Watch where you're going, Head Girl!"

Suppressing the urge to reach out her arm and slap him, Echo balled her fists and snarled, "I'm not even a Head Girl because of your stupid Inquisitorial Squad!"

"Well, you still act like one—"

"Act like one? Are you even using your peanut-sized brain? I just told you that I'm not a Head Girl!" Echo was utterly disappointed that she doesn't have a book with her to whack his face and rearrange it.

"I order you to tutor me in Potions, then," said Zabini, "so you could still be of use."

Echo was sure she turned red out of anger. She could not believe that the DA had been exposed, got stripped off being a Head Girl, and that this boy who asked her to the Yule Ball last year was actually ordering her to help him in Potions.

"WHAT? YOU BLOODY BUMP INTO ME AND ORDER ME TO HELP YOU IN POTIONS? ARE YOU OFF YOUR BLEEDING ROCKER?"

Heads turned their way, but Blaise just said, "Just help me in Potio—"

"I thought Snape was easy on you guys!" Echo spoke in a harsh whisper. Why couldn't Blaise find another person who's good in Potions? Echo was still boiling with anger, but before Blaise could retort something, Echo finally let her anger go and spoke in a much calmer tone, "Fine. I'll help you, just to get you out of my hair."

* * *

A few days had passed since Echo's agreement and already rumors spread throughout the school; from Echo helping Blaise in Potions to Echo is dating Blaise. Echo heard and merely rolled her eyes at them. George wouldn't particularly care about the rumors and completely disregarded them. Though, one day, George had no idea where Echo was, and looked everywhere, and even cut some classes to do so. She wasn't in the Great Hall during dinner, and finally went to the library for the last time to check if she was there, skipping dinner for books.

Echo was there; with books she got out from shelves, but right beside her was Blaise Zabini. They were sitting together alone, and George made it a point to stay put in the shadows. It was like they were sitting on a candle-lit dinner, which has that candle in the middle, but there wasn't any food, for opened books replaced that. Echo was laughing from time to time, and George's ears went red. Are the rumors Alicia and other people passed around true? Was Echo cheating on George? Fuming, George stalked out of the library.

* * *

"Then you add these Graphorn parts after you stir it counter-clockwise three times." Echo pointed to Blaise the diagram, after getting a nod from him, Echo stretched out her arms, "There you go, now are you out of my hair?" She smirked while slinging her bag over her shoulder before casually walking outside the library.

"Nice to see you enjoying yourself with a guy that's not me." A voice rang out making Echo turn in shock.

Echo saw George standing near the entrance to the library with his arms crossed. Side glancing at Blaise still looking at the notes Echo gave him, Echo pulled George until they were around the corner, "What are you talking about?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe I'm talking about the fact that my girlfriend is with another guy!" George retorted, his voice rising with his temper.

"What-? Oh, you thought Blaise and I were on a date? How could you be so-so thick?" Echo retorted, anger easily boiling up inside her.

"Thick?" George exclaimed. "You're calling me thick? Well I'm sorry if I'm angry about you, my girlfriend, hanging out with another guy behind my back!"

"Since when did you start believing those rumors? George, you know I would never cheat on you!" Echo exclaimed, throwing her arms up in the air.

"I don't know what I know anymore!" George answered back. "I didn't want to believe in the rumors Echo, but you hanging out with him without me knowing, and you not even telling me, makes me ask myself if I really DO know you as much as I think I do."

"Why can't you trust me, George? Tell me why you can't trust me!" Echo knew she had tears in her eyes, and tried to not let them flow down her cheeks.

"BECAUSE YOU DON'T TRUST ME EITHER!" George shouted back.

"Fine! If there's going to be doubts in this relationship, we're better off not seeing each other!" Echo furiously wiped the tears from her eyes using her sleeve.

"Are...Are you breaking up with me?" George asked, his own tears building up in his eyes.

I-I don't know! You very much bleeding know that you we're special to me. Did you even know that my family thinks I'm dead? I don't know anymore because I don't know how to handle hurt!" Echo was jabbing her forefinger on George's chest.

"Your family what?" George suddenly said, his eyes widening.

"I have my own headstone, and I'm not even twenty yet!" Echo balled up her fists as she was handling too much pain and hurt right at this moment.

"Headstone? Twenty? Echo what are you talking about?" George said, trying to take hold of Echo's shoulder, but she slapped his hand away before it could make contact with her.

"Shut up! You just don't understand! YOU WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND!" Echo shouted before turning and walking down the dark hallway, wiping her eyes with her sleeves.

"Echo wait-" George tried to shout, but Echo was too far away.

Echo was walking down the halls, up the staircases, made occasional jumps until she arrived at the Common room. When the door began to ask the obvious riddle, Echo barked the answer before shoving her way in.

"Woah! Is there an attack or something?" Bridgit asked, as Echo stormed into the common room. She looked up from her homework and was shocked to find her friend with tears flowing down her cheeks. "What happened?"

"Nothing. I'm absolutely fine." Echo hissed while stomping her way up the Girls' Dormitory.

Bridgit watched her friend's back going up the stairs and she immediately closed her book and rolled up her parchment following Echo up to their dormitory. She opened the door, and saw Echo lying on her bed crying.

"You can't tell me this is nothing." Bridgit began, putting her things down on her own bed. "Something must have happened; I don't even think I've seen you cry like this before." She continued.

"I broke up with George, alright?" Echo spoke in the calmest voice she could muster, but it cracked at the part where she said his name.

"What?" Bridgit exclaimed. "What did the bloody prick do this time?"

Echo sat up and told the story to Bridgit whilst fiddling with her fingers.

Bridgit listened as Echo spoke, and she felt anger begin to build up inside her. When Echo finished, she was about ready to explode.

"That stupid git!" Bridgit said. "I can't believe he actually thought that you would cheat on him! Is he stupid?"

"Well, he did see me with Blaise studying. He thought he it was a date. I was just helping Blaise!" Echo said.

"But shouldn't he have asked what you were doing before downright accusing you?" Bridgit asked. "I should knock some sense into that no good excuse of a boyfriend."

"There were rumors too." Echo pointed out.

"Rumors? About you and Blaise?" Bridgit asked.

"Yeah, it went from me helping him to me dating him." Echo said.

"Stupid people with their idiotic gossip." Bridgit said, shaking her head as she did. "And George believed said rumors?"

"Well, I think he saw me and Blaise studying which probably made him to believe said rumors."

"He should have still asked for your side of the story." Bridgit now said, feeling her anger at the younger Weasley twin build up even more.

"I need time to think. I honestly don't know how I'll be able to move on." Echo finally said after a couple of moments before going to the bathroom to have a quick shower.

* * *

Zoey played with her bowl of cereal, something she enjoyed eating for dinner on occasions, as she sat on the Gryffindor table with the twins and Lee. It has been weeks since she's seen Echo and days since Bridgit has joined her in eating with the Gryffindors. The Emeraude looked over to the Ravenclaw table to see her friends sitting at the far end. She squinted her eyes a bit to see what they were doing only to find out they were simply eating. Why not eat with them? Zoey wondered before looking over to the twins. She raised a brow at George. Lately, he hasn't been joking around with Fred. In truth, George seemed to always be in a bad mood. Zoey decided to ask why.

"George?" Zoey cleared her throat a bit; "I haven't seen you with Echo lately. Did something happen?"

"Nope, nothing happened," George answered, stabbing his fork into the steak he was eating. Zoey caught a glimpse of Ron looking sadly at the piece of meet.

"Are you sure?" Zoey pressed. Usually, George would have scarfed down the piece of meat by now. Something was up. She looked over to Fred, silently asking him if what George had said was true.

Fred simply sent a sad glance at his twin and shook his head. "It isn't nothing, but it's not my place to say anything about it." Fred said, turning to Lee and continuing their conversation.

"Then what is it? George, you can tell me anything you know? We're friends," Zoey placed a hand on George's shoulder but he shrugged her off.

Zoey was not pleased by his lack of answer and was about to push the matter even more, trying to force George into telling her the truth, when she saw George stab the already damaged piece of meat once again, this time the fork going through the plate and sticking to the wooden table.

"George!" Zoey exclaimed in surprise, "Clearly something is bothering you."

George did not answer, causing Zoey to get frustrated, but she noticed something. He was glaring at something, and Zoey turned her head to see at what that was. That was when she saw it. She saw Blaise Zabini, one of Draco Malfoy's henchmen, wrap an arm around Echo's shoulder and kiss her cheek. Her eyes widened.

She watched as Echo turned towards the Slytherin and give him a light smile. She also saw Bridgit cringe at the scene, but she wasn't sure if it was because Echo was with a Slytherin, or because of the kiss he had landed on her cheek.

Zoey did not need to ask what the problem was anymore. She wasn't that dense. She slowly turned to George and placed her hand on his shoulder once more. This time, he did not shrug her off.

"George," she said softly, "What happened with you and Echo?"

"Like I said no-" George was about to say, when Zoey cut him off.

"Don't you dare to tell me that nothing happened, George Weasley!" Zoey said firmly, not wanting to draw attention. "If nothing was wrong she wouldn't be with another guy, a Slytherin no less, and you wouldn't be making that piece of meat more dead than it already was"

George sent a look towards Zoey, and he noticed that Fred was glancing at them every now and then even if he kept up his conversation with Lee. "Didn't you hear about the rumors?" George asked the Hufflepuff.

"You know I don't listen to those kinds of things, George. If you didn't know, rumors almost ended my 'relationship' as well," Zoey told him.

"Yes, well, this rumor wasn't actually a rumor since it was true." George retorted, and Zoey was sure that if looks could kill Blaise Zabini would be on the floor, dead, and continuing to suffer.

"What? You mean a rumor that Echo's into Slytherins?" Zoey asked.

"No," George answered, "The rumor that Echo was dating Blaise behind my back"

Zoey blinked once… twice… ten times before what George had said finally sunk in. The Emeraude quickly turned towards the direction Echo and slammed her hand on the table, standing up abruptly at the same time. The slam echoed through the entire Great Hall and everyone turned to Zoey.

"ECHO ACHEFLOUR HYACINTH HAYLEY BEAUMONT!" Zoey yelled out with no fail. The look in her eyes screamed utter furry, "GET YOUR ARSE OVER HERE!"

"Miss Emeraude!" Umbridge exclaimed, standing up, "Detention!"

"I don't care!" Zoey turned to her before looking over to Echo once more, "What are you waiting for? GET UP!"

Echo looked placidly to Zoey, and it was a moment after she shook her head and stood up to leave the Great Hall.

"Are you sure it's a good thing to avoid her?" Bridgit asked, before Echo could walk out. "I've never seen her this way."

Zoey glared at Echo's retreating figure before leaving her place and following. She took quick steps before switching into a run. It didn't take long before she caught up with the Veela. She grabbed hold of Echo's arm, stopping her from leaving. Bridgit simply stood there, shocked.

"Tell me," Zoey said slowly, "Tell me this is a big fat lie."

"This isn't a big fat lie," Echo spoke to her in a way she hadn't heard her speak. It was as if they were strangers.

"That depends, what are you hoping that's not a lie?" Bridgit butted in, making the two girls glare at her obviously telling her to shut up.

"It isn't? Then what the bloody hell were you thinking? Dumping George for a freaking Slytherin?" Zoey did not bother to use any more euphemisms.

"Did you really think that everything would be like a fairytale with happy endings and shit like that? No, Zoey. This is real life." Echo spoke, glowering at her.

"Oh, don't use that fairytale rubbish with me, Echo. I know first hand that nothing could be like those effing fairytales," Zoey folded her arms across her chest.

"Well in Echo's defense George was acting like a blasted bloody prick!" Bridgit said, turning towards the Gryffindor table and sending a glare in George's direction.

"Really? How then? Huh? What did he do wrong?" Zoey tested.

"He didn't even ask for Echo's side of the story!" Bridgit answered. "He just walked up to her and accused her."

"Oh? Then, Echo," Zoey turned back to the Veela, "Why don't you share this story of yours to _everyone! _Clear up this whole bloody mess, huh?" Zoey ended as she motioned to everyone in the Great Hall. They were all silently watching the three friends fight, this has never, publicly, happened before.

"Echo...come on say something" Bridgit said, wanting her friend to talk, to defend herself.

"You can't understand. None of you can," Echo spoke quietly.

"Oh yeah? Try me," Zoey told her, "I've been through a whole lot of shit and I'm pretty sure I can understand what you're going through. If you don't want the rest of them to hear, we'll go someplace else."

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THE FEELING OF HAVING A FAMILY THAT BELIEVES YOU'RE DEAD!" Echo shouted for all to hear.

"Well, do you know the feeling of having a family who wants you dead yet keeps you alive for the soul purpose of torturing you and making your life a living hell?" Zoey said calmly, "Heck, I'm as good as dead in my family."

"Guys, I know that you two need to talk about this, but...uhm...everyone is watching so, it's best we take this somewhere else." Bridgit suddenly said, watching her words for she was afraid of both her friends in this state.

"YOU CAN'T UNDESRTAND! IF I WERE ALIVE TO THEM, THEY'RE GOING TO EXPECT THAT PERFECT BLOND HAIR AND BLUE EYES!" Echo shouted, tears brimming her eyes, "It's like I don't even have my own name!"

"You think I don't know how that feels? I _live _in perfect," Zoey then said, pushing Echo through the doors of the Great Hall. She had heard Bridgit's suggestion. "Why do you think I need those pills, huh? Why do you bloody think I destroyed that bloody perfect room? My house? They expect so much from me and I can't give them anything _close_ to what they want."

"Okay people show's over! Get back to your food and don't pay this any more mind!" Bridgit said, looking at the crowd of dumb founded students and teachers. Before she left the Great Hall though, she turned to the twins.

"You two are not planning to do anything?" She asked, and the twins just stared with wide eyes. Bridgit shook her head and approached the two. She took hold of both the twins' ears and dragged them out of the Great Hall.

When the three of them reached the hallway, they could hear shouts coming from the Zoey and Echo.

"GO TO SOME DAMN PLACE THAT HAS A CEMETERY!" Echo shouted once more, "SEARCH THE FUCKING COUNTRY IF YOU HAVE TO! YOU'RE GOING TO FIND SOME HEADSTONE WITH MY NAME WRITTEN ON IT!" Echo panted for a few moments before continuing, "Don't you get it? I was supposed to die!"

"AND YOU THINK I WASN'T SUPPOSE TO EITHER?" Zoey was now shouting, "My mother… she sacrificed her life for me. I was supposed to die with her. At least you had a surrogate family to run to. The Weasleys. You had them from the fucking beginning! You know what I had? I had a bloody aunt who tortured me for years just to get a bloody box. And you know what? I have to return to that torture after this shitty year! I wanted this year to be memorable with all my friends!"

"Especially you, Echo," Zoey continued with a sob, "You were my first ever friend here and look at us… we're fighting. Just please… help me understand what you're going through."

"The Echo you see? It isn't me. I wasn't supposed to look like this." Echo began.

"Look like what?" Zoey then asked, "You look fine. There's nothing wrong with you"

"Violet Hair? Yellow eyes? Nothing's wrong with me?" Echo raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong with that? You're unique. I mean, look at me," Zoey released her wings. Over time, it had ceased to hurt. "I'm a bloody chicken," she ended with a soft laugh.

"Whoa, haven't seen those in awhile." Fred whispered, making Bridgit whack his head.

"Shut up, will you?" She whispered, as they watched the scene silently.

"When I was a toddler, a year before I met the twins, I accidentally mistook one of my father's potions for milk." Echo began, "It was poisonous, but I didn't know that, obviously."

"I didn't know that." George whispered, and Bridgit gave him a cold glare, telling him to shut up as well.

"What happened?" Zoey asked, her wings folding behind her.

"Well, my father found me, and yelled for my mother." Echo continued, "They didn't know what to do, they had less than a minute to make an antidote they didn't have a formula for. My father of course, did everything in his power. My once blonde hair and blue eyes began to turn into this," she pointed at her head, "They decided to cut me off from the whole world, made a funeral for me, and took me to the Weasleys."

"So does her family still know she's alive?" The twins asked at the same time, and once again Bridgit whacked their heads.

"Well, they began giving me every antidote known to wizards and witches, and, over time, my skin paled, I grew weaker," Echo continued, ignoring the unnecessary comments from the twins. "My parents began fighting when I told them I got my letter from Hogwarts. My father keeps yelling that he can't handle it anymore. My mother tells him that I'm still their daughter, and I'm their responsibility."

"I, occasionally, visit my headstone during summer," Echo went on, "Of course, I can't go to St. Mungo's if I was sick, they'd begin wondering how I came back from the dead."

Zoey didn't say anything for a while. She simply took slow, deep breaths as she looked at Echo. She never knew that the girl standing right in front of her experienced such things. Thinking back, it was all about Zoey and her problem. Not once did she ever think about her friends' lives. Sure, she asked Echo where her parents were and yes, she knew about Bridgit being a Death Eater but those facts seemed so little compared to her messed up life. The Emeraude took a step forward, approaching her friend as she reached up to one of her feathers.

"Do you want to return to 'normal'?" she asked softly, "Blonde hair, blue eyes. Do you want that again? I can give those back to you if you want."

"So she used to look like Mary Sue?" Bridgit suddenly whispered, making the twins the ones to whack her now. They just did it for their sweet revenge.

"But you won't recognize me," Echo looked up to Zoey's eyes.

"You'd still be the same Echo. Blonde hair, violet hair. Gold eyes, blue. Since when did appearance matter?" Zoey asked. "I don't care what you look like and frankly, I don't think the twins or Bridgit do either. You may have different hair and eyes than the rest of us and you may be a Veela but no one cares. We still love you the same way. Ask George"

"She's right you know?" George suddenly said, walking towards the two girls, one girl in particular more important than the other. "You could have white hair and pink eyes for all I care, but you'd still be Echo." He continued.

"You'd still be that sharp tongued, food loving, Quidditch playing, smart, and beautiful girl that I fell in love with." George finished, now standing in front of Echo.

"Really, George? Want me to look like Mary Sue and start acting like her?" Echo smirked.

George cringed at the blasted name from their sixth year, but smiled nonetheless. "Sure go ahead and look like her, but the moment you start acting like her, then you wouldn't be Echo." George answered, taking Echo's hand in his.

"I'm gonna be sick." Fred whispered, and Bridgit glared at him.

"Oh shut up will you, just be happy for them." Bridgit said.

"Like you don't act like that when you're with me, Fred," Zoey grinned t him.

"Oi! Word is going to go out that I'm a slag for dating you and Blaise." Echo then said.

"Well, then, why don't you dump him and take me back?" George suggested. "Unless, of course, you'd prefer to be with that Slytherin git."

"A Slytherin who only has looks?" Echo raised an eyebrow.

"You actually think he has looks?" George retorted. "Are you sure you don't need your eyes checked?"

"Then what does he have?" Echo stuck her tongue out.

"Money? Arrogance? Stupidity?" George answered.

"And what do you have?" Echo smiled.

"Charm, Looks, A sense of Humor, and not to mention Intelligence." George answered, offering Echo a smile as well.

"CAN'T YOU TWO JUST FREAKING KISS AND MAKE UP ALREADY?" Zoey asked, her blush on her cheeks. Their unconscious flirting was making her feel embarrassed for some odd reason. "Please?" she added as an after note. She had sworn more times than she ever planned to in her life in one day. She was regretting them deeply. Swearing led to a bad life in her book.

Echo turned her head to Zoey, "Love is an Art. Let's not rush the process, shall we?"

"Then please make the process go faster," Zoey laughed as her wings retreated into her back.

"You talking is slowing it down so shush!" Bridgit suddenly said, turning to Zoey.

"Don't talk to Zoey that way!" Fred now said.

"Sorry, I just want them to make up before I'm taken away by Umbridge," Zoey bit her lip.

By this time, Echo turned to George. "Well? Lean!"

George smirked and did exactly what Echo told him. He leaned down and crashed his lips on top of hers.

The kiss wasn't one described in books that had erupting fireworks, butterflies inside their stomachs, and all that other things that seem so unrealistic. Their kiss was simple, sweet, and most importantly it was them. It was a kiss that only Echo and George can share with one another. It was a kiss of two people who truly loved each other, nothing more, nothing less.

Time seemed to stop and everything seemed right with the world only… it wasn't. Before Echo and George could break the kiss on their own time, a clearing of the throat interrupted them. They broke the kiss and along with Zoey, Bridgit and Fred, looked over to the source of the throat clearing.

"Now that everything seems to be fine and dandy between all you five," Umbridge said with a strained smile on her face, her wand tapping on her opposite hand by every second that passed, "Miss Emeraude, would you please come to my office while the rest of you go to your respective classes."

"We don't have class," Bridgit answered back, her voice taking a harsh tone. "We just had dinner Professor Umbit- Umbridge."

"Then go to your Common Rooms," Umbridge's lip twitched as she giggled, "Your _own _Common Rooms"

"Like I'll be doing that, we aren't machines, Toad Queen," Echo sneered.

"And besides, with all the books you make us read, I bet even these two could enter the Ravenclaw Common Room." Bridgit continued, pointing at Fred and George.

"What was that, Miss Beaumont? Miss Parker?" Umbridge looked over to them, smile still on her face.

"They said nothing, Professor," Zoey interrupted before her friends could get into any more trouble. "So... Your office, Ma'am?"

Umbridge nodded her head, squinting at the students behind Zoey before walking to her office. Zoey obediently followed after she sent her friends a look. "Don't provoke her," she whispered to them.

* * *

Zoey was quietly walking down the halls, rubbing her left hand. She had just finished her detention with Umbridge and was making her way to the Hufflepuff Basement when she caught sounds of silent crying and whispers of comfort. She bit her lip and cautiously walked towards the source, her curiosity getting the best of her. The closer Zoey got to the source; she began to see three figures. One was of a second year boy while the other two were Fred and George. Zoey stopped dead in her tracks, hiding in the shadows.

"Hey, it's alright. Don't cry," she heard Fred tell the boy, "The pain goes away."

"And the scars would fade. See? Ours have already faded," George continued, showing the boy his own hand.

The boy muffled is sobs, trying to calm himself. Zoey felt a small smile play on her lips as she watched the twins soothe the boy. She then saw Harry approach the three. She raised her brow, wondering where he came from, when Umbridge came into view and cleared her throat.

"As I told you once before, Mr. Potter, naughty children deserve to be punished," Umbridge said slowly, ending with her annoying little giggle, before turning and walking away from them.

When the clacking of her heels ceased, Fred and George stuffed their hands into their pockets.

"You know, George," Fred began, "I've always felt our futures lay outside the world of academic achievement."

"Fred, I've been thinking exactly the same thing," answered George, clicking his tongue as he did so.

At this, Harry approached the second year and helped him to the Gryffindor Common Room. Fred and George were about to follow but Fred caught sight of Zoey who had stepped out of the shadows.

"Hey," Zoey waved at them, taking a few steps closer, "Mind if I take Fred off your hands for a while?"

"Sure, as long as you return him in one piece," George answered, excusing himself and followed after Harry back to the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Of course," Zoey laughed before facing Fred, "Care to walk with me?"

"I'd rather sit, but since it's you… I'd love to," Fred answered, straightening up and offering his arm to the Hufflepuff.

Zoey laughed again before taking his arm and leading him down the hallway. They walked side by side down the hall in silence as to not disturb any of the snoozing paintings or catch any unwanted attention. The Emeraude looked out one of the many windows and watched the moon shine brightly. She looked back to Fred and saw how the moon casted shadows on his face, making his blue eyes shine. She blushed.

"You know, I never knew you were so good with kids, Fred," Zoey smiled, her blush still on her cheeks.

"Well, growing up with Ron and Ginny makes you have quite the talent," Fred answered, giving Zoey a sweet smile.

"Oh, you mean like turning Ron's teddy bear into a spider and not letting Ginny play Quidditch with you guys?" Zoey raised a brow, laughing. "You were really nice to that kid."

"Just because I did those to them doesn't mean I'm a horrid brother." Fred said. "I mean. We couldn't let Ginny play cause if she got hurt we'd never hear the end of it, and well I have no _good_ excuse for the spider." He continued, letting out a chuckle. "What's so shocking about me being good with kids anyway?"

"It's not really about being _nice _to kids… I think what really surprised me was that you and George were _gentle,_" she told him, "Usually you'd be making kids laugh with your games and such. I never saw the gentle Fred when it came to the younger ones."

"Well you can't expect me to be harsh and joke around with an injured kid can you?" The Weasley now said. "And he was really in pain you know, I mean, to us older students sure, but to a second year? That toad woman is taking things to far."

"I know she is," Zoey said softly, releasing her hold on his arm and instead laced her fingers with his. She really loved this boy. She wanted to tell him but there was this little something that was holding her back. She didn't fully know what it was she just knew it was there for a reason. She squeezed his hand before gazing into his eyes. "I really love your eyes, you know that?"

"Really? Well I bet I lover yours more than you love mine." Fred answered. "But it's not just your eyes. I love your nose, I love you ears, I love your smile, I even love how you bite your bottom lip when you think."

Zoey gave a laugh and bit her bottom lip to quiet herself down. She did not want to wake anyone. She couldn't help but grin though. Sometimes, Fred could say the sweetest things to her and get her all embarrassed. It was a talent. "Can you believe it's our final year already?" Zoey asked as she remembered Ginny's photo album and how she realized how much time has passed by. "In a matter of weeks, we'd be graduating from Hogwarts. Become alumni"

"Yeah, but I'm sort of wishing for it not to come," The red head said, bowing his head slightly, "Cause it means that… that you'll have to got back to _her_"

"Hey, it's a beautiful night. Let's not ruin it by thinking about my Aunt," Zoey told him, smiling, "So are you and George still going to be owning a Joke Shop?"

"Of course! Especially since Mr. Potter's gonna be co-owner." Fred answered, but the smile still not returning to his face. "Speaking of which...I need to talk to you about something Zoe."

"Alright," Zoey said slowly, noting Fred's serious aura. Something was up.

"Well...George and I we think…uhm...we plan to..." Fred was saying, but he couldn't seem to find the right words.

"Fred," Zoey began, squeezing his hand once more, "What's wrong? You can tell me. I'll understand"

"We're planning to drop out of school, Zoe," Fred finally blurted out, not even daring to look Zoey in the eye.

The Emeraude's eyes widened as her mouth hung slightly agape. Her breath was caught in her throat and she slowly released her hold on Fred's hand, taking a step away from him. She blinked several times, trying to process what Fred had just told her.

"You're… dropping… out?" her voice cracked a bit in the end as it went to a higher pitch. "W- Why?"

"We...We just can't take this anymore Zoe." Fred tried to explain. "Malfoy and Snape were worse enough, and Umbridge added to that is just...too much for us." He continued.

"B – But it's your last year!" Zoey's lip quivered as her hands began to shake, "C – can't you guys hold on for a bit longer? Fred, I'm… I'm never going to see you again after this. Please… just… finish the year. Please?"

"Don't you think I know that Zoe?" Fred asked. "I promised that I'd make this year memorable for you, and it's eating me inside to know that I'm breaking my promise to you, but I'll make you another promise, and I swear I won't break it this time...I promise, I'll find a way to get you back okay? I'll find a way to save from your aunt."

"Fred… I…" Zoey began, lost of words. She licked her lips and her brows knitted together as she smiled softly at him. "Fred… you saw what she did to me… she can do that to you. She _will _do that to you."

"I'd rather she do it to me than to you." He said, now raising his head and looking her straight in the eye. "I'd rather suffer through all that than to see you scream one more time." He continued.

"I can't let her do that to you," Zoey whispered, her eyes closing a bit as she unconsciously stood at the tip of her toes, her face inching closer to Fred's. Her body was moving without thinking.

Fred met her half way, and the next thing they both knew, their lips were together and a kiss was being shared by both of them.

Zoey tried her best to put all her feelings into the kiss. Tell Fred all that she was feeling, thinking, wanting into one breath-taking kiss. She knew he understood her when he returned the kiss with just as much passion. The kiss could have lasted minutes; hours even, before Fred and Zoey broke apart. They were catching their breaths as their foreheads touched. Zoey looked into his eyes.

"I'll hold you up to that promise," she breathed out, closing her eyes once more.

"And I'll die before I break it," Fred said, letting out a small smile.

"Please don't die," Zoey laughed softly, "I would love to have you very much alive when you rescue me, the damsel in distress, from the evil dragon, my aunt"

"Well, since you asked me, I'll try my best to stay alive just for you," Fred smiled and kissed Zoey's cheek before giving her a tight hug.

"Promise?" Zoey asked.

"Promise," Fred answered.

* * *

Weeks passed since Fred and Zoey's conversation and during that time period, Fred and Zoey had tried their best to make their time together the most meaningful. During every free time they could manage, they would hang out in the Great Hall, Quidditch Pitch and even in the halls to talk and have the occasional kiss (something Zoey did not want to do with people around to witness). A few days after Fred had told Zoey of his and George's departure, George had told Echo. Yes, the Veela was not impressed about the thought of them leaving but unfortunately, she could do nothing to convince them to stay. She had to suck it up and do what Fred and Zoey had been doing. Make the most of it.

Sooner than what Zoey and Echo would have wanted, it was now the final weeks of George and Fred's time in school. The twins had wanted to spend their final weeks planning for the prank. The products they'd use and invent. They needed this time to focus. Sure, Zoey and Echo understood that but obviously they weren't happy about the fact that their boyfriends were dropping out.

Zoey was sad at the fact that she would be seeing less of Fred now and was concerned at what they were going to do after leaving. They would have not taken their final exams and how could they find a good job if they didn't complete their schoolwork? Yes, they didn't care about that and sure, they were going to have their _own _shop but that didn't stop Zoey from worrying. The Emeraude just hoped that the twins had a clear idea on what they were doing.

"Are you ready Fred?" George asked, facing his twin with a worried look.

"Yup" Fred answered, taking a gulp as he looked back at his twin. "Are you?"

"Let's just hope we get through this without getting injured." George answered, now looking at the Ravenclaw walking towards the Charms classroom. They watched as she was talking to her friend, Aiden, and when she waved goodbye to him and was passing by them, they grabbed her by the arm and pulled her towards an empty classroom.

"LET ME GO!" Bridgit yelled as she was being dragged for the second time this year. "FRED! GEORGE! LET ME GO!" She shouted once again, but no matter what she yelled, they wouldn't let her go.

"Would you just keep quiet?" Fred requested, trying to cover the Ravenclaw's mouth. Too bad Bridgit wouldn't follow and bit Fred's arm. "AH! Have you been hanging out with that dog too much?" Fred asked, glaring at the angered Ravenclaw.

"LET-ME-GO!" Was the only thing Bridgit answered, and George, having had enough, put a Silencing Charm on her.

Bridgit grumbled and mumbled but the twins smirked at each other as they finally reached an empty classroom. They pushed the girl inside and checked if anyone had seen them, when they were sure no one did, they closed the door and turned to the Ravenclaw girl.

"We'll take out the silencing charm, but will you promise to stay silent to hear us out?" George asked, and Bridgit just glared, but nodded. George removed the silencing charm, making Bridgit approach the twins and whacked them both hard in the head.

"What do you two want and you had to kidnap me from my Charms class?" Bridgit asked, outraged. "You should have done that in POTIONS!" She continued, turning around and heading for the empty teachers desk.

"Yes, well sorry if we didn't think about timing, Bridgit." Fred said, rubbing his aching and throbbing head.

"Besides, there is a pretty good reason why we brought you to this classroom." George now continued, making Bridgit turn to them with her arms crossed in front of her chest. She was tapping her foot in impatience, and the twins knew their reason should be good enough to not make the Ravenclaw practically kill them. They were friends, yes, but Bridgit was still a Death Eater, and was not one to be messed with.

"How interested are you to participate in a prank against Miss Toad-Woman?" Fred asked, and Bridgit's mouth twitched, she wanted to smile at the idea.

"Very" Bridgit answered.

"Well then would you mind helping us out?" George asked, and at this Bridgit relaxed and let the smile take over her face.

"What do you need me to do?"

After much scheming, it was finally the day, the day that Fred, George, and Bridgit were excited and terrified about. The day they would pull the mega-prank that would cause utter mayhem in the school. The day the Weasley Twins drop out would be a day to remember. Heck, it should even be a holiday!

The three pranksters were currently hanging out in the empty classroom, doing their final preparations for their prank.

"So when you do sell this in your shop, you have to cut me in on every sale." Bridgit said, placing one more charm on the triangular object that was on the empty teacher's desk. It was a little invention the three of them have come up with over the few weeks and Bridgit was currently arguing about how selling the item in the twins shop would be also beneficial to her.

"We told you, we'll just inventory and give you your cut!" Fred answered, making Bridgit turn to him with her eyebrow raised.

"Yeah like you two would actually inventory!" Bridgit said.

"You have so little faith in us." George said, pretending to be hurt by what Bridgit had said.

"Yes, well you are the Weasley twins after all." Bridgit answered, letting a small smile appear on her face. "I'm gonna miss you two you know." Bridgit suddenly said, getting a tad bit sad that this would be their final prank as the three of them.

"We're sorry we can't say the same for you." The twins answered, making Bridgit laugh and walk up to the two of them. She pulled the two of them into a hug and it shocked the hell out of the Weasley twins.

They were both dumbfounded. They have known Bridgit for her whacks and occasional teasing with her arms wrapped around their shoulders, but never did she full on hug the two of them.

When Bridgit released the two of them from her hug, she turned towards the teacher's desk and took up the triangular object.

"So where are we planting this little bugger?" Bridgit asked. Fred and George took it from her.

"We'll handle that, but just be sure to be in the corridor near the Room of Requirement by three in the afternoon." George answered, making Bridgit nod. As she was about to walk out of the classroom, she heard the twins call her name.

"Bridgit!" They called, and Bridgit turned towards them with a questioning look.

"How did you –" Fred began.

"– get the password –" George continued.

" – to the Gryffindor Common Room?" They both finished. It was a question that has been bothering them since their second year. The year Bridgit had decorated their Common Room with Slytherin colors.

"Peeves" She answered, making the twins raise their eyebrows at her. Bridgit laughed at the sight of the confused boys. "Peeves knows everything in the castle, and if you knew what I knew about Peeves, then you could make him tell you anything." She explained, and the twins' jaws dropped.

"PEEVES?" They both exclaimed, but before they could question further, Bridgit had left the room.

As Bridgit was walking away from the classroom, she held two pieces of parchment in her hands. They were notes. Notes for Zoey and Echo. She looked down at letters and sighed. She was not excited to hand those letters to her two friends. She didn't want to be the bearer of bad news, and she knew that she was the one who had to deal with the aftermath. Boy did those twins owe her when they see her again.

As time ticked by, Bridgit was running around the castle like crazy. "Have you seen Zoey?" She asked a random student, who looked at Bridgit like she was crazy. Bridgit was about to ask again, when she saw Zoey and Echo walking down the hall towards her way.

"ZOEY! ECHO!" Bridgit shouted running to her two friends, quickly stuffing the pieces of parchment into her pocket. When she reached them, the two girls stared shocked at her.

"Bridgit," Zoey said, blinking her shock away, "What's the rush?"

"Fred…" Bridgit huffed. "George…." She continued. "Prank" she finished, and she finally got her breath in tact.

Zoey and Echo shared a look before looking back at Bridgit. "What about Fred and George's prank?" Zoey asked.

Bridgit didn't reply and just took their hands in hers. She began to run, dragging the two, and made her way to the corridor near the Room of Requirement. When they got there, they saw Fred and George placing something on the ground.

"What…?" Zoey didn't really know what to say. She knew that they were going to pull a prank but what exactly happens during the prank. She didn't know.

The students around them, who were reading and just walking around, grew shocked as the floor began to turn to mud mixed with water, they began to sink and frogs were also bouncing around the corridor. Bridgit looked around like an excited kid, while Zoey and Echo were both wearing surprised expressions. Echo calmed down from hers and laughed when a Slytherin slipped while Zoey just remained frozen with shock.

The swamp. It was brilliant.

Zoey, Echo, and Bridgit were just about to call Fred and George over, when they saw Umbridge and her gang of Slytherins approaching. Harry had just walked into the corridor before Fred and George summoned their brooms.

"This is it… isn't it?" Zoey whispered to Bridgit. She knew the answer; she just didn't want to accept it.

"Yeah…" Bridgit whispered, reaching into her pocket to feel the two pieces of parchment present there.

The twins mounted their brooms, George's still having a chain attached to his and kicked off from the ground in order to get into the air. They didn't fly off right away; however, they stayed a float, scanning the area with grins playing on their mouths.

"If anyone fancies buying a Portable Swamp, as demonstrated upstairs, come to number ninety-three, Diagon Alley. Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, our new premises!" Fred shouted out, as students were applauding.

"Special discounts to Hogwarts students who swear they're going to use our products to get rid of this old bat," George continued, jerking his head towards Umbridge who shriek-ily yelled out something about Filch or anybody to catch them, no one listened.

They both turned towards Zoey and Echo, and they both had sad faces. Peeves suddenly appeared beside the trio of girls, saluting the two twins. Fred and George both waved towards Zoey and Echo before turning towards Peeves.

"Give her hell for us Peeves." They said, before flying out into the sunset.

Zoey bit her lip as she watched them disappear. She suddenly brought a hand to her face to wipe away the silent tears. She hadn't realized she was crying. How long has that been going on? She caught from the corner of her eye; Echo ushering everyone away and Bridgit looking at her. She offered Bridgit a sad smile.

"I knew that they would leave… I just… I just didn't want it to happen," she gave a weak laugh.

"He...he left this for you." Bridgit said, stopping her own tears from falling. She took out the piece of parchment that was labeled 'Zoey' and handed it to her. "He...told me to...to tell you that everything you need to know and he has to say is there."

The Emeraude took in a breath and saw Bridgit hand Echo a similar piece of parchment. The Veela looked at it silently before walking away. She wanted to be alone in reading the letter, Zoey; however, was not prepared to be alone just yet. She slowly opened the letter and read.

**Dear Zoe,**

**I'm so sorry I couldn't say goodbye to you personally, well technically ever since I told you I think we would say goodbye everyday, but for some reason, I couldn't face you. I couldn't take the thought that I was leaving you alone there with Umbridge on your back. I know you have Echo and Bridgit, but Echo would be missing George, and well Bridgit is...Bridgit, so I still don't feel very safe for you.**

**I know that you would think that I shouldn't worry about you, but you know I can't do that. Telling me to not worry about you is like telling me to stop pranking and you and I both know how impossible that is.**

**Anyways, I've been rambling about this kind of nonsense, when I just really wanna tell you one thing.**

**I just wanna tell you that...that I love you, and that I swear I'll keep my promise.**

**I'll save you from the dragon and I'll be your dashing prince. I can't promise you a happily ever after, but I can promise you that I'll work my arse- Zoey I don't care what you think of language- off to try to give it to you. You deserve it with all the things you've gone through.**

**If you ever miss me, just think that I'm always with you okay? Cause I am...I'm always with you in your heart right? Unless of course someone's already in there then I'll make sure I kick them out of there.**

**I'll miss you, I love you, and I'll see you soon**

**Love,**

**Fred**

Zoey gave a laugh at the end of the letter and wiped away her remaining tears. She folded the letter and pocketed it before facing Bridgit. A sad yet happy look was in her eyes as she looked at her friend. It was an odd mixture but it was true.

"You know, Bridgit," Zoey began, "I really love Fred"

"I know that." Bridgit said, giving her friend a smile. "But do you know what the oddest thing for me is, after all that's happened?"

"What?" Zoey asked.

"Shinji's been moping in my pocket." Bridgit answered, taking the dog out. "I think he's gonna miss he's chew toy named Fred."

Zoey laughed harder than before wiping away her laugh – tears. "I'm going to miss him too," she grinned before looking away, "I need to find Harry, tell him something."

* * *

**Well, This Chapter came out soon than expected. I hope you're all happy with the results :)**

**I Love to Thank ZOOMSKATER14 and HAYLEYPARADOX **

**for the amazing help with this chapter.**

**Also, love all of you who reviewed, favorited, alerted, and read this story.**

**I really appreciate it :)**

**Did I do this chapter instead of my Homework? Why, yes, yes I did.**

**PROCRASTINATION.**

**Anyway, school again tomorrow so probably would take some time before the next chapter is out. Hopefully it won't take TOO long. I would hate if it did.**

**Well, I guess that is all. I have nothing more to say except**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter**

**Please tell me what you thought**

**Excuse my typos and the like (Even though I beta-ed it already)**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter**

**And**

**I only own what I own**


	83. Chapter 81: What I meant to say

**Chapter 81: What I meant to say**

"_Come on, Lily, you have to forgive him some time," Lucy said, following the red head as they walked to the library. _

_A few days had passed since the incident with Severus and Lily, ever stubborn, was not listening to a word Lucy was saying. Yes, Severus apologized and of course, it was sincere but Lily wasn't hearing any of it. She just refused to show mercy._

"_I don't know what you're talking about," Lily sniffed, entering the library and picking up the first book she saw._

_Coincidentally, it was the one she needed. Lucy followed Lily to a table. The Emeraude looked like a duckling following its mother wherever she went._

"_You bloody well know what I'm talking about," was Lucy's reply. She sat down and leaned on her elbows, watching Lily flip through the pages of the book. "Severus says he's sorry."_

"_I know," Lily pulled out a piece of parchment, her quill and an inkbottle before beginning her assignment. _

_Lucy watched as elegant penmanship began to decorate the once empty parchment. The scratching sounds the quill made against the paper calmed Lucy a bit before she shook her head, remembering that she was bugging Lily for a reason._

"_So…?" Lucy began, raising a brow at her friend. Lily didn't look up from her homework; she merely flipped a page in her book, scanned it and continued writing. "LILY!" Lucy exclaimed before receiving and angered hiss from Madam Pince._

"_What?" Lily finally looked up from her work, which was already half way filled, and placed her quill down, folding her arms on the table. She squinted her eyes slightly at Lucy, making the Emeraude shrink in her seat._

"_Severus says he's –"_

"_I know he's sorry," Lily interrupted her._

"_Well?" Lucy asked, leaning forward, "Is he forgiven?"_

"_Forgiven? Why yes! Of course! I mean…of course I forgave him for calling me a 'Mudblood'. Of course I believe him since he broke my trust," Lily huffed, her eyes watering slightly but she did not dare let the tears fall, "AND OF COURSE I FORGAVE AND FORGOT WHAT HE SAID TO MY FACE! FORGOT THAT WHAT I SAW WAS EXACTLY WHAT HE PROMISED ME HE NEVER WAS!"_

_There was a painful silence that hung in the room. Madam Pince didn't even dare to check what all the yelling was about. Lucy was grateful for that. The Emeraude saw Lily sniff and look away from her, covering her face with her hands before ducking back to doing her homework. Lucy licked her lips and scanned her brains for something proper to say at this sort of moment. _

"_Lily –" she began awkwardly, not really knowing what to say. She was slightly thankful for Lily interrupting her._

"_No, Lucy, I… I just… no. What he said… it hurt," Lily's voice cracked a bit in the end, her hand was shaking and she was having a hard time writing down the answers. _

"_I know, I was there, but you do know that he was provoked into saying that, right?" Lucy said in a soft, comforting voice._

"_Yes, Potter and Black were annoying him," Lily said, her words laced with slight malice._

"_So he didn't really mean it. It was in the heat of the moment!"_

"_Don't you say what you truly feel during the 'heat of the moment'?"_

"_No! People say things they DON'T feel during those moments," Lucy said quickly, hoping that she was actually getting somewhere with Lily, "Come on, Lils, you KNOW you want him back. He's your best friend!"_

_Lily didn't say anything. She looked at Lucy with sad, confused eyes before packing up her things, picking up the book and standing up from her chair. Lucy, prepared to run after Lily, pushed her chair back and placed her hands on the table, standing up. _

"_I don't know what he is to me anymore," Lily whispered, turning away from her dear friend and walking out of the library. _

_Lucy was dumbstruck, silent in her place as she watched the library doors swing close. Madam Pince sent her a look before going back to her work, the authority figure's own way of telling Lucy that Lily needed time to think. The Emeraude sighed in defeat, sitting back down on her seat and placing her head in her hands, taking slow deep breaths. She didn't expect things to turn out this way. She was getting worried._

It was the dead of night and Zoey found herself standing in front of the Gryffindor boy's dorm. After Fred and George's spectacular exit, she had left Bridgit and made her way to the Gryffindor tower, entering the place with the help of Colin, someone she had met on her way. Zoey was waiting for Harry to enter, hoping to have a word with him, only have fallen asleep during the wait.

Neville, who clumsily stumbled on his way down the stairs, woke the Emeraude. Zoey blinked the sleep away from her eyes and, remembering her purpose in the Common Room, quickly asked Neville if she could have a talk with Harry. Neville, who was still half asleep, gave her the okay and Zoey dashed up the stairs, her heart beating rapidly in her chest.

Zoey, finally pushing her nervousness away, placed her hand on the doorknob and opened the door. She was greeted by the snoring of the Fifth year Gryffindor boys and scanned the room, looking for Harry. The Emeraude's eyes quickly landed on a figure tossing and turning on his bed and she made her way towards him. Zoey saw Harry's face contort with fear and out of reflex she shook him awake.

"Harry," Zoey said in a concerned whisper, continuing the shaking, "Harry, wake up."

The boy who lived didn't wake. He continued to toss and turn. Sweat began to form on his brow. Zoey's brows knitted together in worry and she shifted her position so she was pinning Harry down. If she could not wake him, might as well keep him still as to not wake the other people in the room or harm himself.

Harry let out sounds of distress and Zoey felt her body rock with imbalance. Harry was stronger than he looked. The Emeraude was nearly thrown off when Harry's eyes snapped open and caught her in time. Grey met with green and Zoey felt something odd tugging at her head, making her eyes go foggy. Harry seemed to have the same problem for his head began to tilt from side to side before his eyes rolled to the back of his head, his hold on Zoey releasing.

Zoey had fallen to the floor with a thump while Harry had slumped back to his bed, both minds clouding, Harry entering a memory he never thought he would.

_Harry felt a shiver run down his spine as he stood in a strange neighborhood. The fog that clouded his eyes soon faded and he blinked several times to make sure that everything would be clear. He looked around and saw the he was in a Suburban area for all the houses looked alike and so did the gardens. _

_The boy scanned his surroundings and soon a small girl, who looked no older than nine, came to view. She was struggling with her luggage. Harry took a step away from her and watched as she approached the gate of the house behind him. _

_Harry turned around and his eyes widened slightly to its off-putting appearance. The house took the same appearance as every other house in the Suburb but what made it different was its cemetery like garden and its gates that were old, cold and rusty. Harry guessed that the softest of breezes would reduce it to nothing._

"_Well, I guess this is it," Harry heard the girl mutter to herself before putting a hand on the gate and pushing it open. It made and eerie sort of creak. Harry took a closer look at the girl and studied her as she picked up her bag and made her way to the house. _

"_Who the –" Harry began, watching as the nine year old pulled out a key from her pocket and inserted it in the lock, twisting it until she heard a satisfying click._

_The girl had long brown hair and big, grey eyes. Her clothes were about two sizes too big and she was weak. The weight of her bag made her body shake. It was simply too heavy for her to handle. Long brown hair, grey eyes, frail body and the familiar licking the lips made Harry's eyes widen with every second._

"_Zoey…" he breathed out in shock when the nine-year-old Zoey entered the house, closing the door behind her._

_Harry looked around and noticed that the entire house was already furnished. He noticed Zoey's eyes scan the room and they soon glazed. She then began to make her way towards the pictures hanging on the wall. Harry wondered why. _

"_Zoey?" Harry asked, though knowing that she couldn't hear him, "Who are they?"_

_What happened next had scared Harry. He saw Zoey's eyes widen and her shaky hands reach up to her neck. Her nine-year-old body then slumped against the wall and she looked like she was choking, drowning on land. _

"_ZOEY!" he exclaimed, kneeling at Zoey's side, trying his best to get a hold of her hands. He wanted to stop her from scratching her neck, stop her from wounding herself but he couldn't do anything. It was like Zoey was a ghost. His hands simply went through her._

_Suddenly, the girl stopped her scratching and her body froze. Harry hoped that that was the end of everything until Zoey's body fell right through him, her head painfully hitting the marbled floor. Harry winced at the sound._

"_I want my mommy," she said hoarsely, "I want my daddy."_

_Harry wanted to help her up, hug her, and tell her everything would be okay but he never got the chance. Before the boy could take action, the scene was spinning to a blur and he soon found himself in another memory._

_When the fog cleared up, Harry found himself in a room that very much looked like a kitchen with a curvy blonde woman sitting cross-legged on her chair. She was twirling her finger in her hair while the other was using her wand to stir her coffee. On the same table, beside the woman's coffee, was a familiar envelope._

_It was a Hogwarts letter._

_Harry's eyes widened at the sight and made a move to pick it up but the opening of the door tore Harry's attention away from the letter to see its owner, Zoey, enter the room. She winced at the brightness of the kitchen light._

_The boy was so hypnotized by the sight of his godsister that the following events passed by as if it were merely fast-forward images on a TV screen._

_"What would you do after your schooling though? Run away?" Damiana then walked towards Zoey again, stopping mere inches away from her face. _

_At the thought of Damiana so close to Zoey, and possibly hurting her, Harry snapped out of his trance. His brows furrowed and he took on a protective stance. He knew that he could do nothing to help and he knew that this was just a memory but that didn't stop him from wanting to take action._

"_Were you planning to run away?" Damiana asked, "You know I would not like that. I would hate to know that you would leave the Emeraudes. After all, you are an Emeraude, aren't you?"_

_Harry looked over to Zoey and waited for her answer. He was hoping to see a Zoey he never saw before. A Zoey that would stand up to the devilish woman and out right tell her "NO! I BLOODY WILL NOT STAY WITH YOU, YOU OLD HAG!" or something more Zoey like. What his godsister said next, though, shocked the poor boy._

"_If you want me to stay then I'll stay. After schooling, I'll come back and I'll never leave," Zoey said, defeat in her voice._

"_What?" Harry whispered, unheard by the two women in the room, "Zoey…. You're lying! You aren't going to agree to stay with this woman!"_

"_Never?" Damiana asked, evil smile gracing her lips._

"_Never. I promise," Zoey replied._

"_ZOEY! NO!" Harry exclaimed, wishing that Zoey had heard him but the scene was soon clouded with fog and Harry got a dizzying feeling when the setting changed once more and he found himself standing in a compartment in the Hogwarts Express with Zoey sitting not to far from him._

_Harry figured that this was Zoey's first time in the Hogwarts Express therefore she was yet to begin her first year. The girl was seated with her legs tucked under herself and there was an empty Chocolate Frog box beside her while she flipped over her card. She was reading the back, sometimes muttering a few words from what she was reading. _

_Harry was glad that Zoey was now free from Damiana but there was a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach reminding him that Zoey would have to return to her by the end of her seventh year. _

_There was a loud BANG that caused both Harry and Zoey to jump out of surprise. The sudden BANG was soon followed by angry yells, laughter and running footsteps. Harry and Zoey looked out of the compartment and Harry felt a grin play on his lips when he saw Fred and George run by, mischievous frons on their faces. Echo was trailing behind them._

_The eleven-year-old Echo separated herself from the twins and opened Zoey's compartment door. Harry wrinkled his nose at the foul order that seeped into the room while Zoey inched back, trying to avoid the smell from reaching her; she covered her nose and mouth with her hands. Echo too wrinkled her nose and quickly closed the door before opening the window at the opposite side of the compartment. Harry gladly accepted the fresh air._

"_Unless you want this compartment of yours to stink like dungbomb, allow me to barge in and open the window," Harry snorted at Echo's words, "On second thought, you should be grateful I did those things."_

_From that moment, Harry knew that that was the beginning of Zoey and Echo's friendship. The boy took a seat beside the younger version of his godsister and listened to the their conversation. Echo mentioned the twins and Zoey admitted that she had no knowledge on who they were. They reached introductions later in their conversation. _

_Soon, almost as Harry expected it, the compartment door was banged open and in came Fred and George, sweaty from their run for escape but satisfied with their prank._

"_So this is where you've been hiding, Echo!" twin number one, Harry guessed was Fred, said with a grin playing on his lips. He was taking deep breaths and laughing at the same time._

"_We've been looking everywhere for you!" George added, grinning as well._

"_When I finally get company other than you two, you guys just blow up the moment!" Echo groaned with irritation, leaning her head back into her seat. "Seriously, what did I do wrong?"_

_Harry looked over to Zoey and saw that she was awkward-ed with what was happening in front of her. Though she was shy, she couldn't help but study the three friends. Harry watched as she gripped at the edge of her seat and tried her best to blend in with the background._

"_You hurt us," George then said, placing a hand over his chest as he mocked hurt._

"_And to think we came here to tell you and your friends that we're nearing Hogwarts and we should change into our robes," Fred smirked._

_The two then left and Echo looked over to Zoey._

"_Shall we?" she asked._

_Zoey gave a shaky nod and Harry was once again brought to another memory._

_Harry found himself in the Astronomy tower in the dead of night. He looked around and saw Fred leaning against the wall with a Hufflepuff scarf wrapped around his head (he tried his best not to laugh at the comical appearance) and Zoey sitting directly in front of Fred with red and puffy eyes and tear stained cheeks._

_The two obviously had a fight._

_"So… what's the source of all this?" Harry turned to Zoey and saw the stressed out look on her face, "What caused all this? What made us have a row?"_

_Harry then looked over to Fred and saw the boy opening his eyes to look at Zoey. Fred placed a hand on the scarf and readjusted it on his head._

"_Jealousy… I guess," Fred said, looking away from Zoey._

"_Jealousy?" Zoey repeated, "You were jealous of Cedric?"_

_Harry's eyes widened at the mention of the deceased Hufflepuff and his stomach churned with guilt. He swallowed hard and tired his best to pay attention to what was happening in front of him no matter how personal it was._

_It was rude of him to be seeing all of Zoey's memories but he had to. For years he knew Zoey was hiding something from him, from everyone and now he had a chance to see what they were._

"_No need to rub it in my face, Zoe… but yeah, I was jealous of that Prefect Diggory," Fred grumbled in response to Zoey's question._

"_But why? What does he got that you want?" Zoey asked._

"_You have no idea," Harry muttered out loud by accident, remembering that he himself was slightly jealous of Cedric._

_"Money, looks, grades, admiration, something for his parents to be proud of, the list goes on Zoe and the more I name them the more it hurts on my esteem," Fred lowered the scarf to cover his eyes._

_Zoey furrowed her eyebrows. "Is that it? Fred, money doesn't matter… you know that right?" Fred grumbled in response, Zoey continued, "As for grades, they don't determine how smart you are and for the record you and George are geniuses. Admiration? I thought you were the type to not care what other people thing –"_

_"I'm not!"_

_" – Well, you better cross that out of the list then. Something for your parents to be proud of? Why wouldn't they be proud of you? You and George have done splendid things and frankly, I think they're mega proud. They, just show it in a different way," Zoey laughed a bit and Fred offered a chuckle, "Now, as for looks," Zoey blushed, "If it helps… I think you're very handsome"_

_Harry needed to look away. He just had to. _

_What was happening in front of him reminded him of those "lovey-dovey" shows he would sometimes see his Aunt Petunia watching after she had placed Dudley's desert in the oven. She would sit in front of the telly with boxes of tissue by her side and cry her eyes out at the events of the story._

_Harry always thought that those love stories were sappy and cliché._

_Fred and Zoey's love story; however, was different. _

_Theirs was real. They experienced hurt beyond belief and hardships. They had their fights and misunderstandings yet they still stayed strong. Harry felt bad for Fred for he knew that Zoey was going to leave. Zoey was going to be taken away from Fred, from him, from everybody and there was that painful feeling in his heart that made him believe that there was nothing he could do about it._

_Fred's voice snapped Harry out of his thoughts and caused to boy to look back at the pair._

_"There's something else he has that I don't," Fred said looking Zoey in the eyes._

_"What's that?"_

_"He has you"_

_Harry was once again brought out of the memory and entered a new one._

_This memory, from what Harry had guessed, had taken place during the same time span of the last one. Zoey was in the Ravenclaw Common Room, sobbing her eyes out as she talked to Bridgit. Harry chuckled softly at Bridgit's concerned yet awkward looking expression but stopped when he saw that Zoey was truly in pain._

_She was having a war with her emotions._

_The boy took a seat on the couch and placed his head in his hands as he listened to their conversation. It was long and helpful and he didn't want to speak even though they wouldn't hear him anyway. He didn't know how much time had passed and he faintly wondered what was happening in the real world. _

_Was it still the dead of night? Or had the sun risen and his dorm mates were surrounding him and Zoey's unconscious bodies wondering what the heck had happened to them?_

_Before Harry knew it, it was already nearing the end of Zoey and Bridgit's discussion on Zoey's messed up love life._

"_I KNOW it's love, Bridgit," Zoey said, "I thought you knew I love him?"_

"_I know you do, I was just scared that YOU didn't," Bridgit gave Zoey a smile, "Besides, I'm still shocked that he realized it. Guess he's not as dense as I thought he was." _

_Harry just had to laugh at what Bridgit had said about Fred. He had to admit, she was right to an extent. Then again, Harry didn't know Fred as well as Zoey and Bridgit do._

"_So what's the reason you two aren't frolicking in the garden being a happy couple right now?" Bridgit asked. Harry winced at the question. He had a clue as to why Zoey had not told Fred that she felt the same._

_"That's the thing… we can't be a happy couple," Zoey said, looking away from Bridgit._

_"My question is 'Why'?" Bridgit pushed._

_"Because it's not possible," Zoey sighed, "Fred…Me… together. It won't end well"_

_"Again… why?" Bridgit asked._

_Zoey looked back at Bridgit and gave a sad smile. She brought her hands to her lap and gripped onto the cloth of Bridgit's pajama bottoms. "Because… I'll be taken away."_

_"Oh, I see, so you'll be – Wait! What do you mean you'll be taken away?" Bridgit asked, panic in her eyes._

_"I'm sorry I kept you up with my sob story," Zoey said with an apologetic face before getting up from the floor. "It's way past my curfew and if I'm caught exiting the Ravenclaw Common Room I'll be in deep trouble. Thank you for helping me… I really appreciate it"_

_"Zoey… I know you're avoiding the question, and I also know not to push too hard. It's okay if you don't want to tell me, but maybe you should think…if…maybe Fred deserves an explanation," Bridgit now said, standing up as well. "And I'd be staying up late anyway… I have to finish studying and I have to make sure Harry lives in the next challenge," Bridgit added, offering her friend a smile._

_"An explanation?" Zoey said with a hollow look in her eyes, Harry wasn't used to seeing such emptiness in the girl's expression, "Don't you think that would just destroy him further?"_

_"Zee, if the explanation will hurt him… it's not going to compare to the rejection that he'll feel the moment you start to avoid him. Love is not my forte, but I know enough to know that you avoiding Fred would be like piercing his heart with a stake," Bridgit answered, "I can't tell you what to do, and I can't teach you either, but try to think about it"_

_Harry waited for Zoey to answer Bridgit. A few minutes passed before the girl finally opened her mouth to talk._

_"Thank you," Zoey breathed out with a smile before pausing, "I – I don't think avoiding Fred would be possible anyway"_

_"Trust me, you'll try," Bridgit suddenly said, "because you'll think it's what's best"_

_"That may be so and it might happen but… you know Fred, he might be dejected for a while but he's going to get back on his feet. He's persistent, that one," Zoey gave a small laugh, "Also, he's going to talk to me one of these days. You know why?"_

_"Because he can't stay away from you?" Bridgit answered, letting out a chuckle at the rhetorical question._

_Zoey shook her head and turned the knob. "No, he's going to talk to me one of these days because," she stepped out of the door, "he still has my scarf," and with that she left the Ravenclaw Common Room with a click._

_Harry laughed; glad that the atmosphere was lighter now, and gladly entered the next memory. He hoped that this was going to be the last. As much as he wanted to know Zoey more, he felt like certain things should be revealed by Zoey herself, not by him intruding her mind._

_Harry had no clue on what was going to happen next. One moment he was in the Hufflepuff Common Room with Zoey and Jane and the next moment Zoey had shot up from her seat and bolted out the room, running up several staircases on her way. Harry, out of curiosity and reflex, ran after Zoey, glad that he was able to pass through objects without fail. He could have gotten seriously injured if he was with Zoey at that time in his solid, real form._

_A painful stitch was forming in Harry's lower abdomen and he prayed that Zoey's unexpected journey would come to an end. He followed her as she dodged suits of armor and skidded past corners. He was just about to take a break from running when he saw Fred come into view. Harry looked over to Zoey and saw her face light up and she sped up her run before launching herself into Fred's arms._

_"Whoa, Zoe, what's the rush?" Fred asked her, and what happened next shocked both him and Harry into silence. Zoey did not provide Fred with an answer for she had kissed him full on the mouth._

_Harry's mouth hung agape out of disbelief._

_Who knew Zoey had it in her?_

_"I want to be with you," Zoey said after she broke the kiss, "I don't care about the others anymore. I just want you."_

_Fred grinned. "Same here," he said to her, "And I'll be with you no matter what."_

"BLOODY HELL, HARRY! WAKE UP!" Ron's voice bellowed in Harry's ears.

Harry quickly sat up in surprise and accidentally banged his forehead against Ron's, who was stupidly close to Harry's face, and making the Weasley stumble back and land on the cold hard floor. Seamus and Dean laughed but Neville remained silent for he was making sure Zoey was comfortable propped up against the wall.

"Blimey mate," Ron groaned, placing a hand on his forehead, "You didn't have to knock me out as well."

"Knock you out?" Harry paused, looking over to Zoey's still unconscious state, "What happened to her?" He jumped out of his bed and quickly went to Zoey's aid. The girl was breathing slowly and her face showed no sign of distress. She was merely sleeping.

"We were going to ask you that, Harry," Neville spoke as Dean and Seamus made their way back to their beds. They weren't all that close to Zoey but that didn't stop them from worrying about her. They wanted to know as well.

"When I came back up here, Ron was trying to wake you up and Seamus and Dean were doing the same to Zoey," Neville explained further.

"Another question," Dean then said, "What's Zoey even doing here?"

"How does a Hufflepuff find her way into the Gryffindor dorm? The _boys _dorm," Seamus added.

"This wasn't the first time a non-Gryffindor found their way in here," Ron shrugged, sending Harry a look, "You have any idea why she's here though?"

"Not a clue," Harry admitted. He brought a hand to his godsister's face and brushed away a stray strand of her hair away. Her head lolled a bit and she stirred but she did not wake. "You said that you came back to see Zoey unconscious?" he looked over to Neville, quirking an eyebrow.

Neville slowly nodded, not quit getting what Harry was really trying to ask. He looked to his friends and saw that they didn't know either. Harry snapped his fingers several times and Neville looked back to him. The boy shrugged his right shoulder and closed his eyes in thought.

"I do recall going downstairs, wanting to use the loo, when someone asked me if they could talk to you, Harry," Neville opened his eyes, "I was half asleep thought. Sorry."

"It's fine, Neville," Harry then looked to Ron. "What do you think she wanted to talk about?"

"Don't know, mate," Ron ran a hand through his hair, "I guess we'll find out when she wakes up."

* * *

Fred and George's flight to freedom was a day to remember. Heck, Zoey could have sworn it would be written down in History books and would be studied for years to come. Yes, this was legendary. Ever since that day, students of all ages would purchase their merchandise and use it around school for the sole purpose of causing trouble. They would pull pranks, set explosion going on here and there and all hair raising activities that would make Umbridge's skin turn red with anger.

The shocking, or probably not so shocking, thing was that Filch was the only one who would come to the toad queen's aid. The professor's of Hogwarts would turn their attention away whenever there was a prank involve. In fact, some would even help! For example, McGonagall had helped Peeves by telling him which was to unscrew a screw in order for something to fall down and what not. It was hilarious.

Time passed and soon, it was the beginning of the OWL exams for the fifth years. Zoey reminisced those days were she would stress over reviewing spells, ingredients and the like just to be able to pass. Now, she had to do the same things only for her NEWTS. Stress levels rising.

It was an early Saturday morning, and most of the people were heading off towards the most popular hangout of the weekend, Hogsmeade. Most of the students have been excited, wanting some freedom away from the blasted toad woman that now controlled their school.

Some made their way towards Honeydukes, others to Zonko's, while the rest just hung out at the Three Broomsticks, but as stated only most of the students were there.

One student, Bridgit to be exact, was currently walking through the various bookshelves and tables located in the Hogwarts library. She needed to study for her Potions NEWTs, and she needed to find the proper book on the subject.

"Over ten thousand books in this library, not a single one can answer my needs..." Bridgit whispered, looking through the spines of the books in the section that she knew the Potions books were located.

Just then, a girl that seemed all too familiar to Bridgit ran right into her, as the girl's head was facing the shelves containing endless amount of ancient books.

"Oh, sorry, Bridgit!" Echo actually squeaked. She pushed her bangs behind her ear, only to have them fall back. "You know, I've lost all my hairclips, and I really need to have my bangs cut."

"Are you sure George hasn't been taking them?" Bridgit asked jokingly. "Or maybe some of our housemates even!"

"Why would they do something as ridiculous as that?" Echo raised her eyebrows.

"Our housemates? They could have used them to put papers and reports together for all we know." Bridgit answered, a smile in her pale white face.

Echo narrowed her eyes, "How would you know?"

"Because that's what I do with my hair pins." Bridgit answered, the smile still plastered on her face. "So tell me, what's with all the books?"

"Potions." Echo simply answered.

So that's where all the good books went!" The Parker exclaimed, her eyes scanning through the stack of books Echo had in her hand. Indeed, all the books she needed were in there.

"Well, let's say we study together?" suggested Echo, her golden orbs glowing beneath her violet hair

"I think that's a brilliant idea!" Answered Bridgit happily. Finally she could get started on her Potions studying.

"Choose where to sit then." Echo said.

Bridgit took hold of some of the books in Echo's hand and led her to a table no to far away from where they were standing. "This good enough or would you like to sit near the window?"

"Nah. I hate the sun." Echo smiled.

"Okay then" Bridgit answered, taking a seat. She felt Echo take a seat beside her, and she reached for the book on the top of the stack. "I wonder if Snape hates us that much? How can we possibly memorize all this?"

"Well, make up silly abbreviations so that it could help you remember?" Echo grinned. "or 'mnemonics'…" Echo trailed off.

"Abbreviations you say? How about this… FRED could mean Flobberworm Mucus, Rat Tail, Eye of Newt and Doxy Egg." Bridgit thought, grinning at the disgusting ingredients she associated with Fred. Oh how it suited him so.

"You do know if Zoey were here to hear that, she would probably skin you alive, or laugh at it hysterically." Echo stuck her tongue out.

"Yes, well she isn't here now is she?" Bridgit retorted, smirking. "Speaking of Zoey, let's think of something for her..." The brown haired girl thought hard, but was unable to come up with anything that started with a Z...that was because no Potion ingredient started with a Z.

"Well, I got nothing," Echo nonchalantly said. All she did was fix her hair in order to see more clearly. "I despise days like these.

"Well then why don't we do Geo..." Bridgit was about to say, though by the glare Echo had given her she decided to keep her mouth shut.

Echo sighed audibly, "Help me with my hair? Besides, we're just as much of a know-it-all as Hermione, only two years older." Echo started drumming her fingers on the tabletop, waiting for Bridgit's response.

"Sure, but if it turns blue I have no fault in it!" Bridgit answered, stretching her arms. "Also, i'm pretty sure being a know-it-all is a quality for us Ravencalws."

"Oh, well. I better check on Iolanthe, see if George sent me anything." Echo winked and got up from her seat, "Hope you get everything inside your head!"

"Hope that he sent you something! I'm actually gonna check if they sent me some new products." Bridgit answered, looking up at her friend. She smiled as she waved goodbye and hit her head on the tomb in front of her. "Now to get back on 'FRED'" She groaned, laughing slightly at her, now, new meaning of the name.

* * *

"I still don't follow," Zoey said sadly after Bridgit had explained the problem for the tenth time that day.

The two friends were in the library studying for their final day of NEWTS when Zoey decided that her brain just couldn't take all the information. The Emeraude could have sworn that Echo wasn't with them for she knew that if Bridgit couldn't explain it to Zoey then the girl would turn to her and no one would be able to get their studying done.

Zoey grumbled and placed her head in her hands. Days passed since Fred and George's departure and she missed the times when they would be bothering Bridgit and Echo for help rather than Zoey doing it. Also, it had been ages since Zoey's last talk with Harry. The two haven't spoken since Harry's accidental Legilimens on Zoey.

"Well, what do you find hard about it?" Bridgit now asked, turning to Zoey. She was trying to be very patient, for she knew that Zoey was very stressed and so was Echo.

"Can 'everything' be an answer to that question?" Zoey cracked a smile, knowing that Bridgit really wanted to help.

"Uhm… sure, but then that would mean you were a third year," Bridgit answered, letting out a smile of her own.

"Besides, isn't this Harry's best subject? Why not ask him for help?" the Parker now asked, turning to the tomb in front of her.

"I might as well be a third year," Zoey sighed, stress was taking a toll on her attitude, "Life was easy then." There was a short pause, "Not counting that Harry went looking for the Philosopher's stone and nearly getting Ron, Hermione and himself killed."

Zoey then blinked, realizing Bridgit's suggestion. "Harry's a fifth year, I shouldn't be bothering him when he has his OWLS to worry about."

"I'm pretty sure Harry doesn't even study for DADA anymore, Zee," Bridgit retorted, her eyes not leaving the tomb. "And OWLS shmowls, your family to him, I'm sure he'd still help you."

"Still…" Zoey trailed off, following Bridgit's line of sight, "What are you looking at?"

"I'm looking at a book about Charms, Professor Flitwick said that I should start to learn advanced Charms if I want to be a shoe in for that internship he offered me," Bridgit answered, smiling.

"Internship?" Zoey tilted her head, "You want to be a Charms teacher?"

"Well why not?" Bridgit answered with a question, "It looks like fun, and I'm sure I'd be one of the coolest teachers ever if that happened."

"_Wingardium Leviosa,_" Zoey smiled, remembering her first lesson in Charms.

"Levitating spell…" Bridgit suddenly blurted out, letting out a laugh. "I suddenly remembered Seamus Finnegan, do you know him?"

Zoey blushed at the mention of Seamus' name. He was there when she had awkwardly awoken to find herself in the Gryffindor Boy's dorm with the whole lot of them surrounding her. "Somewhat," she muttered, hiding her face.

"I usually end up calling him a mini explosive," Bridgit said once again, turning ot Zoey. "So back to the lesson," she continued, and she swore that Zoey had groaned yet again.

"Let's get this over with," she muttered, looking back to the book.

* * *

"I think I'm just about ready to die, Jane," Zoey moaned as she gathered her things of the table. The NEWTS have finally ended and the Emeraude was excited to crash on her bed and sleep. Her eyes were stinging for they have remained open for the longest time during the test.

Blinking was a waste of time.

If you waste time you wouldn't be able to finish the test on time.

"Come on, Zoey, don't be like that! That was the final test!" Jane tried her best at pep talk, "You did it! Wouldn't Fred and George be proud?"

"They would mock me for actually taking the exams seriously," came Zoey's reply.

Jane snorted. "True," she agreed with her friend, "They wouldn't really care about these test, would they?"

Zoey grumbled out a response. She was still not in the best of moods.

"Hey, what's the attitude, Little Miss Emeraude?" Jane was amused, "I don't think Fred and George would be happy to see you like that. Would you want them to see you like that?"

"They're not here to see me like this now are they?" Zoey glared at the floor.

"Hey now, I thought you were happy for them?" Jane patted her friend's shoulder.

The Emeraude pushed her glasses up her head and rubbed her eyes. She was getting tired. "I am, Jane, I am… it's just that…," the girl's lip quivered slightly, "I miss them."

"Them… or Fred?" was the question.

"_Both _of them, Jane," she paused, "Fred more though."

"Understandable."

The Hufflepuffs made their way to the Hufflepuff Basement. Zoey had said the password and was granted entrance. The two relaxed on the sofa, Zoey folding her legs underneath herself as she looked into the fire. The fire was calming.

Zoey sighed and leaned back into the sofa, closing her eyes. It's been days since Fred and George left and though she was happy for them, she had to be honest in saying she wished they could have stayed a little bit longer. This was going to be her last few days of freedom. The moment she got off the Hogwarts Express, she would be whisked away into seclusion.

No one knew about this except for Fred, George, Echo, Bridgit (the three had asked after Zoey's fight with Echo) and Harry, who had found out from accidentally entering Zoey's mind.

"– a letter?"

"Pardon?" Zoey looked over to Jane, her brows raising in question.

Jane shook her head and smiled. "If you miss Fred so much, why don't you send him a letter?"

There was a moment of silence before Zoey blew her bangs away from her face and leaned back into her seat, taking on a leisure position. Jane was confused.

"I rather not," Zoey then said.

"What? Why not?"

"Because I don't want to be _that _kind of girlfriend," the word still sounded odd when it rolled off her tongue. The good kind of odd.

"And what exactly is _that _kind of girlfriend?" Jane asked.

"The kind that can't last a few measly days without her significant other," Zoey pouted, "I don't want to be like that."

"But you _are _like that," Jane pointed out, a grin on her lips.

Zoey straightened up and furrowed her brows at her friend. She meant to look threatening but all she was able to achieve was looking frustrated with a hint of cute. Zoey didn't know how to be mad at Jane when she knew that it was the truth. The Hufflepuffs were engaged in a staring contest, Zoey out of frustration and Jane out of amusement.

"Take. That. Back," Zoey said, succeeding in using a childish tone.

"Why. Should. I?" Jane played along.

"I'm not needy!"

"I didn't say you are!" Jane was laughing now; she covered her mouth with the back of her hand and leaned back into the couch. Her laughter lasted for a few more seconds before she regained composure and looked back at Zoey. The Emeraude inflated her cheeks and blew air in Jane's face. "Ever heard of breath mints?" Jane swatted the air and Zoey swatted her.

"Zoey," Jane said after calming down once more, "Just write to him. It doesn't show that you're needy. It shows that you miss him and care about him and you want to know how his life outside of Hogwarts is."

Zoey bit her lip and looked to the fireplace. Jane was right. Her heart had this dull ache. She needed to find out what Fred and George has been doing since they left. The Emeraude knew that their business has been going well but what about them? Are they all right? Have they been eating well? Do they have scrapes and bruises yet?

"I need to go out for a while," Zoey stood up from her seat on the couch and sent a smile towards Jane before turning around and heading out the Common Room to go to the Owlery. She needed to contact Fred.

* * *

Zoey was out of breath the moment she reached the top step of the Owlery. The fifth years' last day of OWLS was tomorrow and she did not want to disturb anyone studying with her running so she tried to get out of their way faster than humanly possible. Also, she knew for a fact that majority of them were currently taking their Astronomy exam and she would hate to be spotted by someone who was playing around and spying on the ground below rather than the sky above.

The Owlery's door opened with a slight creak and several owls hooted with question. Zoey peaked in and saw dozens of big yellow eye looking her way, unblinking. The sight sent shivers up her spine but the girl knew that they would not harm her. She fully entered the tower, clutching her letter in hand, and took a look around. Zoey then gave a low whistle.

Majority of the owls shifted in their place, stretching their wings to create a ruffling noise, but only one owl flew from its post to land on Zoey's outstretched arm. The Owl hooted happily and nibbled on a stray strand of Zoey's hair affectionately. Zoey laughed softly and walked towards a window ledge, letting the owl hop of her arm, land on the ledge and stick out its leg dutifully.

"Hiya, Eos," Zoey greeted softly, showing Eos her letter, "What do you say about a somewhat long journey to Fred?"

Eos hooted and further stuck out her leg, showing her excitement.

"Thought so. Here you go," Zoey tied the letter around Eos's leg and the owl flew. "Get his reply as quickly as possible, alright?"

Eos made an offended hoot.

"I know you know what to do, just reminding you is all," Zoey pouted.

There was another hoot.

"Don't get cheeky with me, Eos!" The Emeraude laughed. Eos made another hoot, flew around Zoey's head, tugging at her hair before flying out the window with great speed. Zoey stood at the tips of her toes in order to watch Eos fly past the dark clouds and disappearing from sight.

Zoey sighed happily, knowing that Eos was going to do everything in her power to make sure Fred got her letter, and looked up at the starlit sky, counting the twinkling stars.

She lost count after twenty-seven and instead looked down at the ground. The Owlery wasn't as tall as the Astronomy Tower and its height didn't scare Zoey that much. She squinted her eyes and could have sworn that she could see Hagrid's hut in the distance, that and her favorite rock to sit on.

Her fingers drummed idly on the cold, hard surface as she began to hum softly to herself. It was way past her curfew (those who were taking the Astronomy test were excused) and she knew that if she were to be caught, she'd be in a whole lot of trouble. Zoey didn't pay mind to that though. She doubted that anyone would find her up in the Owlery seeing as people rarely sent out their letters at the dead of night.

A sudden _BANG _startled Zoey and caused her to stumble back with shock. Her eyes widened with surprise and her heart began to beat quickly before slowing back to its regular pace when Zoey took in deep breaths. She furrowed her brows in confusion and pushed herself from the ground to look back out the window. The following events happened so quickly that Zoey couldn't believe her eyes.

First she saw Hagrid angrily march out of his house, yelling at some man, and then, before she knew it, McGonagall was hit by four different stunning charms. She lit up with an eerie red glow from the impact before collapsing to the ground. Zoey's hands instantly reached up to her mouth and she began to slowly shake her head.

McGonagall was still alive, wasn't she?

"I… I have to go help her," Zoey whispered to herself, realizing that she could do something useful. She turned around and was just about to make her way out the door when she saw someone blocking her way.

"Well, well, well. What do we have hear?" it was Filch, "There's a student out of bed."

"Pro - Professor McGonagall is… is hurt," Zoey's voice quivered, "I need to help her."

"There would be no need for that, Miss Emeraude," an out of breath, girlish voice rang in the Tower and Zoey bit her lip at the sight of Umbridge.

The woman was breathing deeply and her hair was wind swept from her fast run to the top of the tower. Zoey could have sworn that Umbridge had some kind of radar on her, something to tell her when Zoey's doing something against the rules.

"But Professor!" Zoey squeaked out, "Professor McGonagall could be really hurt. Four Stunning spells to the chest… she isn't exactly young…"

"And what could a young witch like you do to help?" Umbridge tested her, her eyes bugging out of her sockets, "Filch, prepare the detention room."

"Detention?" Zoey gasped, following Filch's retreating figure with her eyes, "I just wanted to help!"

"They would not be needing the assistance of a brat like you, Miss Emeraude. They have brought Minerva to St. Mungo's," Umbridge told her.

Zoey swallowed hard and blinked back her tears. The tone Umbridge was using on her frightened her and mixed with the uneasy feeling of McGonagall was becoming overwhelming for her. She took a step back and tried to hide in the shadows.

"Now, Miss Emeraude, if you would just follow me –"

"No!" Zoey exclaimed, she had had enough, "I will _not _go to detention with you. I did nothing wrong!"

"You are outside your Common Room after curfew, Miss Emeraude," Umbridge took a step forward.

Zoey took another step back. "So? Loads of students go out after hours."

"You would not take that tone with my, young lady!" Umbridge scolded her, reaching out to grab hold of her arm.

Zoey placed her hands behind her back and began to inch her way towards the door, making Umbridge take her place. She was moving ever so stealthily that Umbridge had not realized that the two have switched places. Zoey was nearer to the door now.

"Why do you keep doing this?" Zoey couldn't help but ask, "You _know _what's going to happen to me after school. Why try and keep me away from my friends? I'm not going to see them anymore for all eternity."

"This has nothing to do with your Aunt's plans for your future, Miss Emeraude," Umbridge spoke, "As I said before, naughty children need to be punished."

"Well horrid teachers like you need to be sacked," Zoey said quickly, surprised with her words, before dashing out of the tower, slamming the door on her way out. She was halfway down the flight of stairs when she heard Umbridge's angered screech.

Zoey let out a laugh.

It was so unlike her to act this way but all of a sudden she felt… free.

The Emeraude jumped down the last few steps and landed on her hands and knees but she didn't care. At the moment she felt invincible. Was this what Fred, George and Bridgit felt after every prank they pulled? Was it this enlightening?

Zoey didn't know.

All she knew was that it was one of the greatest feelings she ever felt in her entire life.

* * *

"You look like the walking dead," Jane said bluntly as she walked side by side with Zoey. The two had just finished their breakfast; all that was left was to tour around the school while the other year levels were out doing their business.

"I… I can't help it," Zoey said, stifling a yawn, "I haven't slept till five in the morning."

"I thought you wake up at five?"

"Exactly," Zoey yawned loudly this time, covering her mouth and closing her eyes a bit. When she opened them, she had slight tears on her water line. She wiped them away.

The reason for Zoey's jumbled up sleeping schedule was that she was too busy worrying about the current state of her Transfiguration teacher that she had forgotten about sleep. She, the person who had waited for the time to crash on her bed and pass out, had not gotten any shuteye at all.

Zoey stopped her walking in order to create another large yawn and stumbled on her feet. She was sleep deprived and very dizzy. She didn't know if she could go on any longer. Jane looked worriedly at her friend but Zoey merely gave her a reassuring smile before placing her hand on the doors of the Great Hall.

The fifth years were finishing up their OWL exams.

"Why don't you go one without me, Jane?" Zoey then said, leaning against the wall and slumping to the floor, "Meet up with Aiden and all…"

"I don't think I can do that, Zoey. You look like you're just going to pass out right now," Jane giggled at the sight of Zoey's lolling head. "If you wanted to sleep you should have stayed back in the Common Room."

Zoey didn't reply anymore. She was out cold. Jane shook her head at her friend. It was so like her to sleep in the most public of places. Zoey was truly a child at times. The pureblood crouched near her friend and pushed her bangs away from her face. Zoey was slightly snoring. The kind of snore one would make when he or she was truly tired.

"Honesty, you couldn't have waited to go to the field to sleep under a tree or something, could you?" Jane whispered leaning her head back to look at the ceiling.

There was no reply. Just tired snoring.

Jane laughed and stood up from her position, stretching. She wondered vaguely if she could quickly leave Zoey where she was and tell Aiden that she would not be able to spend the day with him as planned until she got Zoey to a proper place to snooze.

"Was Zoey drugged?"

Jane nearly screamed out of surprise as she spun around to see Aiden peering over her shoulder, raising a curious eyebrow at Zoey's sleeping figure. He then looked over to Jane and sent her a wink.

"Just sleep deprived," Jane told him in a hushed tone, "Was up all night worrying about McGonagall."

Aiden's face turned solemn. "You heard about that, huh?"

"I think the whole bloody school had heard about it," Jane furrowed her brows, "Can't believe people would do such a thing."

"Well, believe it. Seeing as Umbridge is running this joint now," Aiden sighed, looking back at Zoey, "Is it okay to leave her here?"

"We're still here aren't we? We didn't exactly leave her," Jane stuck out her tongue at her boyfriend.

"I meant leave her on the floor. It's not a really comfortable place to be sleeping on," Aiden rolled his eyes at Jane's childish act and bumped her shoulder with his in a sort of game.

Jane tilted her head at him and then at Zoey. "Wish Fred was still here. He would have done something about it," she then said.

"You mean you aren't going to help her?" Aiden raised his brow.

"Do you think I can carry her?" Jane gave him a look, "She's light but I'm weak."

"I could always carry her. But you need to bring her to your dorm…" Aiden trailed off, seeing something unwanted in a distance.

It was Umbridge in all of her pink clad glory. Her heels clicked and clacked against the floor and her pencil skirt swayed with every step. It would have looked mesmerizing with any other woman but seeing as it was the toad queen, it was just sickening. Jane must have noticed Aiden's facial expression for she turned around and made a sound of discomfort.

"Well, Miss Chatsworth, Mister Durham, what are you two doing outside the testing room of the fifth years?" Umbridge asked once she got close enough to them. She purposely did not mention Zoey's sleeping state. "I do hope you aren't sending them answers to the tests."

"Why, professor, you must now that that is impossible to do," Jane said, "And we were merely reminiscing. This is, after all, our final year in Hogwarts."

"You don't say…" Umbridge then looked at Zoey, "What is Miss Emeraude doing, may I ask?"

"Sleeping," Came Aiden's reply. He did not care about Umbridge being the new Headmistress. He finished his NEWTS and if he had the choice, he would have just ran out of Hogwarts like the twins and rejoiced. Umbridge meant nothing to him.

Umbridge's mouth twitched slightly from the reply and she giggled to hide her slight surprise from Aiden's comment. She then took a side step towards Zoey.

"But this is not the proper place to be sleeping in," Umbridge then said, "Would you please wake her up, Miss Chatsworth?"

"I think it's a rather comfortable place to be taking a nap, Professor, and it would be very rude of me to interrupt her dreaming," Jane sniffed, hooking her arm with Aiden.

Umbridge had her entire mind sent on the intention of sending Jane and Aiden to detention but she was interrupted by the incoherent mumblings coming from Zoey. The Emeraude was stirring in her position and brought her hand up to her eyes to wipe away the sleep. She had no idea how long she had been asleep for but she did know that it wasn't enough to satisfy her.

Zoey rolled her neck to get the stiffness out.

"Well, glad to see that you could finally join us, Miss Emeraude," Umbridge said with all her venom filled sweetness in her voice. Zoey's eyes widened and she quickly shot up from her place from the floor.

"Professor!" Zoey said, sending a look towards Jane and Aiden, "Fancy seeing you here."

"Don't give me that, Miss Emeraude, you know full well that you're in deep trouble," Umbridge said, her mouth twitching.

"Zoey? In trouble? Have you gone mad?" Jane snorted into her hand and received a nudge from Aiden.

"I… I…" Zoey couldn't find the words to say. She had not meant to run away, it just happened. It was reflex. Spontaneous action for her.

"I am very sorry for my actions, Professor Umbridge, and I will accept whatever punishment you will give me for I've seen the wrong in my actions," Umbridge continued from Zoey's panicked blabbering. "So, Miss Emeraude, shall we head to my office?"

Zoey took a couple deep breaths, her face contorted to a sort of determined look. This was going to be her last few moments in Hogwarts and in the outside world and she hoped to spend each and every waking moment of it wisely. She wanted to hang out more with her friends (which she was able to do through studying and meeting each other in the halls) and she planned to spend more time with Fred.

The latter obviously didn't work out for her.

She bit her lip and felt an odd sensation at the pit of her stomach. It was the same feeling she got last night when she ran away from Umbridge. It was the feeling of adrenaline. The freeing feeling she got when she did something Bridgit and the twins would do.

It scared her to realize that she was going to do something completely out of character once more but it was also satisfying.

Years she's been a shy shell…. Now, she got the chance to break loose if just for a few minutes.

"Miss Emeraude," Umbridge said, seeing that Zoey had yet to react, "My office… NOW."

"Like hell I would listen to you," Zoey spoke, shocking everyone within hearing distance.

The Emeraude quickly pivoted, sent a shocked Jane and Aiden a grin, and once again ran away from Umbridge. Zoey had had a lot of experienced in the act of running so turning corners, dodging suits of armor and statues had become an easy task for her.

Though she had just told Umbridge that she would not be going to her office for detention, Zoey did end up running towards the direction of the toad queen's office.

Zoey opened the door with a great heave and made a quick scan of the pink room before her eyes landed at the fireplace. She grinned, her adrenaline still rushing through her veins, and got a handful of floo powder.

She realized that she should have done this long ago.

Simply break free from her shy demeanor and do something wild… crazy.

Sure, she would end up returning to her original state but did she give a damn? No! Zoey realized that she had spent most of her life hiding when she should have spent it living.

Zoey stepped into the fireplace, took a quick scan of the room once more, said a silent prayer and threw the floopowder to the floor.

"12 GRIMMAULD PLACE!" she exclaimed and disappeared through the flames.

* * *

**I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW**

**It's been MONTH since I last updated and believe me when I say that it has been KILLING ME INSIDE to know the fact that you are all waiting for the next update.**

**I apologize for my absence**

**It's just that Highschool is busier than what I expected it to be.**

**Homework and projects given every waking day and not enough time to actually procrastinate.**

**IT'S TIME EATING AND STRESS GIVING.**

**If you taken notice to my A/N in majority of the past chapters you would see that I would mention procrastination on my Homework just to update.**

**I CAN'T DO THAT ANYMORE.**

**There is no FREAKING time to PROCRASTINATE.**

**If I do, I DIE.**

**ANYWAY, I would also like to inform you that even though I've been busy doing my Homework, Crossroads was always on my mind.**

**I NEVER STOPPED THINKING ABOUT IT.**

**I was always concerned that you lot would lose patience and stop reading.**

**Really, I have you guys to thank for this story being as successful as it is now.**

**Moving on, I have a Twitter account with the same name and if you want, you can check it out and see what nonsense things I do in my everyday life.**

**Nonsense things being my Homework and such.**

**You can see how stressful things can get and see if I am working on Crossroads or not.**

**I TRULY want to go back to the days where I could update everyday.**

**A little FYI to you all. This is the second time I'm typing out my Author's note. The first one was accidentally deleted and there was no way in getting all that I've written down back. (MOOD: PISSED)**

**Going on to something more important.**

**Have any of you watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2?**

**I have.**

**TWICE**

**And I cried like a baby both times.**

**I swear.**

**My friend understood why but my family didn't.**

**I'm the only wizard in my family.**

**So heartbreaking so beautiful.**

**Guess which part I cried the most at? ;)**

**ANYWHO!**

**I just want to say, thank you for all your reviews, favorites and alerts. They are all very much appreciated.**

**I wish I could return the favor and update more often but until my school lightens up on requirements, I don't see that happening.**

**I WANT TO WRITE MORE SO BAD.**

**Well, it's getting late and I must sleep now since I have another busy day ahead of me.**

**IT JUST DOESN'T STOP.**

**I KNOW I had more to say. MORE apologies to give but I'm simply too tired to go on. I'm writing this at night but I'm sure I'll upload this chapter tomorrow morning or afternoon.**

**MAYBE if you're lucky I am uploading it right after this author's note.**

**You never know.**

**So, I hope you all understand that I simply can't update as much as I used to. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter even though it was shorter than the last (A fact that I'm slightly ashamed of. I wanted to great you all with a VERY long chapter but it just isn't possible right now)**

**OH**

**And in this chapter you saw Zoey act slightly out of character but I must say this.**

**GIVE HER SOME CREDIT**

**She NEVER acted like that before. It was about time she did. Even for a little bit.**

**It just shows that even though Zoey's going to be taken away, she knows how to fight. She's learning how to live her life and get what she wants now.**

**She wanted to escape Umbridge.**

**She escaped Umbridge.**

**That's my little message for you all :]**

**Well, I guess that is all. I have nothing more to say except**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter**

**Please tell me what you thought**

**Excuse my typos and the like (I really wanted to show you guys the new chapter and did not have time to beta. Like I said, I don't have time to do such things anymore D: )**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter**

**And**

**I only own what I own**

**PS! I want to thank ZoomSkater14 and HayleyParadox for the huge amount of help :D**


	84. Chapter 82: In the End

**Chapter 82: In the End**

_The sun was up yet it did not melt the snow that decorated the roofs and grounds of Hogsmeade. The air was cold and the gentle breeze that came ever so often made the students close their eyes and enjoy its feel against cheeks. Some even had red noses. _

_The Hogwarts students nuzzled their face deeper in their scarves that donned their house colors as they stuffed their hands into their pockets and walked closer with their friends, trying to get warm. Most of them were heading to The Three Broomsticks to get a nice drink of Butterbeer to warm them up._

_Outside the warmth of the shops, laughter filled the air and several gleeful screams were heard when one was attacked by a snowball thrown by a specific Marauder. It was James Potter. _

_James sniggered and dodged a snowball, made by none of than Remus Lupin, before bending down to scoop up more of the cold, white substance into his hand, forming another ball to attack with. He peeked his head out of his hiding place and got hit in the face._

"_Bleh!" he exclaimed, falling back into the snow, dropping his weapon, "That was a sneaky attack, Natalie!"_

"_Your fault for being terrible at hiding, Potter!" Natalie laughed, flicking her wand and making the snow from the ground lift to her other hand and forming a ball shape. She tossed it up into the air before catching it and throwing it over to where she had hit James. It landed inches away from him. _

"_I thought you had an invisibility cloak for a reason!" she grinned and looked over to Remus, "Are you gonna hit him?"_

_Remus smirked and used his wand to levitate his snowball to fly over to James, landing on the fallen boy's head. There was a sound of spluttering. "I just did," he said._

"_That's cheating!" James sat up straight, furrowing his brows at his friend. His already unruly hair had snow particles decorating it and his glasses were askew in his face. His cheeks and nose were red from the cold and his teeth slightly chattering. "You're not supposed to use magic!"_

"_Are you a wizard or not?" Natalie stuck her tongue out at him, "You're just jealous cause you don't know how to make a snowball using magic. You do it the Muggle way!"_

"_You're supposed to do it the muggle way! It's a muggle game!" James countered._

"_Of course not," Remus sided with Natalie, "Muggles got it from us."_

_James gaped at his friend before standing up from his place and brushing of the snow that clung to his clothes and hair, he then made his way to Remus and Natalie and furrowing his brows at the former._

"_Whose side are you on, Moony?" he asked, running a hand through his hair, stopping it at the back of his head and scratching. _

"_Obviously he's on mine!" Natalie answered for the werewolf, clinging onto his arm. "He doesn't need to side with people who can't even do a simple spell to form snowballs at the palm of their hand!"_

"_I can do the spell!" James retorted, "I just wanted to play the game the HONEST way!"_

"_Since when did you ever play games the honest way, Prongs?" Remus raised a brow at him._

"_Since…. Since…. Since… Since now," James's cheeks were now flushed with embarrassment. He scanned the area, begging for a change of subject. He finally found one when he caught sight of Peter waddling his way through the snow to get to them. "Wormtail! Over here!" James hollered, waving his hand in the air, "Where's Padfoot?"_

_Peter winced a bit at the volume of James's voice, also from a sudden gust of cold wind, and quickened his pace towards his friend. Natalie made a face for a moment before busying herself by looking over to a random shop. She got a craving for sweets._

"_He… He said he wanted to stay behind," Peter said, his hands busying themselves with each other. He sniffed the air for a moment before looking over to some students walking away with cheese sticks. _

"_Stay behind? Why on earth would he want to do that?" James asked, leading his friends towards The Three Broomsticks. He was getting cold and wanted a nice mug f Butterbeer and some chips._

"_The – the Emeraude girl was there," Peter squeaked out, shivering from the cold. Even with the layers of clothing he had on, he was as twitchy as ever._

"_Lucy?" Remus asked, ordering four Butterbeers from the man and distributing them, "What were they doing?"_

_Peter took a large gulp of his beverage before looking up in thought. "Sirius wasn't doing anything. Emeraude was studying though." At this, Natalie snorted._

"_Poor bloke's gonna lose his mind," she said before drinking her drink in an un-lady like manner. She at least had the decency to hold in a burp. Natalie then wiped her mouth before continuing. "It's impossible to have a ongoing conversation with the girl when she's in her 'Studious mode'."_

"_You would know," Remus chuckled._

"_Believe me, it's horrid when it's this close to exams. Lily's practically living in the library and Lucy is buried under books… why do you think I hang out with you guys?" Natalie then grinned._

"_You mean you don't hang out with us for the sake of having fun?" James mocked shock._

"_Pfft, of course I do," Natalie replied, "It's just having you guys for company when exams near is a bonus."_

_Moving away from Hogsmeade, not all students chose to spend their free day outside of school, looking in shops and hanging out with friends in the cold. Some, like Lily, spent their time in the library while others chatted in the Great Hall and the field. Those who were Second Year and below stayed in their Common Room, busying themselves with a nice game of Wizard's Chess and Exploding Snap._

_Then there were people like Lucy who spent her free day sitting on the floor in front of the couch, reading by the fireplace. The fire wasn't as strong as it would be at night but it was fine by her. As long as the words on her book were readable, she had no complaints. _

_Well, she had no complaints on the book. The company; however, was a different matter._

"_Bloody hell, Luce, you're just as bad as Evans!" Sirius whined, tugging at a strand of Lucy's hair, trying to get her to actually talk to him. He had been trying to get her attention for ages and none of his actions were working. This was his last resort._

_Lucy sighed irritably and shut her book close, looking over her shoulder to see Sirius sitting on the couch behind her, his elbows on his thighs and a strand of her hair in his hand. Sirius grinned. He finally looked at him It was SOME progress._

"_And why – may I ask – do you say that?" Lucy asked. It wasn't like she didn't like being compared to Lily. In fact it was an honor. It was just that they way Sirius said it, made her think different._

"_You have your nose so deep in the book I'm beginning to think you're going to get sucked into it," Sirius said, dropping the strand of hair, "Seriously, drop the book, throw it in the fireplace for all I care, just go out with me!"_

_Lucy's eyes widened, her mouth hung open and her cheeks flushed. "G… Go out?"_

"_Yeah," Sirius shrugged like he said nothing wrong, "Hogsmeade or at least around Hagrid's house. ANYWHERE as long as we get out of this common room."_

"_Git!" Lucy exclaimed slapping Sirius' knee with her book. Her brows were furrowed and a healthy red decorated her cheeks. She had assumed he meant something else only to find out she was way of tract. The fact that she actually believed he was asking her out made her more embarrassed. She thumped his knee two more times._

"_Ow! Bloody hell! What's gotten into you?" Sirius yelled, moving his poor kneecaps away from harm and bringing them to his chest as he readjusted his position on the couch so he took a fetal position. "You should have just said that you rather stay inside the bleeding common room!"_

"_You think this is about the common room?" Lucy asked incredulously, "You're so…. So… thick!"_

"_What else could it be about?"_

"_What – You know, FORGET YOU!" Lucy then sniffed, standing up from the ground and holding her head up high, "Let's just get out of here so you would stop bothering me."_

_Sirius remained silent. He was shocked by the sudden change of heart but the shock soon wore off and a smug smile graced his lips. He got up from the couch and slung an arm around Lucy shoulder, fighting against her trying to shrug him off. _

"_What a smashing idea, love," he said before dragging the Emeraude out of the common room, disappearing from sight._

George gave a low whistle as he looked down at the empty box of the "Reusable Hangman." He had just closed the shop for the day and was thinking of doing the restocking on the same day as to not be bothered by it tomorrow. He didn't want to be bothered by the fact that a customer would be wondering where the said product was and he would have to spend some time looking for stock.

The boy matured a little since leaving school and creating a business with his brother. He was thinking wisely and was doing better at making decisions. Never did he procrastinate when it came to restocking and managing the amount of money they've earned for the day. But don't think the twins were all "Percy –like" now. Never. The two were still the same pranksters everyone knows and loves. Of course they have to be. They owned a bloody successful joke shop.

George picked up the empty box and tossed it in the air, spinning it as it flew, before catching it and making his way up the stairs and towards the room he and his brother shared. They had an apartment above their shop and it was big enough for just the two of them. The reason why they chose to share the same room was because they used the others for a "Work Room" and "Experiment Room" and such. It was their way of being messily organized.

He tossed the box in the air one last time before reading the back of the box (something he found amusing because of the way he and his brother described the product) and pushing the door to the shared bedroom open.

"Hey Fred, do you know where we kept the extra supplies of – Merlin's pants! What happened to you?" George asked after he looked up from the box to catch sight of his twin's current appearance.

Fred looked up from the piece of parchment in his hand and raised a curious brow at his brother. He was leaning into his chair and his feet were propped up on the table, one leg on top of the other. There was an open envelope by his feet and behind that envelope was Eos, who cleaning her feathers.

The older of the twins put down the letter and ran a hand through his hair. His hand had several bite marks along with his face. He even had some scratches and the like while his shirt looked like it was brutally tugged. There were even some feathers resting on his shoulders and head.

"Ah Georgie my good lad!" Fred greeted, dropping his feet back on the ground, "What brings you here?"

"What's Zoey's owl doing here?" George didn't bother answering Fred's question.

"You mean Eos? Oh, she just dropped Zoey's letter," Fred sent a nasty look towards the owl before picking up the letter. Eos pecked his hand, seeing the look he gave her. "Ruddy bird," Fred muttered, dodging another attack.

George laughed and pulled out a biscuit from his pocket (how it got in there in the first place was to remain a mystery), holding it out for the Owl. Eos hooted with appreciation and flew to George's open arm, nipping affectionately at his ear before eating the biscuit. Fred swore under his breath.

"All animals seem to hate me," Fred then said, laughing at his own misfortune with his friends' pets. "First there's Bridgit's mutt and now Zoey's letter deliverer."

Eos moved his beak in a threatening manner and Fred held up his hands in defense.

"So what did she say in the letter?" George looked towards the letter, not really wanting to snatch it out of his twin's hand. It was something his girlfriend sent him personally. If he were to get something from Echo (he was really hoping to get something from her soon) he would not like it if Fred were to read it without permission.

They were twins, yes, and they did not keep secrets from each other but some things are just meant to be kept private.

"Zoe and the rest have just taken their NEWTS," Fred smiled a bit, knowing that Zoey was excited to tell him the news.

He could sense the excitement through her writing. That and there were numerous errors and erasures. The words that she tried to put into writing just spewed onto the paper inelegantly. You could practically sense the jittering joy.

"She's also inviting us to attend the graduation," he added, showing the invitation to George.

"Graduation…" George gave a whistle and scanned the letter, letting Eos fly away from him to take a spot near the window. She fluttered her wings and took a still stance. "It just seemed like we got our Hogwarts letters yesterday, doesn't it, Gred?"

"Hmm?" Fred hummed, making his way towards the door, "Yeah… do you still remember the prank we pulled on the train, Forge?"

"How could I forget? It practically told the entire school to watch out for the Weasley twins have come to Hogwarts!" George laughed and Fred joined in.

"We even dragged Echo into the prank!" Fred snickered.

"She was so pissed when we ran down the hall," George shook his head, smile on his face, "Separated herself when she had the chance –"

"– And it took us the entire train ride to find her only to see her sitting in the same compartment as Zoey," Fred ran a hand through his hair, remembering Zoey as an eleven year old girl. He didn't even look at her twice.

At what Fred said, George's smile slowly left his face and his brows furrowed in thought. Fred caught the change in atmosphere and cocked a brow at his brother, remaining silent, he knew what George's thinking face looked like and he also knew it was best to keep quiet until George spoke. Eos hooted and fluttered her wings in discomfort. Even the owl wasn't use to being in a silent room with the twins.

"Zoey… was in the same compartment?" George finally asked, his own eyebrow raised at his twin. Fred looked at him in disbelief.

"You didn't know?" he blinked in surprise, "She was even there when we were about to be sorted."

"She was?"

"How can you forget? Her name was called around four times before she got up," Fred tried to jog up George's memory. George usually was the one reminding him about certain things, with the roles changed, Fred was beginning to worry. How could George forget their first "meeting" with the Emeraude?

_The Great Hall's doors opened and the First years entered in an orderly fashion, in two straight lines. Fred was on the left line while George was on the right. Echo was near the front of the line, hidden. He gawked at the sight before him and looked to his twin, grinning at him widely, George returned it. _

_This was it. Once they got up there and sorted, they were going to be official students in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry._

_Let the devious ideas of pranking begin._

_The Sorting Hat was then placed on the stool in front and he opened his mouth wide in order to sing his song. The song he made special for the newest of students. Like wands, no two songs were alike. _

_He sang about Hogwarts and how he was made and what was his job. He mentioned what each house required and what you would achieve._

_Soon, the song ended and McGonagall pulled out a scroll and read out the first name on the list._

_The Sorting had begun._

_Eleven year olds came and went with different speeds. Some stayed on the stool for less than a minute while others took longer. After their house was announced, many jumped off their seat to join their housemates while others needed to be snapped out of their shocked silence. Fred was overwhelmed with excitement and nervousness._

"_Which house do you think you'd be sorted into, Georgie?" he leaned a bit in order for his twin to hear his whisper._

"_Gryffindor, definitely," George grinned, watching Echo make her way to the stool, "Do you even need to ask?"_

"_RAVENCLAW!" the Sorting Hat announced for all to hear._

_The twins clapped their hands, giving a "Whoop!", and followed Echo with their eyes until she reached her House table, sitting elegantly and nodding her head to those who welcomed her. Fred leaned once more to continue his and his twin's conversation._

"_But just say that we were not sorted into Gryffindor –" he began but was interrupted but the Sorting Hat shouting out "SLYTHERIN". Fred made a face._

"_We're Weasleys, Freddie, Weasleys are always in Gryffindor," George said confidently, pausing for a moment. He hadn't heard the hat shout out a house in a while, "Did it break?"_

"_Huh?" Fred looked back to the stool, craning his head a bit and saw that it was empty and several of the teachers and students were looking around. He looked back to George and the two of them shrugged at the same time, both not knowing what was going on._

"_Emeraude, Zoey?" McGonagall asked in her loud voice, looking at the First years that stood in the middle of the Great Hall. No one approached the stool. "Zoey Emeraude?" she tried again._

_Fred noticed that everyone was reacting to the name, looking for the owner, except for the small girl standing in front of him. The girl's head was slightly pointed down and it appeared that she was deep in thought. He looked over to George and his brother gave him a look, telling him that she could be the one. _

"_Ask her," George whispered, "I want to get sorted so we can end this."_

"_You just want to get sorted now so you can eat," Fred pointed out, hearing the low rumble of George's stomach._

"_Being a Weasley is awesome except when it comes to sorting. We have to wait so bloody long before it's out turn," George grinned, "Besides, if I'm hungry, I'm sure you're hungry too."_

"_True," Fred laughed before looking back at the girl in front of him. He licked his lips and got closer to her, nudging her in the ribs. The girl jumped slightly in shock before regaining her composure. Fred watched with slight amusement as the girl's long brown hair whipped from side so side as she looked around herself, panicked by everyone's ogling stares. He was right. This girl was Zoey._

_The girl swiftly turned around to face him and Fred took note of her deep red cheeks, flushed from embarrassment. He leaned down to her level, it was surprising how short she was compared to him, and whispered in her ear._

"_Are you Zoey Emeraude?" he asked her. He needed to clarify first before telling her to get up there. It would be embarrassing if she took a seat on the stool only to find out that it wasn't her turn._

_Zoey, he happily clarified, nodded her head. Fred grinned._

"_You're up next," George suddenly spoke, sharing a grin identical to his brother's, "Don't want to keep the rest of us waiting." He was considerate and hungry._

"_Your name has been called at least four times," Fred guessed, "Better get up there, love."_

_Fred felt the need to chuckle when he saw Zoey's blush deepen. She gave him and George a nervous smile before turning around and making her way to the Sorting Hat. She gave the professors an apologetic nod before taking a seat on the stool, hat placed on her head._

_She jumped the moment the hat made contact with her brown looks and if possible, she looked almost scared. Fred wondered what was happening but before he could even ask George on his opinion, the hat took a deep breath and announced._

"_HUFFLEPUFF!"_

"That was her?" George gasped, his eyes widening at the realization, "No wonder I couldn't recognize her! She was so different!"

"Different?" Fred snorted, "She's the same as ever."

"I was probably blinded by hunger then," George said sheepishly, shrugging his shoulder. Fred laughed and thumped his brother on the shoulder before stuffing his hand into his pocket, making his way towards the door.

Fred wasn't even leaving the doorframe when Eos made a screech, flying to him and pecking at his head and arms.

"BLOODY BIRD!" Fred exclaimed, shielding himself with his hands. He did not dare get his wand from his pocket in fear that he would harm the bird. Zoey would not like that.

"I think she wants you to reply to Zoey's letter," George said, not even hiding his laughter.

"Where do you think I'm going?" Fred glared, "I'm going to get the blasted parchment to reply on!"

"What did you do to make her so angry anyway?" George asked; Eos already leaving Fred alone to take her spot near the window once more, her large eyes staring into Fred's soul, daring him to leave without giving her his reply.

"Left her in the cold all night, I suppose. Just opened the window to get some fresh air and BOOM she pelted me with her beak before dropping Zoey's letter on the floor," Fred grumbled, rubbing his wounds before giving the bird a look.

Eos squawked at him and Fred took this chance to escape, slamming the door close on his way. George shook his head, chuckling to himself before walking over the desk and picking up Fred's and his new plans for a new product, Giggling Gumballs.

* * *

_BOOM! CLATTER! SMASH!_

Zoey groaned and let out a heavy cough once her body made contact with the hard floor of the kitchen. Several chairs where pushed out of the way due to her fall and objects that were placed on the edge of the kitchen table fell to the floor. The ash from the fireplace exploded everywhere and Zoey was covered by it. She tried her best not to take deep breaths but couldn't help it for all she could do at the moment was cough.

"Who's there?" came a strong voice from the other side of the kitchen door.

"M – Me!" Zoey gasped, trying to wipe away the floo powder from her eyes. Her glasses her pushed far up her head and everything around her was blurry. The particles of dust didn't help her vision either.

The creak of the door was then heard followed by several footsteps making their way towards Zoey. The Emeraude's eyes were squeezed shut and she did not see the person who was helping her too her feet.

"Geez, Zoey, what happened to you?" the same voice asked; only its volume was a bit softer now. Zoey felt something cold and wet wash over her hands and arms along with her face.

Zoey brought her now clean hands to her eyes and wiped away the water before placing removing her glasses from her head, cleaning it and placing them back on her face. The owner of the voice was her dad.

"Umbridge," was all Zoey said, making Sirius react immediately.

"What did that hag do to you?" his eyes darkened.

"Nothing… yet. I escaped when I had the chance," Zoey told him, her eyebrows knitted together and an uneasy smile on her face, "I broke the rules, escaped, was found the next day and escaped to here."

"Broke the rules?" Sirius' eyes widened.

Zoey vigorously nodded her head, pulling out a kitchen chair and gesturing to her father to take a seat as well. She began to play with the hem of her skirt as she retold all the events that led to her arriving to The Noble House of Black.

During the retelling, her father would occasionally nod his head whenever Zoey said something important, but he would never utter a word or distract her from her train of thought. Zoey spoke with a steady rhythm and no interruptions.

When the Emeraude finished her story, her father was still silent. This caused her to feel a small jolt of panic within her. Was escaping to here a bad idea? Did she interrupt an important order meeting? Had her father gotten sick and tired of her already?

Absurd thought after absurd thought ran through her mind before she finally got the courage to childishly ask her father: "Am I in trouble?"

Sirius' seemed to have snapped out of a daze for his head dropped slightly from the shock of Zoey's question and he had to blink his eyes several times before looking directly at his daughter. "Trouble?" he asked her, "Why would you be?"

"Well, I _did _go against school authority –" Zoey began, wincing at the thought. She couldn't believe that she actually rebelled.

"Umbridge isn't school authority. She's a frog," Sirius scoffed.

"Toad actually," Zoey cracked a smile.

"Hideous amphibian all the same," Sirius barked a laugh, "Let's get you settled into your room, shall we?"

* * *

Harry's heart pounded violently against his chest as he walked briskly down the halls, his mind in total chaos. He had been excused from the exam after screaming and falling to the floor, seeing into Voldemort's mind once again.

He needed to find Zoey, he needed her help.

A throbbing pain burned at Harry's temples and the boy had to squint his eyes, looking every which way for his godsister. He had already made a plan with Hermione, Ron and Luna to infiltrate Umbridge's office and to check if Sirius was truly safe in 12 Grimmauld Place.

All he needed to do was find Zoey. If Sirius was indeed in trouble, Zoey had to be with him when he saves the man.

Harry was beginning to get frustrated. Where was that girl? Left, right, up, down, back, front. She was nowhere in sight. He was just about ready to scream in anger when he saw Jane come to view. She was waving goodbye to her boyfriend, Aiden. Harry felt an ounce of hope jump in him.

"Jane!" he exclaimed, running to catch up with the Hufflepuff. Jane jumped at the sudden call of her name and turned around the see a disheveled Harry.

"Harry –" she began, concern lacing her words, but was interrupted by Harry's rushed words.

"Have you seen Zoey?" he asked her, his head looking left and right, praying to catch sight of the girl, "Do you know where she is?"

"She's not here," Jane told him truthfully, a strange feeling of guilt welling up in the pit of her stomach. Harry looked so panicked right now and she knew for a fact that what she had just told him did not help his stress levels in decreasing.

"What do you mean 'She's not here'?" Harry all but whispered, his eyes widening. Jane opened her mouth to explain further but was interrupted by another yell.

"HARRY!" it was Bridgit, looking just as stressed out as the boy who lived. She avoiding crashing into a statue and made a run towards Harry. All her attention and relief was focused on the boy that she did not even notice Jane's presence.

"Thank goodness I found you!" She exclaimed, wanting to embrace the boy who now stood in front of her. "I've got to-"

"Have you seen Zoey?" Harry suddenly exclaimed, cutting Bridgit off midway. "Do you know where she is?"

"Wait, huh? What?" Bridgit asked, confused as to what Harry had said. "No I haven't seen her, but I really need to tell-

"Where could Zoey be?" Harry shouted, frustrated now by his missing godsister.

"Harry I really need to-"

"How about Echo, do you think she knows where Zoey is?" Harry now asked, frustrating Bridgit as well. Why couldn't he let her finish her goddamn sentence?

"I don't know, but will you please list-"

"Fine then!" Harry said, running away. "I've gotta go find Zoey!"

"Harry wait!" Bridgit shouted, trying to stop him, but he was to far from ear shot now. "That idiot..." She whispered, suddenly realizing that she wasn't alone in the corridor. She turned towards Jane and asked her a question as well. "Do you happen to know where our little Zoey is?"

* * *

"Wow, it's still in perfect condition," Zoey joked the moment her dad led her to the room she and Echo shared over the summer and Christmas.

There wasn't much to it. It had the same forest green walls as all the other room and the same window that had a brown frame around it. There was a vine – ish design around the doorframe and on the furniture but that was about it.

Plain and simple room, clean too.

"Give me some credit, Zoey," Sirius chuckled, leaning against the doorframe to take a good look of the room, "I'm not a total slob."

"Aunt Maria says you are," Zoey said, plopping down on her bed and bouncing slightly due to the springs. "She tells me that if I entered the dorm you shared with Uncle Moony and James, I would have heart failure from the shock and stench."

"Don't believe what that blasted woman has to say about our room," Sirius paused, "In fact, don't believe what that blasted woman has to say about anything. It's all lies. Our room wasn't that bad, if you're rooming with Moony, some things _do _have to have some order to them."

At this, Zoey broke into a wide grin and let out a laugh. She often wondered how life was back in the day her parents and godparents still studied in Hogwarts. Was her mother anything like her? Shy and reserved or was Natalie like Bridgit? Loud but with tact? Were the Marauders' pranks anything like Fred and George's? How about Lily? Did her studying habits match up to that of Echo's?

All those question were left unanswered and unsaid for before Zoey could even utter something, Sirius shot up from his position and looked out to the hallway, his body tense like a dog when danger is approaching.

"Da –" Zoey began but her father held up his hand, signaling her to keep quiet for a while. The Emeraude bit her lip and stood up from her place, approaching the man.

"I need to get something," Sirius said when Zoey was about three feet away from him. He looked back to his daughter and sent her a weary smile, "Why don't you grab something to eat in the kitchen? I'm sure there's something edible there."

"I'll see what I can prepare," Zoey told him, giving him a nod. Sirius nodded his head as well before fully leaving the room and dashing off to a place only he knew where. The Emeraude took a shaky breath before going the opposite direction and making her way to the kitchen.

The journey down the steps and towards the kitchen did not take long. In fact, it would have been faster if not Zoey took the time to explore a bit and enter a room where she found a large wall dedicated to the Black Family Tree. The girl craned her neck and stood on the tips of her toes as she tried to trace back everyone to the very beginning and back. She used her finger to delicately trace her way down and around the vines until she stopped on her father's name.

His picture was nothing but a burnt hole. Even her name was not listed on the family tree.

This fact did not sadden her but it made her realize that on both sides of her family, she did not exist; her father's side did not acknowledge her while on her mother's, she was better off dead.

Zoey swallowed hard and left the room, going back to her original task in heading to the kitchen.

When Zoey neared her destination, careful to creep past her grandmother's portrait, she began to hear quick and hoarse whispering. She raised her brow in curiosity and pressed her ear against the door. How she wished she had her own pair of Extendable Ears right about now.

"Where has Sirius gone?" someone yelled, "_Kreacher, has he gone to the Department of Mysteries?_"

_Department of Mysteries? _Zoey blinked in wonder, pressing her ear closer to the door. She knew that by entering, she would disrupt the curious conversation and would never know what it was about. _But dad was just with me a minute ago… _she furrowed her brows in concentration, straining to hear the exchange of suspicious words clearer.

"Master does not tell poor Kreacher where he is going," a croaky voice said.

Zoey's eyes widened and she was half tempted to burst into the room and see who the house elf was talking to. It could not possibly just be Kreacher talking to himself again. If so, did the elf learn how to entirely change his voice?

"But you know! Don't you? You know where he is!" the other voice shouted once more. The Emeraude began to wonder if she just pulled her ear slightly away from the door, would she still be able to hear the yelling?

A loud cackle made Zoey jump in her place and go back to paying attention to the conversation. "Master will not come back from the Department of Mysteries! Kreacher and his Mistress are alone again!"

The sounds of footsteps leaving the room made Zoey react immediately. She quickly pushed the door open just in time to see Kreacher leave the room and Harry's face disappear from the fireplace. The Emeraude's brows shot up and she quickly slid against the floor to get to the fireplace faster.

"Harry!" she exclaimed when the smoke began to clear up, "Harry! Dad is still here! He's not in the Department of Mysteries or anything!"

But it was no use, Harry was no longer in the fireplace and he could no longer hear Zoey's message. The girl's breath quickened and she began to look every which way. She should have interrupted the conversation sooner, if she did, she would have been able to tell Harry the truth.

Yet, why was Harry asking Kreacher all those questions in the first place? What gave him the idea that her father was in the Department of Mysteries?

Zoey looked over to the pot of floo powder and debated whether she should run after Harry or not. Knowing the boy, he was going to look for trouble or in his words; trouble was looking for him.

"Don't be daft," Zoey whispered, "The only place he would be able to use the floor network is in Umbridge's office,"

Grey eyes widened and Zoey shot up from her seat on the floor and quickly ran out of the kitchen, screaming for her dad in an adrenaline panic. She did not care than she had woken up her grandmother's portrait, she did not give a damn that her yells, mixed with her grandmother's, woke up the other portraits and caused more ruckus than necessary.

Zoey did not care.

She needed to find her dad and fast.

Up and down, left to right, all around and yet Zoey still could not find her father. The Emeraude could not believe how many rooms 12 Grimmauld Place held and she was angered by the fact that some rooms were impossible to open. She could not just scan every which room for her dad. She had to be thorough with her search.

"DADDY!" Zoey screamed, her panic levels rising to the very brink of her sanity. She did not know how many minutes or so had passed and she was getting frantic (if she was not already frantic to begin with). Her head whipped from side to side, scared that what Harry had thought was right, her father was indeed in the Department of Mysteries.

Tears threatened to fall and Zoey took deep breaths before continuing her search. She could not stop now. She had to continue. "DA –" she was ready to scream once more but her words were muffled when her face made contact with a soft fabric and a hard chest. She stumbled a bit and took a few steps back before jumping to embrace her father.

"You're here! You're here!" She said with glee, releasing him from her hold. She suddenly realized why she was looking for him in the first place. "Dad… Dad… Harry… he's – he's –"

"In the Department of Mysteries, I know," Sirius said, his face holding an emotion Zoey never saw before.

"He's there?" Zoey nearly screamed, not noticing that her tears were already sliding down her cheeks, "But… But he said _you _were there!"

"He thought I was there. I'm heading there now," Sirius told her, looking behind him. Zoey leaned to her right a bit to see familiar Aurors standing behind her father.

"Mad – Eye… Tonks… Uncle Moony," She whispered before looking back to her father, "Why are you going there? You're supposed to stay _here! _Where you're safe!"

"If I stay here, then Harry wouldn't be safe," Sirius tried to make her understand.

"You can't possibly be letting him do this?" Zoey looked to her Uncle pleadingly, "The Department of Mysteries is in the Ministry of Magic, isn't it? He could get caught!"

"We need every ounce of help we can get, Miss Emeraude," Mad – Eye said gruffly, "Believe me, we rather have him stay here but we're going to go against Death Eaters and a whole lot of them."

Zoey's breaths were raged and she couldn't believe what she was hearing. She bit her lip, trying to stop anymore of her tears from streaming down. She then looked back at her dad and saw that he had a pained yet determined expression in his eyes. He brought a hand up to her face and wiped away her tears.

"Please don't go," Zoey begged. She had a painful feeling in her stomach that something bad was going to happen if her father left. "At least let me go with you," she offered when Sirius shook his head.

"I have to go," Sirius told her, "And you have to stay here."

"No you don't!" Zoey exclaimed, "There are a whole lot of Aurors in the Ministry of Magic. Let them handle it. Harry's strong. He can handle Death Eaters. He defeated Voldemort when he was barely a year old for crying out loud!"

"Zoey, listen to yourself. You'd never react this way if you're in the right mind," Tonks said gently, "Harry is strong but not strong enough for these Death Eaters. Word is that Bellatrix is with them."

"Let's get a move on!" Mad - Eye then said, "We're wasting money. Lives are at stake!"

"We have to go," Remus looked at Zoey, telling her to let them leave.

Sirius nodded his head to his old friend and looked back to his child, brushing her bangs away from her face and laying a kiss upon her forehead, ducking low and whispering comforting words into her ear.

"I promise I'll be back. When I return, I'll have Harry with me safe and sound. We'll all be alright and we'll all be a happy family," he told her, a smile gracing his lips, "I promise you that."

"Promise you'll come back?" Zoey asked him.

"I give you my word."

"Promise Harry will be with you, safe and sound?"

"Better if possible."

"We'll be a happy family?" Zoey looked very much hopeful.

"We'll be jumping with glee every five seconds and dancing every two seconds if you want," Sirius chuckled, "But yes, I promise."

Zoey took a breath and closed her eyes, trying to relax her mind. She opened them and kissed her father on the cheek, giving him a small smile.

"I'll be waiting," she told him, "Good Luck."

Sirius grinned, a spark in his eye, before turning around and running past the other Aurors, excited to finally be able to leave the dreaded house, go into the open and save his godson. Tonks and Mad – Eye followed the man out while Remus looked to Zoey and sent her a smile. Zoey returned it and bid him farewell.

She prayed for their safe return.

_Lucy drew in a quick breath as her eyes shot open and her leg jerked. All around her was darkness and she could feel a calm breath on her neck. She blinked her eyes several times before they readjusted to the dimness of the room and she could finally distinguish what lay around her._

_She was in a room, on a pillow, beside her husband Sirius who was fast asleep. Her right hand was placed in front of her face while her left lay below the right making it look like she was praying. Sirius was facing her, his head near her neck and his arm thrown over her waist, holding her close. Their position as rather awkward but it was comfortable._

_The Emeraude shifted in her place and took in slow deep breaths, trying to clam down her beating heart. She had just woken up from a nightmare. Wait, no, she had just woken up from a vision. Having the Emeraude gift of "Seer's Knowledge" kept Lucy on edge with every prediction. _

"_Sirius," Lucy whispered, her voice a bit rough. She readjusted her position and placed a hand on her lovers shoulder, shaking him a bit. "Sirius," she said once more, "Wake up."_

_A low grumble emitted from the man and he shook of Lucy's hand, turning to his back and continued his slumber, soft tired snores stopped the room from having complete and utter silence. Lucy furrowed her brows and lifted herself from her position, propping her body with her elbow. She shook him once more._

"_F…five more… more minutes," Sirius mumbled, shifting in the bed to shake off Lucy. The Emeraude squinted her eyes at him. She changed her position on the bed and sat with her legs tucked under herself. She tried other tactics in fully waking up her significant other but none seemed to be working._

_Lucy then glanced over to the bedside table and saw her wand peacefully lying on its place. Should she use a spell to wake him up? The Emeraude shook her head. It seemed too violent. A devious grin played on her pink lips and she stretched her arms a bit before doing the following._

"_SIRIUS!" Lucy shoved him, making Sirius loose his balance and fall to the ground with a loud thump, pillows and the blanket falling after him. Sirius yelled when his behind made contact with the hard floor and a groan soon followed once he was buried under the soft material of the pillows and blanket. _

"_Bloody hell, Luce, it's four in the morning," Sirius said, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head. The blanket hung over his left leg while the pillows stayed on his lap and floor._

"_I'm sorry," Lucy sincerely apologized, realizing that what she had done was very dangerous, "I just wanted to talk to you."_

"_Well… get talking," the man urged, pushing himself off of the floor and sitting back on the bed, dragging the pillows and blanket with him. "What's so important that you have to break my arse to wake me up?"_

_Lucy laughed softly and pulled Sirius' arm so that he would move closer to her. She then laid her head on his shoulder, her long brown hair cascading down her back and hanging inches from the mattress. _

_The Emeraude tried to get her thoughts together. The moment she woke up from her slumber, they were scattered all over the place, each one wanting to be shared with the public. She closed her eyes and sorted each vision frame in order before drawing a breath._

"_I had a vision," she whispered, opening her eyes to stare at their bedroom wall, "It scared me."_

"_What happened?" Sirius said in a quiet voice, wrapping an arm around his wife, squeezing her arm. _

_Sirius knew about Lucy's Emeraude power. He knew a lot about it. The man knew how much it scared his wife to know what would happen in a matter of minutes, days and years. It frightened the woman to know such things before they actually happened._

_Some things were meant to be a surprise. People should not be given the privilege to know things before hand when they are not supposed to. If one knew something that would happen in the near future and knows that he or she could do nothing to stop it, it could kill the person. Slowly but surely, it would harm them both physically and mentally._

"_Did you see any of our comrades hurt in battle?" Sirius asked, knowing that a war was soon to come. Everyone in the Order knew it, heck; everyone in the Wizarding and muggle world knew something was wrong. They knew that something dangerous was going to happen. "Was it James? Lily? Dumbledore?"_

_Lucy shook her head at each name Sirius gave her. The man furrowed his brown in thought and lifted Lucy's head from his shoulder. The girl's eyes were downcast and looked almost empty. What she saw was greatly troubling her._

"_Luce, how can I help you when you aren't telling me what you saw?" Sirius gently brushed a stray strand of her hair away from her face, "Was it Zoey? Did something happen to Zoey?"_

"_No… she's fine," Lucy whispered, remembering her latest moments with her daughter. The one-year-old was blissfully asleep on her bed, surrounded by her soft toys and snuggled up in her blanket. Lucy vaguely wondered if her child was still as peaceful as she left her._

"_Then what?" Sirius was getting worried. He always hated it when Lucy couldn't give him a straightforward answer. She always had to beat around the bush, keep him guessing._

"_Sirius, do you remember that promise you gave me the night you proposed?" Lucy suddenly brought up, looking at her husband in the eye. His grey eyes were wide with shock from the unexpected question. He shook himself out of his trance and nodded his head._

"_I said that I would always be with you," he remembered the night like it just happened seconds ago, "Through thick and thin. No matter what kind of shenanigans we get into – well, what I get into – we would still be together."_

"_And do you remember what the priest said when he wed us?" Lucy asked him._

_Sirius scanned his memory and closed his eyes, trying to distinguish the old man's muffled words. Lucy wasn't being clear with him. The Priest had said loads of things during the process of wedding then. What could she have possibly meant? After a minute or so had passed, Sirius finally got what he was looking for._

"_He said... 'Till death do us part'," Sirius told her, his eyes widening once more at the realization, "Is that what you saw, Luce? Did you see one of us…you know…"_

_Lucy could only nod her head._

"_No… you could be wrong," Sirius said, panic rising in him, "This vision, you could be wrong. Heck, it could have just been a nightmare. It can't possibly be true. One of us… dying. It's… it's –"_

"_Sirius, this was no dream. Visions and dreams… they come to me differently. What I saw was no lie. You know how my visions always come true," Lucy chocked, her tears welling up in her eyes, "I'm scared."_

"_Just this once…just let it be wrong," Sirius swallowed hard, wrapping his arms tighter around the girl. Even he was scared. Who wouldn't be after finding out that you and your wife are going to die? Sure, everyone dies, it's the circle of life but the way Lucy was acting, they weren't going to leave the world in their old and wrinkled age._

_The room was quiet. All that was heard was Lucy's strangled sobs. She did not want to cry but she couldn't help it. She saw. She actually saw how she was going to die and saw how Sirius was leaving the earth as well. Zoey… Zoey witnessed her death. She died right in front of her daughter's eyes. How could she? How could she go in such a way? Scarring her child for all her life? _

_Seconds turned into minutes and minutes soon became hours before Lucy regained composure and wiped her eyes dry. She felt tired and dreadful but she needed to tell Sirius more. He needed to know._

"_I'm… I'll be the first to go," she regretfully told him, "You and Zoey would still be living after I've left."_

"_Living?" Sirius asked incredulously, his brows furrowing. He was outraged by his wife's words but he did not dare lash out on her. It was not her fault that she had seen all this. "What makes you so sure I'll still be alive after you've gone?"_

"_You have to be!" Lucy yelled before covering her mouth and continuing in a quieter tone, "Who's going to be there for Zoey? She NEEDS you to be there for her."_

"_Then who's going to be there for us? Lucy, we need you just as much as you need us. We can't go on without you," Sirius told her._

"_But…. But I can't –"_

"_If you're gone… I don't think I would ever be the same again," Sirius continued, interrupting her, "Yes, I said 'If'. No matter what you say about the accuracy of your predictions, I'm not believing this one bit. I'm not accepting it."_

"_You would have to in the end!" Lucy cried._

"_Then we better pray that the end isn't coming anytime soon," Sirius gave her a smirk and kissed her on the forehead, running his hand through her long brown hair. _

_Lucy sucked in a breath and her eyes slowly closed as she relaxed against Sirius' touch. He could pray all he wanted but her end was coming very soon. The Emeraude felt her husband's arms tighten their hold and he cradled her against his chest as they collapsed back on the bed, ready to get as much sleep as possible before they would have to wake up and get ready for the day._

"_We should take Zoey on a family outing tomorrow," Sirius mumbled against the crown of Lucy's head, sleepiness evident in his voice, "Just the three of us."_

"_I would love that," Lucy whispered, a smile gracing her lips as she took in a breath and succumbed to dream land._

"MISS EMERAUDE!" a booming voice bounced against the walls, waking Zoey from her deep slumber. A screech of chair against floor was heard after followed by a soft thud of a stuffed toy falling to the floor.

Zoey jumped in her seat and nearly toppled over her seat from shock. She looked around the kitchen before her eyes fell to the fireplace, raising a curious brow at it.

The last thing the Emeraude remembered after her father and the Aurors left was visiting her old room, retrieving her Ginger colored dog from her old toy chest, entering the kitchen and waiting. She didn't even know she had fallen asleep until a voice, uncanny to Madam Pomfry's, awoke her.

"MISS EMERAUDE PLEASE REPORT TO THE HOGWART'S HOSPITAL WING IMMEDIETLY!" the voice yelled, making Zoey react immediately. She ran to the fireplace and knelt in front of it, placing her head in it. She closed her eyes for a second before reopening them to see Madam Pomfrey looking as stressed out as ever.

"Thank goodness you heard my message," the healer sighed with relief, "Come on, into the fire with you."

"Madam Pomfrey, what's going on?" Zoey asked, feeling a forbidding lurch in her stomach, "Is someone hurt?"

"Not just someone, Miss Emeraude, several students have been sent into my Wing and I would be needing of your assistance," Madam Pomfrey said with authority, "Now please would you go into the fire?"

Zoey nodded her head in pulled her head out of the flames before standing back up on her feet. She took a look around the kitchen and saw that no one had entered the house since she had fallen asleep. Could Harry have been harmed? Without thinking more on the subject, the Emeraude stepped into the flames, squeezing her eyes shut and flooing back to the school.

Not even a second after her feet touched the familiar Hogwarts floor; Madam Pomfrey tugged at her arm and began dragging her off to the injured individuals.

"Madam Pomfrey, would you _please _tell me who are injured?" Zoey puffed out, after being dragged by the healer towards the Hospital Wing, only stopping when they finally reached its doors.

"I rather you have a look yourself," Madam Pomfrey told her, a solemn expression on her face.

"What do you –" but the Emeraude never got to complete her question for the healer had pushed the wooden doors open, revealing Harry, Neville, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Luna and Bridgit bedridden. Hermione and Ron were unconscious while Ginny's leg was propped up on a pillow Luna and Neville seemed to be having their own conversation but were interrupted when the doors were opened, same with Harry and Bridgit.

Zoey's eyes widened at the sight of her friends and she quickly entered the room, standing in the middle where she could be seen by everyone who was still in a conscious state.

"What happened?" she asked worriedly, sending a look towards Hermione and Ron slumbering. She then directed her attention to Neville's healing nose, Ginny's broken ankle and Luna, Bridgit and Harry's scrapes and bruises. "Where are the others?" she was referring to the Aurors.

"They're in a meeting with Dumbledore," Luna said, her voice had its usual dreamy tone to it but Zoey could here something different. Like she was hiding something. It was the same with how Neville, Harry, Ginny, and Bridgit were looking at her. There was something that the Emeraude didn't know but was soon going to find out.

"You lot went to the Department of Mysteries didn't you?" Zoey asked, making her way to Ginny's ankle and studying it. Madam Pomfrey had already treated it along with Neville's broken nose and the rests bruises and the like. What was she here for? "Did Dad and the rest catch up? What exactly happened?"

No one said anything. They all stared. Zoey began to worry. Her Dad said that they were going to save Harry and the others and from what Zoey had guessed and seen, everyone was pretty much saved. Why weren't they clarifying her guess though?

Soon, there were sounds of shifting and of feet making contact with the floor. The Emeraude turned to see that Harry had left his bed and was now standing.

"Zo...Zoey, Sirius he...he..." Harry stuttered, approaching Zoey slowly while his body shook and his eyes seemed lost. It was as if this person was merely a walking shell that no soul receded inside of it.

"Harry?" Zoey tilted her head a bit, raising her brows at him, "You shouldn't be out of bed! You're hurt!"

"No Zoey" Harry replied, a choked sob coming out between his lips. "I'm fine, but...but Sirius he...he isn't." The room remained silent as this came out of Harry. Eyes turned, hands were held, and tears were shed. Harry looked at Zoey with guilty eyes, his green eyes that seemed to be asking for forgiveness.

"Dad… he's hurt?" Zoey gasped, looking around frantically, "How bad are his injuries? Where is he?"

Intakes of breath were took as everyone stared at Zoey and Harry sadly. How could they tell her the most horrible news when they weren't sure she could take it? How could they tell her something so horrible, knowing that it could probably cause her so much nights filled with sadness and agony.

"He's...he's not here anymore, Zoey," Harry replied, not finding it in himself to tell his godsister the painful reality that had happened.

"Not here…is he at the meeting?" Zoey asked, her confused little head not gripping the message Harry was trying to send. She blinked her eyes and shook her head slowly at him, showing him that she was not entirely sure of what he was saying. She looked over to Bridgit and gave her a questioning look, asking her if she knew what Harry was saying.

Bridgit had tears in her eyes as she got off her bed and approached her friend. She put a hand on Zoey's shoulder, as she planted herself beside Harry and looked at her with pained eyes as well.

"He's...he's dead Zoey." Bridgit whispered, making everyone in the room shed every tear that they were trying to hold back. Sobs could be heard, and it was as if the news came crashing down. Now that someone had said it, it had become real. It wasn't just something that could have happened, or possibly happened...now it was something that really happened.

Zoey stayed still, her eyes wide and unblinking. Her eyebrows knitted together and she just simply shook her head as if telling Bridgit that she had said the wrong thing. That her answer was not the one she was looking for. The Emeraude's breaths quickened ever so slightly as she turned away from Bridgit and Harry to look to Ginny, Neville and Luna, begging them to tell her that this wasn't so. Neville guiltily looked down to his lap while Luna gave her a sympathetic gaze; after all, she knew what it was like to lose a parent.

"I'm so sorry, Zoey," Ginny cried, wiping the fears that slid down her cheeks.

The Emeraude bit her lip and looked back to Bridgit, finally blinking her eyes to free some tears.

"You… you're joking right?" Zoey squeaked out, her lips quivering. She just couldn't accept what she had heard. She refused to accept it. Even after everyone clarified that what Bridgit and Harry said was true, Zoey just didn't want to accept it. "You lot are just pulling my leg. He's alive. He's just hiding somewhere." The girl looked around the hospital wing. "Come on, Dad! Show yourself! The joke's up! It's not funny!"

But no one revealed himself or herself. Everyone in the Hospital Wing remained. No one left and no one came.

"Stop Zoey..." Harry whispered, pained by the sight of his godsister like this. She called out for Sirius to come, every time answered by nothing and no one. "Stop it!" He shouted, pulling Zoey into a hug. He felt terrible, he felt useless, and somewhere in his being, even if others had told him otherwise, he knew it was his fault why he died. He knew it was his fault why Zoey was now without parent.

"No, Harry!" Zoey struggled to push him away. She was swallowing her sobs and made a sound of distress when Harry wouldn't let go. "He – He's not dead! He promised!" she yelled out, successfully detaching herself from her godbrother, the force pushing both of them to the ground on opposite sides of each other. "Dad can't be dead. He promised! He promised he'd come back and when he did we will be a happy family!" she told him, nearly screaming, "ALL THREE OF US WOULD BE A HAPPY FAMILY!"

Bridgit knelt down beside Zoey, her eyes showing nothing but sympathy and sorrow, and she took hold of Zoey's shoulders. She knew that this could possibly end up hurting not only Zoey, but Harry as well, but she needed to make Zoey realize it. She needed to make Zoey come to make peace with the fact that her dad was indeed gone.

"Listen to me Zoey," She began. "I know he must have promised you, I know he probably said all those things, but this is true Zoey! He's gone, and he's not coming back." Crying as she was, Bridgit tried to keep her demeanor strong. All of them needed to be strong for Zoey and Harry.

"But he has to come back!" Zoey cried out, "Why do you keep saying he's not? He's Sirius – freaking – Orion Black for crying out loud! He doesn't give a darn about death!"

"We don't have his body Zoey..." Harry suddenly whispered, sitting up from his position on the floor. "He just fell through it..." He continued, as if he was back in the Department of Mysteries, watching him die all over again.

"Fell through what?" Zoey asked, her chest violently rising and falling with each raged breath she took.

"He fell through the Veil Zoey..." Harry answered. "They say that it's the portal to the land of the dead."

Zoey didn't say anything else after that. She merely stared at Harry, begging him… just pathetically begging him to tell her that all this was a big fat lie. That everything she was hearing was planned out, that her father was fine and was at the other side of the Hospital Wing's doors, joking around with her Uncle Moony. Just… she just needed to know what everything was fine.

When nothing more was said, the truth was finally starting to sink in. When no one dared to tell her anything further, Zoey's walls broke down and the impact of everything just hit her like a rogue Bludger. It hurt like hell and she couldn't do anything about it. Zoey folded her arms around her stomach and leaned forward, letting out a painful cry.

Her cry was like the one she gave out when she saw Cedric's body crippled on the ground beneath her only this time there was no body, just the same feeling of loss. Zoey's cry was so loud that the opening of the Hospital Wing's doors was unheard along with the rush of footsteps across the marbled floor.

Strong arms wrapped around Zoey's body and delicately lifted her off from the floor and placed her on the bed beside Harry's. Zoey gripped onto her Uncle and sobbed onto his shoulder.

"Please!" she begged him, sounding uncannily like Lucy and Natalie when they cried out of despair, "Please tell me it's not true!" She urged to hear something different.

Remus didn't speak; he stroked Zoey's long brown hair and whispered words of comfort. The words he uttered were incoherent and probably held no true meaning to them but the soft tone of his voice and the steady beating of his heart was enough to calm Zoey ever so slightly. The Emeraude blinked her tears away and looked at everyone in the room. They had given her some respect and looked away.

"Is… is he really gone?" Zoey's voice was barely above a whisper, almost like she had never spoken.

"Yes," it broke Remus' heart to tell her the truth. No, it broke his heart to tell Natalie the truth (the woman was being comforted by Tonks in a different room. She had already cried all her energy away and was now drinking tea to calm her down) it simply killed him inside to tell Zoey.

"As in… never coming back?" Zoey continued, knowing that the more she learned, the pain in her heart increased.

"Never," her uncle replied.

"Just like my mother?" the Emeraude looked at him in the eye.

The werewolf gulped. Zoey was the splitting image of her mother only with her father's eyes. It was a horrible combination considering the circumstances. Remus had to take a deep breath to compose himself before replying.

"They're together now," he told her.

"Are they happy?"

"Very much so, now that they're reunited," it was like explaining death to a child. Zoey was a child. Sure, she was of age but since when did age tell the level of maturity a person had? Age is but a number. In Remus' eyes, Zoey was still that baby girl he was afraid to carry, afraid to hurt like he was doing now.

"Would they be happier if they were with me?" Zoey then asked.

"They would be happier if you lived your life to the fullest," Remus said, knowing what Zoey had in mind. She wanted to be with them. He didn't exactly have an idea on _how _she planned to be with them once more but he knew that whatever the child had in mind, it was not the right one.

"How do I do that?" she asked him.

Remus didn't reply. He didn't know either.

* * *

Graduation. The marking of the end of your schooling, the day you can finally kiss your dreadful assignments goodbye and good riddance. The day every Seventh year in Hogwarts awaited for. The day you would get your diploma and find out if you actually graduated or not. To find out if all the effort you put into your work was worth it. Graduating was the goal a child would set for him or herself once they entered school; heck, once they've received their Hogwarts letter! It was something they worked hard towards for. Something they earned. It was a day to celebrate.

Outside the Great Hall's doors, the students of Hogwarts were standing in two straight lines, one for the boys and one for the girls, grouped into their houses. Ravenclaws were first, followed by the Gryffindors, then the Hufflepuffs and lastly, the Slytherins. Each student wore their Hogwarts uniform under their House robes, which they proudly showed off their House emblem.

Today was going to be their last day donning their house colors, wearing their neat uniform and polished shoes. This was going to be the last time the professors pointed their wand at specific boys to tuck in their undershirt and wave their wand at some girls to tie their hair properly.

Everything was going to be different after today. Nothing will ever be the same. Hogwarts' walls, classrooms, statues, suits or armor, vandalized tables, strict teachers and the like, the Seventh years would never see again after their summer. They'll no longer ride the Hogwarts express going to their second home, never sit through another Sorting Ceremony or watch their House go against another during a Quidditch game.

Music began to play and the Great Hall's doors opened wide, revealing to the Seventh Years what lie within. A long carpet was rolled out before them, the pathway that they were to take before splitting the boys and girls, boys on the right side and girls on the left, so that they can head off to their respective seats in an orderly manner.

The Ravenclaws were their first to step in and the sight was overwhelming. They were allowed to look anywhere but straight ahead but if they were to break the rules (their final chance to do something the teacher's don't want them to) they would be able to see proud parents looking down at their children from the bleachers and balcony that the Professors magic-ed into the Great Hall.

Down the front, the Ravenclaws' girls and boys split up and stood in front of their chairs, still staring straight ahead as the Gryffindors entered the Great Hall, repeating what the Ravenclaws had done. Hufflepuff did the same and so did the Slytherins.

Once everyone was inside, Dumbledore (who had finally returned to Hogwarts) went up the stage and looked proudly at each and every one of his students. He instructed them to take their seats and the Graduation Ceremony continued.

Zoey was sure that Dumbledore was saying something very important for everyone remained quiet. She was also very much sure that the wise old man cracked a joke or two for she heard laughter from the people around her and from the crowd. The Emeraude just wasn't sure what _exactly _Dumbledore was saying. She looked at him, her back straight and her mouth shut like rehearsed, and saw his mouth moving and his hands doing gestures in trying to explain but she just couldn't hear his words.

The girl couldn't hear much anymore.

Yes, she could comprehend laughter, applause and the shifting sounds people made when they moved but those sounds were easy, you never really had to comprehend what they meant. Words; however, were a different matter. Zoey didn't want to understand what was being said, she refused to listen for she was now under the belief that every single word that she would hear was going to be bad news.

Even on Graduation day, she was so sure that if she paid any real attention, she would hear something that would upset her.

Someone from the Ravenclaw girl's batch stood up and made her way towards the stage. Zoey recognized this person as Echo. The Veela walked over to the podium and held a rather long sheet of parchment in her hand before giving a quick scan of the crowd. She looked almost strict but there was relief on her face. She was glad she made it through all her seven years of Hogwarts in one piece.

"As we leave Hogwarts as graduating students, you should know that the world outside these walls are different, " Echo began her Valedictorian speech, eyeing each and every one of the students before her.

She spoke with authority – she never got rid of her Head Girl attitude – and made every word that left her mouth clear and smart. The words she spoke really made everyone think, wonder and fidget. Her words sunk in and made them understand what truly lied ahead of them.

The girl spoke about her first few days in Hogwarts, telling everyone that studying at Hogwarts seemed hard at first. She told them about the difficulties that she was sure everyone when through and the like changing experiences everyone encountered. She told them that life is hard but along the way of fighting through the obstacles, we form unbreakable bonds. People, objects, lessons, they don't just pass by. Without knowing it, those things become important to us. We don't realize it but our life would have been entirely different if we did not encounter them along the way.

Though Echo's words were big, long and inspiring, her speech had to come to an end.

"Lastly, upon leaving Hogwarts, we're free to do whatever it is we want, and don't be afraid of making mistakes and go paranoid. Everybody makes them every once in a while," Echo ended, bowing after her final words and leaving the stage as everyone erupted into applause.

Zoey remained unmoving. Like the rest of the talks, she wasn't fully listening. Yes, that was her best friend up there, making her speech but Zoey just couldn't help but space out. Only Echo's first and final lines managed to sink into Zoey's system, making her wonder what the speech was truly about.

_We are free to do whatever we want._

The Emeraude had to disagree. After leaving Hogwarts, she was anything _but _free. She was going to be trapped, hidden behind closed walls enduring who knows what kind of torture. Zoey sighed and readjusted her position on the chair, her eyes forever on the stage, watching as Flitwick was now approaching the podium.

"Introducing the House of Ravenclaw!" Flitwick said proudly as he began to read off the names on the roll of parchment in front of him. "Roger Davies," the professor began to call out., "Quidditch Team Captain from 1993 to 1996, played as Chaser."

Roger proudly buffed out his chest and made his way onto the stage, shaking hands with Dumbledore, receiving his diploma and bowing in front of everyone before going back down and heading back to his chair to wait for the rest of his housemates.

"Aiden Durham," Flitwick said right after and announced Aiden's achievements for his seven years in Hogwarts. The process continued without interruption and in a matter of ten minutes or more, Flitwick moved onto the girls.

"Echo Acheflour Hyacinth Hayley Beaumont," Flitwick then drew in a breath as the girl made her way on stage once more, "Chaser for the Quidditch Team, Head girl and Valedictorian." The Veela accepted her diploma and did the same thing the boys did after bowing, she headed back to her seat and waited for the rest to follow.

"The Ravenclaws sure have a lot of Achievements," Jane whispered from beside Zoey, trying to bring the girl out of her numb state, "Poor Professor Flitwick's gonna lose his breath and voice saying all of them."

Zoey didn't reply, she merely continued to stare, unfeeling and unthinking. She was like a rock. She had no soul in her and her clapping seemed to be on autopilot. Jane sighed worriedly and looked back on the stage, noticing that tons of girls have already gone by and soon it was Bridgit's turn.

"Bridgit Cari Parker," Flitwick said, a comical grin gracing his lips as he read her achievements, "Keeper for the Quidditch Team, Highest marks in Potions, Receiver of Charms internship for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and also… Miss Parker is Awarded Best Prankster of year 1989 – 1996!"

"WHAT? BLOODY HELL! NO!" two loud voices yelled in unison, disrupting the Graduation Ceremony. The background music abruptly stopped and all heads turned towards the source of the exclamation.

It was Fred and George.

"What are you two up to?" Bridgit asked, her hand halfway to getting her diploma from Dumbledore. The eyes were all on Fred and George, whose faces could be mistaken for the Hogwarts Express.

"You can't award that to her!" Fred shouted, his outrage very much evident in his voice.

"We've been pranking way before her! That award belongs to us!" George continued, making Bridgit let out a hearty laugh.

"Well it's not my fault you two left! But still, I'm pretty sure I would have gotten this award anyway..." Bridgit answered, making the twins even angrier than they already were.

"Do you think your a better prankster than both of us?" The twins shouted in unison, and Bridgit smirked.

"I said it second year once, and I say it again..." Bridgit started, the graduating students beginning to get nervous. "I _know _I am."

As Bridgit said this, she shook hands with Dumbledore, thanked him, accepted her diploma and bowed down with a smile on her face. As she got down from the stage, she never got back to her seat for the twins dragged her to who-knows-where. Flitwick, who was shaking his head and laughing as well, decided to continue on by calling the next name and continuing the ceremony.

Zoey watched as the twins and Bridgit disappeared. She had almost got up from her chair to chase after them out of habit. She bit her lip and held her ground, waiting for Flitwick to finish calling out all the students so that they could move onto Gryffindor then to her house. The Emeraude swallowed hard as Fred's voice ran in her head. She had not realized that he had come to the graduation. How long were he and George staying? Would she still be able to catch up with them?

"Witches and Wizards," Flitwick announced, rolling up the class list, "I give you the Ravenclaw house of year 1989 – 1996!"

Everyone burst into applause and the Ravenclaws all took their seat at the same time while the Gryffindors stood up and made their way to the stage, ready for their names to be called out. McGonagall now stood at the podium with her own class list and began to read out name after name and achievement after achievement.

The woman awarded Lee Jordan for his suburb commentary during every Quidditch match and surprisingly Fred and George had their names announced as well. Though they were not called up on stage or awarded diplomas, they were still acknowledged for their pranks (the ones that the school would be able to mention out loud without getting into trouble) and were awarded for handling a "toad infestation".

After the twins' names were through, McGonagall moved onto the girls. Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet were acknowledged for their excellent playing as Chasers for the Quidditch Team (the former getting an extra Achievement for being a Captain). Soon, McGonagall rolled up her scroll and said with a slightly teary voice:

"Witches and Wizards, I give you the Gryffindor House of 1989 to 1996!"

Zoey rose from her seat the moment the Gryffindors sat down and she turned to her left, following behind Jane as they made their way towards the stage. Professor Sprout wore her extra clean robes today and it was a curious wonder on what kind of spell she used to get her shoes so clean on a count that they were usually covered with mud and leaves.

Professor Sprout smiled at the audience and pulled out her own class list and straightened her back as she began to read out the names one by one. Zoey paid no mind to who was getting up on stage and what they were acknowledged for. She didn't particularly care. All she could do was stare up at the parents and see a family of redheads somewhere in the crowd.

The Weasleys. They attended the Graduation. They were there. Beside them, Zoey could make out her Uncle, her Aunt and even Harry. A fluttering feeling of relief welled up in Zoey and she did not even notice how long she had been looking at them until someone nudged her in the ribs, making her realize it was now her turn on stage.

"Zoey Anastasia Emeraude – Black," Professor Sprout said, making majority of those in the crowd gasp at the mention of Zoey's true last name, "This has been the third time I've called your name. We aren't repeating history now are we?"

"No, Professor," were the First words Zoey uttered in a long time. She remembered her eleven-year-old self during the Sorting Ceremony. She, like now, had dazed off and had not heard her name being called until someone nudged her in the ribs.

The Emeraude stepped onto the stage, shook hands with Dumbledore (the latter sending her a secret wink) and waited for her Professor to finish reading out her achievements.

"Played as Beater for the Quidditch Team, Highest Marks in Charms, Voted Best Ballroom Dancer of her year, Loudest voice when she wants to be and Kindest Heart in the room," Professor Sprout ended with a laugh as did the rest of the people in the room.

Zoey bit her lip and blushed deeply as she bowed on stage and headed down and went to her place beside Jane, waiting for the rest of the girls to finish so that they could sit back down.

It didn't take long for Professor Sprout to finish the list, announce to everyone the Hufflepuffs of the year and for them to sit down just in time for the Slytherins to stand up. When the Slytherins' names were being called out, Zoey tuned out once more and began to think about what was going to happen after the ceremony. Was she to catch up with Fred and George or would she look for Harry?

She didn't know.

Sooner than what Zoey expected, the Slytherins where finished and everyone had to stand up for the finally speech. Dumbledore returned to the podium and cleared his throat before speaking in a loud and clear voice.

The man's words were relatively the same as Echo's only his held more wisdom and he told more stories. He spoke of the surprises in life and the changes in course depending on the choices you make. He said things like forgetting all the things you learned in your seven years but remembering all the experiences you had. Books and the like did not matter if you did not understand.

Live your life to the fullest he says, though cliché held a lot more meaning when Dumbledore said it.

"Now I say this to you all for the last time," Dumbledore ended with a twinkle in his eyes, "Pip pip! Cheerio!"

Whoops and cheers were heard along with laughter and cries. It was over! It was finally over! Seven long and exciting years in Hogwarts, finished in a blink of an eye! The students didn't know whether to be sad or happy or maybe even both. Each and everyone one of them were filled to the brim with clashing emotions.

Jane turned to Zoey and brought her into a backbreaking hug before sending her a grin and running off to look for Aiden. Zoey let out a soft laugh and stayed where she was, looking at parents going down from their seats to congratulate their children. Left and right Zoey saw proud parents, fathers shaking their sons hands while mothers smothered them with kisses. The daughters disappeared into the combined hugs from their parents and younger siblings were twirled around from the adrenaline rush of those who graduated.

Zoey sighed and took a few steps back, trying to look for an escape. The longer she stayed in the area, she was afraid she might breakdown. Parents… everywhere…. Zoey was jealous. Just… she just wanted one of her parents to be there for her when she graduated. Sure, she had the Weasleys but they had their own children and Echo to be proud of. Yes, Remus and Natalie where there but… it just wasn't the same.

The Emeraude bit her lip and scanned the area for a door, when she finally found one she squeezed through the whole lot of people just to make her way towards it, she was almost there when she caught sight of a flash of ginger hair. Out of habit, Zoey followed it and found Fred joking around with Echo, Bridgit, Lee and George. Zoey couldn't help a grin from spreading across her face. She had not realized she missed Fred so much until she saw him.

"Fred!" she exclaimed up her voice was muted by the cheers of everyone else around her. Fred looked up a bit but then continued with his chatting, shrugging of the sudden feeling of someone calling him. Zoey furrowed her brows and was lurched forward when someone bumped into her. She didn't bother seeing who knocked her off balance for a split second for her main focus was getting her boyfriend to notice her.

"Fred!" she tried once more and took in a deep breath and cupping her hands around her mouth, "FREDERICK GIDEON WEASLEY!"

Fred's, George's, Echo's, Bridgit's and Lee's head shot up and looked towards Zoey. Zoey gave them a sheepish grin and wave and Fred's smile grew even wider if possible.

"ZOE!" he yelled out with the same volume Zoey used, he then gestured the others to follow him in making his way to Zoey. Zoey stood at the tips of her toes so that she would still be visible when they approached her.

Just a few more feet and she could talk to him again, hold his hand and kiss him. Just a few more feet.

"Come on… just a little bit closer," Zoey couldn't help but mutter out loud.

"Just a little bit closer to what, dearie?" a venomous voice said from behind Zoey, causing the girl to gasp and whirl around.

"Aunt Damiana!" Zoey's eyes widened, seeing her Aunt just a few inches away from her with another Emeraude at her side. Zoey recognized this man. His Emeraude's power was "Timekeeper's Teleport".

"Time to go, honey," Damiana's smile was anything but sweet. Her long manicured nails punctured Zoey's skin when she wrapped her hand around the girl's thin wrist. Zoey felt panic rise and she looked back to see Fred and the others yet to reach her. She caught his eyes and he saw the distress in hers.

"FRED!" Zoey screamed but that was it. She was gone. Faster than the speed of light, the man with the Timekeeper's Teleport took hold of her and Damiana and brought them out of Hogwarts. Yes, you can't Apparate in and out of Hogwarts but who says you can't teleport using your own gift?

* * *

**DUN DUN DUN!**

**AND DAMIANA APPEARS ONCE MORE TO TAKE ZOEY AWAY!**

**Special thanks to ZoomSkater14 (now known as Dresdendoll15) and HayleyParadox for the major help in this chapter :D**

**Sorry it took so long to update again, like I said school's eating up my time D:**

**Well, I hope I made it up to you guys with this EXTREMEMLY long chapter.**

**TWO reasons for its incredible length.**

**1. I wanted to show that I really try to work hard in pleasing you all so if I can't update as much as I used to, I can at least spoil you guys with long updates**

**2. I reaaaly wanted to end their final year with this chapter. It's been long and hard. I tell you, this year was the HARDEST for me to write. It's mind blowing.**

**Now, what else can I tell you guys? Well, sad to say that you won't be getting another update anytime soon because school's getting rather serious with all the requirements its throwing at me.**

**Being the leader sucks like hell. Yes, it pays off but sheesh.**

**Also, hmm…. I just wanted to say that I'm working/helping on two other fanfictions made by Dresdendoll15 and HayleyParadox. Yeah, good friends of mine, love giving them help because they give this story so much help :D**

**Also, I would like to say that I read a very nice fic by: ****When the clock strikes twelve**** and I just wanted to share that fact with you lot :D**

**Over 600 reviews already? Thank you everyone for your continuous support on this story. I'm glad that you haven't gotten sick and tired of it yet seeing as it's going VERY slowly with it's 80+ chapters and the like.**

**Geez louizzz I've got a lot to say but sadly I can' t say them all because I still have some assignments that I need to be attending to. So let's go back to the usual routine shall we? **

**Well, I guess that is all. I have nothing more to say except**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter**

**Please tell me what you thought**

**Excuse my typos and the like (I really wanted to show you guys the new chapter and did not have time to beta. Like I said, I don't have time to do such things anymore D: )**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter**

**And**

**I only own what I own**


	85. Chapter 83: The Plan and a Lost Hope

**Chapter 83: The Plan and a Lost Hope**

_The wind blew harshly against her, threatening to push her off of her broom as she stayed hundreds of feet above the ground. Back and forth, left and right her hair, which was secured in a tight ponytail, went as the bipolar breeze kept ramming against her. It was getting annoying. Several squeals in the audience were heard when a mighty gush of wind passed, blowing the hair of the girls right in front of their eyes, shocking them and stopping them from seeing the rest of the match for that split second. _

_Lucy rolled their eyes and thought to herself _ 'Smart of them to come to the match with their hair all flowly. Like that's going to help them.' _The game was intense. There was no room for pleasant thoughts in the Emeraude's head. She needed to be fierce and focused. Shaking her head and clearing her mind, Lucy furrowed her eyebrows and held onto her broom with an iron grip, her eyes squinting as she scanned her surroundings. _

_Below her, she could see the flashes of red and green dashing back and forth. Some of the Chasers were either dropping the Quaffle, having it taken from their clutches or shooting it through one of the three tall hoops, scoring a point. A loud cheer was heard and Lucy knew that Gryffindor had scored another point._

_Not too far from her, Lucy heard an angered curse and the swift sound of someone flying down several feet only to stop abruptly. Lucy raised a brow and a smirk graced her lips. The Slytherin Seeker, a boy she did not care to remember the name of, was violently turning his head from left to right, up and down, trying to search for the flying golden ball that would hopefully grant a win for his house._

_No such luck. The reason for his abrupt flight was the trick of light, making him think that he had seen the Snitch. Lucy looked up from the angered Slytherin, planning to continue her search when her eyes widened and she swiftly flew down to avoid a fast Bludger heading her way. She looked back just in time to avoid it once more. _

"_Sirius!" Lucy yelled, the merciless wind almost muting her, "Sirius! Aren't you supposed to take care of those bloody Bludgers?"_

"_I'm doing my best, love," Sirius said, holding his bat up high, aiming at one of the Bludgers and hitting it to kingdom come. He flashed a smile at the Seeker. "Nasty little buggers aren't they?"_

_Lucy didn't reply. Her eyes reverted into squints as she looked at Sirius. Sirius' smile disappeared for a moment before it returned as a grin. "Come on, Luce, don't be like that. I promised I won't let them lay a bloody finger on you, didn't I?"_

"_I can't believe you still –" but Lucy didn't continue. Her brown eyes had drifted away from Sirius in embarrassment, her cheeks already showing a hint of pink, when she had caught sight of something rather… disturbing. "JAMES POTTER!" the Emeraude exclaimed, causing Sirius to whirl around, searching for his friend, and several other students – Gryffindor or not – to look for the Gryffindor Chaser._

_When they finally saw him, the air was filled with catcalls, whistles and comments, all were unheard by James and Lily. The boy in question was balancing on his brooms with his knees while his hands clutched onto the ledge in front of him. Lily, on the other hand, had her hands on top of his and the upper half of her body was leaning forward. The two were locked at the lips, eyes closed and completely lost in their own world. _

_Remus, who was sitting behind Lily, had his eyes wide with shock as a chocolate bar lay forgotten in his mouth. The Emeraude figured he was just about to bite a piece of it off when the scene happened in front of him. Natalie, who was seated beside Remus, had a cat like grin on her face as she let out a laugh while Peter was snickering. Lucy inhaled deeply and her eyes flared ever so slightly._

_At the sight of the couple, Sirius barked a laugh and called out, "Have you gone off your rocker, mate? This is Quidditch! You can have your celebratory smooch after!"_

"_He'll get his 'Celebratory Smooch' when there's actually something worth celebrating," Lucy grumbled out, "We're going to loose if they don't come out for air sometime."_

"_We're ahead, Luce, don't worry," Sirius looked at her. "And besides, with them doing that, everyone's distracted," he sent her a wink soon after he said that._

_Lucy's brows shot up and turned to look at the Quidditch pitch. It was true. Everyone's focus was on the Gryffindor couple snogging. The Emeraude rolled her eyes and looked to Sirius who was minding his own business, throwing his Beater's bat in the air, making it flip in its flight, before catching it. He looked up to Lucy and sent her a questioning look. Lucy shook her head._

"_Is snogging ones brains out so interesting that an entire Quidditch game has to be stalled just to see it?" Lucy asked, "And what about the teachers? I'm surprised McGonagall hasn't whacked James's head with a pig or something to get him back in the game."_

"_If you really want to know if snogging is attention worthy, why don't we give it a shot?" Sirius suggested; his brows wiggling with humor and a smirk graced his lips. Lucy puffed out her cheeks and planned to send a kick at him but missed when he flew out of the way._

"_I'm being serious here," Lucy told him._

"_Then I'm being Lucy."_

"_That joke is getting –"_

"_Old. I know. But it's so much fun to use," Sirius chuckled before flying back to his place beside Lucy. "In my opinion. I think this whole snog session is quite mesmerizing –"_

"_Don't make me hurl, Sirius. Just get to the point," Lucy begged him, not one for doing PDA or witnessing it. Both just seemed to bring her to an uncomfortable place. _

" – _Because who would have thought James and Evans would get together let alone snog in public, am I right?" Sirius cut to the chase, "I mean, I'm pretty sure the Professors are wondering if they're dreaming or not as well."_

_Lucy slowly nodded her head, seeing what Sirius meant. She was just about to ask another question when something caught her eye. Right beside the third hoop on the Slytherin's side of the pitch was a small, gold ball fluttering from left to right like it wasn't so sure which direction it wanted to go. _

"_Hey, Sirius?" Lucy asked, her eyes never leaving the Snitch, "Would it be bad if I caught the snitch while everyone is busy ogling at James and Lily?"_

"_Bad?" Sirius looked to where Lucy was and a twinkle in his gray eyes appeared. "Like hell would it be bad. I'll back you up," he held onto his bat tightly as his body leaned forward a bit, ready to dash towards the Snitch, his bat at the ready just incase any Bludger decided to come their way._

"_Brilliant," Lucy smirked, her body leaning forward as well and in a blink of an eye, the two went._

Teleporting was nothing like Apparating. Instead of feeling like you've been forced through a very tight hole, teleporting made you feel like your limbs, hair and intestines were being forced out of you before being left alone when you finally reached your destination. The Teleporter never experienced such a traumatizing feeling but the same can't be said for those who are dragged along with him.

Damiana, of course, knew what was coming and was prepared for the pain but Zoey had no idea what was in for her when she was abducted. The Emeraude screamed with all her might as she felt her arms and legs stretch to great lengths and a painful tug at her stomach made her lurch forward.

The pain didn't last long, no, for soon Zoey found herself face flat on the dusty ground of her home, breathing heavily in hopes to catch the breath she lost from her scream. Zoey withered and closed her eyes, praying that all this was just a dream.

She wished that she was back at the Graduation Ceremony, having fallen asleep during one of the speeches. She hoped that all this was just a nightmare. A scene that her tired mind made up.

Sadly, Zoey was introduced to the harsh reality when a sharp kick was sent to her ribs, knocking her to her back. Zoey yelped and clutched the injured area, opening her left eye to see Damiana glaring down at her.

"Who says you can rest?" the woman asked, her voice coming out like the hiss of a snake. The man who teleported them into the house was standing not too far away, watching Zoey whimper in pain. There was a shine of glee in his eyes.

"How the bloody hell does it look like I'm resting?" Zoey forced her voice out of her throat, "I'm in pain."

Another kick was sent and this time, it was aimed at her stomach. Zoey twitched forward and took a sharp intake of breath, trying not to scream. Damiana's shoes were sharp at its point, jabbing Zoey with each kick. She cursed who ever designed such horrid footwear.

"Don't use that kind of language in front of me, Zoey," Damiana glared, walking towards Zoey's crippled figure, her shoes clicking and clacking against the floor, filling the air with its eerie sound. "I would have thought you would have learned a thing or two having been placed under Dolores' wing."

"The only thing I learned was that she grew uglier over the years that I have not seen her. A Slytherin's boily arse would look better than her," Zoey glared at the woman and was pushed by an invisible force against the wall. Her head banged hard against the concrete wall and her vision was filled with black spots before it cleared up once more.

"I should have never allowed you to return for your final year, you little brat, you grew some backbone," Damiana said, twirling her wand in her hand before pointing it back to Zoey, threatening her.

"What are you going to do? Use Crucio me? Don't have any new tricks up your sleeve?" Zoey laughed without humor. A person could only take so much before she completely loses it. "I'M NOT AFRAID OF YOU!"

Damiana took a step back from the volume of Zoey's screech before regaining her composure and hardening her glare. She took a couple more steps closer to the suddenly brave girl and smirked. The woman then muttered a spell that caused the end of her wand to extend to form a glowing white whip. She lifted her arm before bringing it back down with great speed, hitting Zoey on the shoulder.

Zoey let out an ear-piercing scream as the cloth on her shoulder ripped and caught a light fire before dying out. A long red gash was then shown, bleeding and staining her uniform. The whip was burning hot like a knife that was placed on top of a fire for hours.

"You very well should be," Damiana said in a whisper before straightening up and turning back to the Teleporter. The Teleporter, tearing his eyes away from the crying Zoey, bent a hand in front of him and bowed lightly at Damiana's gaze. "Take her to the entrance hall, Lecso."

The Teleporter, Lecso, bowed once more before straightening up and walking towards Zoey. When he finally reached the girl in pain, he not so gently grabbed hold of her arm, lifting her from the ground. Zoey screamed from the force.

"Where in the entrance hall, Madam Emeraude?" Lecso's voice was strong and intimidating, his grip tightened around Zoey's thin arm and the Hufflepuff was sure that he was going to leave a large and painful bruise.

"Oh, anywhere is fine," Damiana said with a small wave of her hand showing that she didn't particularly care, "Just as long as she can see _everything _along the halls."

"Would you be following, Madam Emeraude?" Lecso then asked, prepared to leave once he had everything to his understanding.

"Of course, now go," Damiana's grin was anything but beautiful. In fact it was the most frightening thing Zoey had ever seen.

The painful tug of teleporting together with Lecso's iron grip did not help Zoey get used to the process and when the girl was reunited with the cold hard ground, she was worn out beyond belief. Her legs gave way the moment they touched the marbled floor and Zoey was sure that if no one were holding onto her, she would have broken her nose when her face met the ground once more.

Lecso noted Zoey's slumped figure, she was only supported by his hold on her, and gave her a harsh tug, forcing her to use her legs to support her own weight. Her head lolled to the side and soon, the soft _pop _from Damiana's arrival was heard.

"Straight back, Zoey dear," Damiana sneered, transfiguring her wand into an iron pipe to hit Zoey's back before returning it to it's normal material and size.

The pain from the hit was unimaginable. It felt as if her back would give out, and she felt that her spine had been damaged. Zoey didn't need to be a healer, or a healer in training for her case, to know that she would not be able to stand straight, nor be able to get rid of the back pain for weeks. What did she do to deserve this kind of torture? She let out a small yelp, trying to show her aunt that it did not affect her as much as she had hoped, and did as she was told. She would not give her aunt the satisfaction of seeing her in pure agony, but she was tired of the pain and did not want any more of it inflicted on her.

Without a word, the girl forced her back to straighten and bit her lip to stop the tears of pain from slipping out.

Damiana gave a malicious smile when she saw the way Zoey's body shook from fright and forced discipline. She still remembered the consequences of not having the appearance and grace of a perfect Emeraude woman. Straight back, perfect teeth, reasonably tall height, thin, fair skin and all other factors that Zoey did not posses.

The girl had perfect teeth, yes, but she was not born with them. They were magic-ed to align themselves before she was sent of to school. She learned to have a straight back at all times; the instinct did not come to her naturally. Reasonably tall height? Ha! Zoey was the shortest among all Emeraudes her age. Fair skin? Zoey was as pale as a ghost! The Hufflepuff's thinness was not of a healthy sort so it did not count. Zoey did not look like a true Emeraude.

"You're very hideous, did you know?" Damiana said in a soft voice, giving Zoey a scrutinizing look, "A complete disgrace to the Emeraude family beauty."

"Why am I here?" Zoey whispered, ignoring the insult her Aunt sent her. She _knew _that she was not beautiful. She knew that her looks did not compare to that of her family's. She knew that she was as plain as the backside of a rubber duck. She knew all that and she did not want to be reminded. "I thought the agreement was that I was to stay in my house, hidden from all to see. Didn't you want to leave me there to rot?"

"Yes, that's a very appealing idea, isn't it?" Damiana hummed, twirling her wand once more, "It's a brilliant plan, really but… I feel like you would not stay still if I were to leave you in that big house all alone. Without me knowing, you could be planning an escape plan behind my back."

"I promised that I would never leave," Zoey told her, wincing at her words. She promised something she never wanted to keep. The truth stung her greatly and like her appearance, she did not want to be reminded.

"How am I so sure that you would keep such a promise?" Damiana tested her, "But in any case, you're here because I wanted to show you something."

"And what would that be?"

"Keep that dirty mouth of yours shut and then you would know," The older of the two sent the younger a look before pointing her wand to the air and casting a silent spell.

Suddenly, the dim glow of the entrance hall turned to a blinding white shine. Zoey's hands instantly went up to her face to shield her eyes as everything took on a lighter appearance. Damiana looked down at her niece and furrowed her brows at her. She instantly took hold of both of Zoey's wrists and forced them back to her sides, making the girl endure the eye watering brightness.

"Don't close your eyes unless you want your eyelids glued open for all eternity," Damiana said in a dangerous tone near Zoey's ear making the Hufflepuff squint her eyes ever so slightly but she did not dare shut them.

After forcing her eyes to get used to the change of light, Zoey was finally able to make out the objects around her. She was in the Entrance Hall of the Emeraude Estate, the place where the family held all the reunions, birthday celebrations and holiday gatherings. All of which Zoey was never allowed to attend unless she was being dragged by her aunt and forced into a corner, starving as she watched everyone in her family feast.

The Entrance Hall, Zoey noted, went on for a good ten or more – possibly more – meters before meeting a dead end; the dead end being a large wall that held a portrait of the early Emeraudes.

Along the seemingly endless hall, statues were placed on both sides, each having a very peculiar stance. These statues looked nothing like the elegant, marble white ones Zoey would see in both wizard and muggle magazines nor would they look like the unique, aged ones she would hide behind in Hogwarts. No. These statues were all in positions that made one think that they were being attacked.

A statue of a girl to Zoey's right looked as if she was pushed against the wall, screaming at the impact as her wand was shot out of her hand while the statue to Zoey's left was of a man grabbing hold of his head, mouth wide open indicating a bloodcurdling scream. Down the hall, Zoey could make out a woman no older than she was, looking as if she were running away from something very frightening while opposite of her was man pinned to the ground, eyes staring soullessly ahead of him.

These statues had only one thing in common and that was that they were all suffering. Left and right, the people looked pained, scared and tortured. You could see the fright in their stone colored eyes and could practically hear their screams of despair when you looked hard enough. The thing about these statues was they looked almost life like. It was almost like they were real people, petrified.

"Beautiful aren't they?" Damiana said once Zoey looked away from the scene, not being able to stand anymore of the horror, "Each one, very special."

"What… what are they?" Zoey gasped out, staring at the closed doors behind her Aunt. She could make out the large lock on it, stopping her from a mad breakout if she wanted to.

"They are the Emeraude family's most prized possessions… in stone form of course," Damiana said, her voice like a snake once more.

"Stone form?" Zoey managed a peak at her Aunt. The woman was smiling happily as she looked at each statue that was within seeing distance. The smile on her face would have looked very innocent if the person looking did not know the true meaning behind it. Zoey's stomach churned as the screams of the people echoed in her head.

"Yes, stone," Damiana replied, turning to look at Zoey and grabbing hold of her arm, making her face the statues again. "They were complete disgraces when they were… alive, if you will," a grin then replaced her smile, "Your mother would be there too if not for her body disappearing under the rubble you used to call your home."

"Take that back," Zoey said automatically, her fear gone from her voice. She was not afraid to stand up to anyone who dares disgrace her mother's name. Even if it was her own Aunt.

"And why should I?" Damiana asked innocently, "It's true. Even our own parents thought so."

"TAKE. THAT. BACK!" Zoey yelled, struggling against Damiana's hold, "YOU BLASTED WOMAN! TAKE THAT BACK! MY MOTHER, NONE OF THESE PEOPLE DESERVED THIS KIND OF PUNISHMENT!"

Damiana said nothing. She merely raised her wand and pointed it at Zoey, forcing the girl's mouth shut and sending a powerful punch to her chest, making her stagger backwards and falling to the floor. Damiana kept her hold on her though so Zoey's arm was lifting her body inches above the ground, making her slightly bleeding shoulder sting. Her mouth opened to indicate a scream.

"You're too noisy for my liking, brat," Damiana said calmly, tugging at Zoey's arm once more, lifting her fully. Zoey stumbled to her feet and was caught by Lecso who forced her to look back at her aunt. "Keep that up and you'd be one of them."

Zoey's eyes widened with horror.

* * *

"–ed!" Fred twitched a bit and looked around his surroundings with confusion. He could have sworn he heard his name as he chatted with his friends. Was it just a trick of his ears? Probably seeing as the entire Great Hall was filled with cheers, laughter, animated talking and such, it was very probable for Fred to think that he had heard his name.

The Weasley shook his head and turned back to his friends, grinning as they conversed. He couldn't believe that Lee, Echo, Bridgit, Angelina and Alicia had all graduated without him and George. Yes, it was t be excepted seeing as they _did _drop out of Hogwarts but still, seeing them walk down the hall, walk up on stage and hear the Head of their House announce their achievements and such. Fred would be lying if he said he wasn't jealous.

"– ed!" he heard once more but shrugged it off, thinking it was just another trick of sound. It could have been someone else? Surely he wasn't the only Fred in the room, in fact, it could have been "Ed!" for all he knew.

"You little booger, getting away –"Fred began saying but was interrupted when he heard a familiar voice over the noise of everyone else.

"FREDERICK GIDEON WEASLEY!" the voice exclaimed and automatically, his, George's, Echo's, Bridgit's and Lee's heads shot up, looking towards the source of the voice.

"Damn right she can be the loudest voice when she wants to be," Lee laughed as Fred's smile turned to an earsplitting grin as he caught sight of his girlfriend. The shortest of the bunch was dancing on her tiptoes, trying to remain in sight.

"ZOE!" he couldn't help but yell out as he gestured to his friends to follow him. He needed to get to her. He needed to talk to her again, hug her again, and kiss her again. He had not realized how deprived he was until he saw her walking down the hall when the Ceremony started.

Fred was almost there. It annoyed him that so many people were in his way but he didn't dare do anything to push them away ahead of time. He just needed to get to her. Several people he bumped and squeezed through and yet it looked like she was nowhere nearer than she was moments ago. _Just a little bit more, _Fred kept telling himself every time he took a step closer. _Almost there, _he would think.

Just a few more feet and he would be within an arm's distance. He would be able to reach out to her and pull her against him. He was just about to reach out to her when a familiar figure made its way behind Zoey, leaning down to whisper in her ear.

The Weasley watched as Zoey's eyebrows shot up and her head turned to look at the person behind her. Not even a second passed before Zoey looked back to Fred, distress and fright in her eyes.

"_FRED!_"

He heard her scream before she disappeared in a blink of an eye. So fast that Fred did not have time to react.

_What just happened? _Fred thought, staring at the spot where Zoey had stood merely moments ago. "What in the bloody hell happened?" Fred now shouted, causing people around him to silence in his rage. How could they not? Fred's voice was a mixture of pain, anger, frustration, and hurt.

"Fre –" Lee had tried to say, trying to place a hand on his friend's shoulder, but Fred had shrugged him away and turned towards his friends. George and Echo were clutching to one another, Echo silently crying on to George's chest as he stroked her back in a comforting manner. Lee had sent him a sad glance, confused as to what had happened, while Bridgit just stared at the floor, not showing her reaction at all.

"WILL SOMEONE EXPLAIN WHAT HAPPENED?" Fred shouted once more, making the people stay away from him. They knew well enough not to disturb him, and some were even afraid of him.

"Stop it Fred!" George had exclaimed, his tears now building in his own pair of eyes. "Stop it, you know better than all of us what just happened! You know!" He continued, clutching onto a sobbing Echo tighter.

"NO! That didn't happen! This is just a joke!" Fred continued to shout, not noticing that they were all now alone in the hall. No one had decided to stay, only them.

"Fred!" Someone else exclaimed, it was Bridgit this time. "You know!" Fred dropped to the floor at Bridgit's words and released his own sobs. He could breathe no longer, and he was sure that he would be crying blood soon enough, but he just stayed there while everyone else cried as well.

_"Coming to Hogwarts was the best thing that happened to me. I met Echo, You, George, Bridgit and all my friends. I regret nothing," she whispered, "But you know… my freedom came with a price"_

Zoey's voice rang through Fred's head…

_"To gain my freedom I had to give it back in the end," she said in a quiet voice, "I promised I would tell you this over the summer but we didn't have the chance."_

Fred knew that George was comforting Echo, he also knew that Bridgit was being asked and bombarded by questions from Lee, but all he could actually hear was Zoey's voice. Her sweet voice that he wished to hear now.

_"The only way I was allowed to go to Hogwarts was if I agreed to make a promise with my aunt," she told him, "The promise was when I graduate, I return to her. I go back to the Emeraude Suburb and stay there. Forever. I cannot leave the house I cannot have any contact with anyone. It would be like I disappeared from the face of the earth. I probably will."_

An image of Zoey's smiling face flashed into his mind. The image of her soft smile as she told him all this. He was in tears, maybe that was even an understatement, but she refused to cry, she refused to spoil their Valentine's Day, and she refused to show him her weaknesses. If she was afraid, Fred would have never guessed.

_"Because I don't want to waste my limited time crying over everything that has happened to me," she told him, "I want my memories of freedom to be happy."_

That was the reason she had given him. It's true, what she said, that their final memories together were so happy and jolly that anyone would smile, but how could Fred smile knowing that he would never see her again? Knowing that he would never see, hug, kiss, or even touch Zoey again? That he would never get to smell her familiar coconut milk scent? How could he live on happy memories knowing that, that was all they were? Memories!

"She can't be gone…" Fred whispered, making all of his friends turn towards him. He looked up to see George's and Echo's tear streaked face, and Bridgit's hazed eyes and falling tears, but he knew none of them could feel what he was feeling. No one's hurt could ever compare to his. Yes, they had all lost a friend, but to Fred, it was as if his heart was taken away. He felt like it had been taken, stomped upon, and crushed into a million pieces and yet he had to continue living with the suffering of it.

"ZOEY!" He shouted, Fred letting out all his feelings. He shouted her name over and over, before he saw George release Echo and kneel down beside him. He felt his twin envelope him in a hug, but Fred continued to shout Zoey's name.

_"I promised that I'd make this year memorable for you, and it's eating me inside to know that I'm breaking my promise to you, but I'll make you another promise, and I swear I won't break it this time...I promise, I'll find a way to get you back okay? I'll find a way to save from your aunt."_

His own voice now rang in his mind as he remembered what he had told her. He remembered what he had promised, and he was not going to break this one. "I'll get her back," Fred said, making George let go at him. Fred faced the window and looked out into the setting sun.

"I'll get her back if it's the last thing I do!"

_"Please don't die,"_

Zoey's voice entered his head once again, but that was the only thing he wasn't sure of. He would risk anything for her, no matter how much she protested about it.

He wasn't one of those heroes like Harry, but if he knew one thing…he needed Zoey, and that was why he was going to get her back. No matter what the cost, he was going to have Zoey in his arms again. Even if his life was the price to do so.

* * *

Zoey could no longer scream. Her voice was muted by her aunt's spell and even if it wasn't, she was too tired to even whimper. The Emeraude had found herself back on the floor of her dusty house, her limbs and stomach throbbing in pain from her third teleport that day. Lecso had tightened his grip on her and without warning, brought her back to her house before leaving faster than a blink of an eye.

Damiana didn't follow them this time. Zoey was alone in her house, or so she thought. The Emeraude wrapped her sore arms around her stomach and tried to lift herself from the floor to head up the stairs and enter the room that she had once called her bedroom. That was the plan. Today marked the day of her imprisonment. She was not allowed to leave her house under any circumstances. Her house was going to be her coffin from now on.

She was going to live in it and die in it.

That was the plan.

Before Zoey could even rise up to her feet, a melodic giggle stalled her. Zoey froze in shock and debated whether she heard the giggle or if it was just in her head. She stayed still for a couple more seconds before slowly turning around, facing the source of the laugh.

Mary – Sue smiled and waved at the Hufflepuff, pushing herself off from what seemed to be Zoey's suitcase and mother's box placed together on the floor of her house. The blonde patted her micro-miniskirt and fluffed up her hair before lacing her fingers behind her back and leaning forward a bit to study Zoey's battered appearance.

"You look… different somehow," Mary – Sue said, her voice soft like a small bell ringing, she straightened up and walked around Zoey, not even bothering to help the injured girl back to her feet.

"Is it your hair? Your clothes? Maybe you grew a little?" Mary – Sue asked, still continuing to circle around Zoey. She repeated the process three more times, asking more questions she already knew the answers to, before stopping directly in front of the Emeraude.

She bent down to Zoey's height from knee-up and made her blue eyes wider, trying to make herself look like a cute, porcelain doll. "Oh, I know!" the girl giggled, showing her pearly white teeth, "It's your face! You look uglier than ever!"

Zoey felt like she was just slapped in the face with an iron glove as she turned away from Mary –Sue. Must everyone comment on how she looked? She got it. She didn't look as breathtakingly gorgeous as the other Emeraudes but did they have to rub it in? Answer, yes.

"Hey, why aren't you talking? I just insulted you! Where's the reaction?" Mary – Sue pouted as her cheeks puffed up, watching Zoey struggle to get to her feet and walk away from her.

Zoey managed to stand up after a short minute of trial and error. The Hufflepuff then made a move towards the stairs but was stopped when Mary – Sue, who was moving at a normal person's pace, stood in front of her, holding her arms out to keep Zoey from going any further.

"If I insulted the golden eyed freak, she would have lashed out at me, same with the girl with the demonic dog. They're your friends, aren't they? Why am I not getting the same reaction from you?" Mary – Sue questioned, not knowing that Zoey would not be able to speak until someone lifted the spell off of her.

"Speaking of your friends," the girl then said, not really caring that Zoey was not going to reply to her anytime soon, she had lost interest in trying to rile the girl up. Mary – Sue liked to move quickly. If she started something, she wants to suck out all the entertainment value in it before dropping it to the floor like yesterday's clothes and moving onto something else. Something new. Something interesting. "Where are they? Your friends, I mean, shouldn't they be here?"

Zoey sent Mary – Sue a glare that practically screamed "Shut up! You don't know anything!" before trying to side step the picture of perfection so she could go to her probably dust covered bed to sleep and never wake up in.

"They _do_ know that you're trapped here for all eternity right?" Mary – Sue asked, a grin already showing on her glossed lips, "I mentioned it before I left. I bet you told them everything after, am I right?"

Zoey hardened her glare. The kind of glare she used when she was truly angry. Mary – Sue didn't even flinch at the intensity. She wasn't even looking at the Emeraude in the eyes anymore. Her own blue ones were sparkling with more daggers she planned to shoot through Zoey's heart.

"I am right, aren't I? They know that you're trapped and they aren't even going to save you!" she let out another laugh that sounded like wind chimes after a soft breeze blew passed them, "You're screwed! No Prince Charming for you, Missy. You'll be trapped her forever and just rot here like the piece of garbage that you are!"

_I'm – not – trash! _Zoey's mouth moved but no sounds came out. She squinted her eyes at the girl in front of her and her hands balled into fists.

"Oh, is little orphan Zoey mad?" Mary – Sue continued with a baby voice, taunting the Emeraude some more, "You are an orphan now, aren't you? Your mother's dead and now your father. Pretty pathetic. Child of the rubbish in the family –"

But Mary – Sue never got the chance to complete her sentence for Zoey had launched herself at her, throwing punches and pulling at her hair. Mary – Sue was not worthy enough to be harmed by magic, Zoey did it the muggle way. Slow and dirty.

They Emeraude didn't know how much time passed but she did know that she had caused Mary – Sue a lot of damage on her pretty little face before Lecso and Damiana entered the house, shooting Zoey away from Mary – Sue. Lecso, being the strong man that he was, helped Mary –Sue off the floor and carried her off to the nearest healer in the family. They didn't even leave silently. Mary – Sue decided to make things look worse than they really were and moaned in pain and claimed several body parts were broken even though they weren't.

Zoey, having hit the wall rather harshly from Damiana's blast, winced in pain as she looked up to see her Aunt's eyes looking down at her. They weren't forming slits nor did she look angry. She just looked… expressionless and truth be told, that was one of the scariest faces an Emeraude could ever hold.

"You've got some nerve, punching Mary – Sue and bruising her flawless face," Damiana said in a dangerously soft voice, "I don't like the new you."

_Well you take what you can get, _Zoey mouthed, still unable to speak.

Damiana, seeing that she had yet to lift the spell of the girl, gave a lazy wave of her wand and forced Zoey's body to press against the wall, arms and legs stretched out and was held down by invisible binds. Zoey struggled against the invisible holds, her face contorting to that of frustration but she was not let down. In fact, it only got tighter.

"_Finite,_" Damiana then said and soon, Zoey was letting out a roar of frustrated words. She was different now but she refused to let a cuss escape her lips.

"Get me down from here," Zoey said, arching her back as to try to get away from the wall but it was still no use, she stopped when she felt like the blood circulation in her wrists and ankles were no more. She gave up soon after her limbs began to numb and she resorted to glaring at her Aunt once more.

"I don't think so," Damiana smirked, pocketing her wand and turning around to look over to the luggage Mary – Sue was once sitting on, "I'm just going to do what other parents do to their children. Put them in the corner and make them think about what they've done."

"Excuse me, dear aunt of mine, but I see that you've failed to notice but I'm stuck to the wall, not facing the corner," Zoey spat, watching her Aunt walk closer and closer to her suitcase and her mother's box. She cursed in her head. How could she be so stupid?

Damiana, who was just a mere three feet away from Zoey's belongings, looked over her shoulder and raised a brow at the girl before pulling her wand out once more and with doing a simple flick of her wrist, jammed Zoey into the corner with so much force that the Hufflepuff felt like she was just ran over by a hundred Bludgers flying her way.

"Gah!" Zoey yelled out, screwing her eyes shut from the impact.

"Is that better?" Damiana asked with a sweet tone, looking back to Zoey's things and idly kicking her suitcase over. Raising a delicate, blonde eyebrow, a smirk tugged at the woman's lips. She slowly bent down and grazed her manicured fingertips at the top of a box that stood silently beside the fallen suitcase.

Zoey, regaining her breath, craned her neck in order to see what her Aunt was doing; her eyes widened ever so slightly when she saw what Damiana was touching. The box. It was her mother's box. It wasn't in mini-form. No, oh hell no, this was the real deal. Big box glory. Sucking in a breath, Zoey watched her aunt straighten up and turn her way.

"My, my, my," Damiana began in a tone that suggested that she had just found her treasure, which she did. "This was easier than I thought it would be."

"What was?" Zoey asked stupidly, wanting to keep her Aunt's attention away from her Mother's belongs for just a bit longer.

"Don't act as if you don't know," said Damiana, bending her legs so she would be able to sit on Lucy's box. The box didn't make any sound of protest from the added weight; it just stayed as silent as ever, like any other inanimate object.

"Years of torturing you just to get the whereabouts of this thing and here it is, in plain sight. Come on, deary, I thought you would put more of a challenge," Damiana continued in a mock, baby voice.

Zoey pursed her lips and furrowed her eyebrows. She truly had nothing more to say on the matter. It was her own fault. She had time to pack before the graduation Ceremony. Heck, it was like any other year, she never unpacked; she merely lived out of her suitcase. Lucy's box, she had not opened it in a long time. Zoey did not need to open it.

The Emeraude had already seen its contents, she had read the bocks and added her mother's old clothes in her suitcase. The photo album, she had looked through it and several of the necklaces and earrings from the jewelry box, Zoey had taken the liberty of wearing.

There was nothing in the seemingly bottomless pit of a box, Zoey had not seen.

"Just get your pretty little arse off my mother's things and I'll hide it, then we can continue our favorite game," Zoey said sarcastically, the Gryffindor within her acting out. Or was it Slytherin? Who knows? It just wasn't Hufflepuff.

"I don't think so," Damiana squinted her eyes. She slid of the top of the box and kneeled beside it, opening its lid. Zoey expected to see a bright light or Damiana being sucked into the box or even a dragon coming out to eat the horrid woman but nothing came.

It was just opened. Like a treasure chest but with no sparkling gold and diamonds to blind oneself.

"Now what do we have here?" Damiana began, her voice sounding like a cartoon predator who had just corned its prey.

Zoey bit her lip and looked away, not wanting to see what her aunt was pulling out.

* * *

The morning sun slipped through the blinds of the Chatsworth daughter's room window causing several thin yellowish lines to appear all around the stirring form of Jane. The girl was just about ready to get up but her heavy lids just refused to open. Turning a bit more in her bed, Jane brought her hands up to her eyes and rubbed the sleep away, successfully getting them to open. She groaned.

Weeks. It had been weeks since the girl has had a proper sleep and when she finally got one, she didn't feel any better. Weeks since a proper good night sleep. Weeks since she was able to hear herself think without other thoughts circling her mind. Weeks since she had seen her best friend. Zoey was revealed to be a Black on the day of their graduation and on that same day, she had been taken away. No sign of her since that event and its been tearing not only Jane but everyone who knew her inside out.

Swinging her feet off her bed and sitting upright, Jane closed her eyes and rubbed her temples, her head slightly aching. She should just lie back down on her bed and push all the troublesome thoughts away but she couldn't. Zoey was gone and she wanted to find her. She wanted to help find her.

A banging on her bedroom door distracted Jane's mind to wandering over to memories with her Hufflepuff friend.

"Yeah?" she called out, her voice still groggy from sleep. An eerie creak signaling the opening of her door filled the air and Jane looked up to see her mother, Elizabeth Chatsworth.

"Good morning, Mother," Jane greeted, slowly standing up from her bed. Ever since her parents found out about her relationship with Aiden, a muggleborn, things were never the same. Things weren't exactly _good _to begin with but… let's just say things could have been better.

"Clear out your plans for this weekend," Mrs. Chatsworth said, folding her arms across her chest and leaning against the doorframe of her daughter's door, not even bothering to return the polite greeting.

Jane hummed out a sarcastic tune to indicate thought. "My boyfriend is traveling with his parents, my friends are having family time with their respective relatives, my best friend has been abducted to only Merlin knows where and I've been rotting in this beloved bedroom of mine for weeks," the girl listed out, watching her mother's eyes squint with every word that was being said. "I can't say I'm free for this weekend," Jane added, sitting back onto her bed and crossing her legs.

"Well, prepare your best dress robes for the Emeraudes," Mrs. Chatsworth sniffed, acting as if her daughter had just agreed to what she had said and made a turn to leave when a quick tug at her arm stopped her. The woman looked down to see Jane, her knees on the floor, hand on her sleeve and eyes wide open.

"Get off me, child," Mrs. Chatsworth ordered, tugging her arm out of Jane's grip causing the girl to lose her balance for a moment before quickly regaining it. She stumbled to her feet, her hands out in caution.

"Di… did you just say 'Emeraude'?" Jane gasped out, her knees shaking a bit from nervous excitement.

"Of course," Mrs. Chatsworth rolled her eyes a bit, "Don't you listen, child?"

"I just wanted to make sure I heard right, mother," Jane huffed out, already getting a bad vibe so early in the morning.

"Yes, I said Emeraude. The Emeraude family is one of the most powerful pureblood families in the Wizarding world and we have been privileged to be invited to their annual ball," Mrs. Chatsworth drawled out, "Just your regular pureblood ball, you've been to many so I assume you know how to act, dress –"

"I know what to do, Mum. Who are going to be there?" Jane asked, her heart beating rapidly against her chest.

"The entire Emeraude family of course. There would also be a couple of the most respected pureblood families such as the Malfoys, Parkinson, Zabini and their lot."

"What about the Weasleys?"

Jane avoided a slap her mother sent her way. The girl took several steps away from the woman in front of her and took a defensive stance, keeping a distance and watched as her mother retracted her hand, placing it delicately at her side. Her mother took several deep breaths; the redness her cheeks took from anger was fading slowly and took its usual pale tone.

Mrs. Chatsworth scrutinized her daughter, her own stance taking a stiff form.

"The Weasleys," she began, her voice laced with disgust, "are blood traitors. They'll never be invited to an event held by the Emeraudes."

"Of course. How could I be so stupid?" Jane said, inwardly rolling her eyes.

"Yes, how could you?" Mrs. Chatsworth closed her eyes. "But that's beside the point. We are going to this event whether you like it or not and dates are a must. Don't you dare bring that mudblood boyfriend of yours."

"Don't call him that," Jane shrieked, "And I told you, he's out on vacation!"

"Then invite someone suitable and of a pureblood," Mrs. Chatsworth waved her daughter off, turning around once more and left Jane.

Watching her mother's retreating figure, Jane approached her door and slowly closed it. The eerie creak filling her room once more. Letting out a sigh, the girl walked over to her window and peeked through her blinds, watching one of the family houseelves Apparating to the garden to fix the flower bushes.

Taking a deep breath, a small smirk graced her lips.

"I'll bring a date alright," she muttered silently to herself, "And for sure he'll be a pureblood."

* * *

The summer morning passed by as a blur and soon, the afternoon sun was peaking ever so slightly from behind the clouds. A nice summer breeze blew by, messing up people's hair and the like. Children, both magical and muggle, were playing outside their homes, enjoying their summer vacation. They no longer cared about school and the stress that came with it. School was over and children of all ages were now throwing their books out the window and finally had the freedom of fun.

Summer vacation was something for all. It was something carefree and worry-free for all… all except for several people in the Wizarding world. These people were deep in the pool of stress and worry. The cause of these negative feeling was the simple fact that a certain Emeraude, who was close to their hearts, was missing.

A yell pierced through the laughter of the summer afternoon, disrupting the childish sounds, and causing birds to fly away from their homes in the trees.

"FREDERIC GIDEON WEASLEY! Where do you think you're going?"

Fred flinched and slowly looked back at his mother. Ever since Zoey's disappearance he and George have been spending their time in the Burrow just to plan a rescue alongside with Echo. It had been hours… days… weeks and the boy couldn't take it. He needed to see her. Fred figured that if he was able to floo to her dusty old place three years ago, he could do it now... If his mother didn't notice him.

"Just going out to check up on the store," Fred lied, scratching the back of his head as he did so.

"Didn't you and George check up on your store two days ago?" Mrs. Weasley asked, raising a suspicious eyebrow at her son. She was not one to tolerate lies especially from her own kids.

"Oh, but mother dear, you never know what could happen to the place without me and Georgie checking up every once in a while," Fred told her, "Very successful place, cashier filled with galleons and such, people can just enter and steal whatever they can get their grubby hands on."

Mrs. Weasley furrowed her brows and folded her arms across her chest. "I thought you and George had enough tact to put security spells on the shop before leaving and don't you have that girl you hired not too long ago to take care of the place while the both of you are gone?"

"Mum –"

"And if you _are _going to go to the shop, why isn't George coming with you?" Mrs. Weasley already knew what her son was up to, she just wanted him to tell her himself.

"He's hanging out with Echo," Fred gulped.

"Echo hasn't come back yet from gathering her stuff from her own house. George is upstairs, from my knowledge Echo wouldn't allow him to help her," Mrs. Weasley then sighed, "Fred, tell me the truth."

Fred closed his eyes and leaned his back onto the fireplace, pinching the bridge of nose. He should have known better than to lie to his mother. It didn't work all those years ago when he and George broke a vase, it didn't work when they lied about breaking the rules in Hogwarts and it wouldn't work now when he was trying to sneak out to save his girlfriend.

"I think you already know the truth by now, mum," Fred let out a dry chuckle just for the heck of it, "after all, you always had the talent of finding out when me and George are lying or what are we lying about."

"That doesn't mean I'm always right, Fred"

"Why don't you try and make a guess?"

"Why don't you just tell me the truth yourself?" Mrs. Weasley shot back. She was being patient. Her son was hurt; she needed to be there for him.

The boy opened his left eye to pear at his mother before opening his right to fully look at her. He then stuffed his hands into his pockets before kicking an invisible pebble with his foot.

"I just figured I could you know... Floo to her," he didn't need to say who 'her' was. It was common knowledge by now.

"You think that's _wise,_ Fred?" Mrs. Weasley asked in a soft tone, "Do you honestly think that they would keep her floo network open considering the circumstance she is in?"

"You never know –"

"What about that plan you, George and Echo keep discussing upstairs in your old room? You think I don't hear your mutterings?" she interrupted him. "Would you just let your efforts go to waste with you just acting on impulse?" she ended, trying to let him see the danger of his actions.

Fred didn't say anything. His lips formed a tight line and a crease appeared on his forehead as he thought long and hard to himself. His mother had a point. In fact, her point was common knowledge... Common sense. What was he thinking? Flooing to Zoey's without knowing if she is still in her house or in a cage under the earth with her horrendous aunt with her?

The thought made Fred's body shake with anger. He felt the need to punch the wall... Hard... Create a hole that would allow you to have a peak at the garden to see the gnomes running around, swearing at you when they felt like it.

"Fred, just give it some time... Think more on your rescue plan. Consider all the obstacles that you may encounter. Prepare for them," Mrs. Weasley now offered him a soft smile, reaching out to touch his forearm, holding onto it with both of her hands, "Just wait a little more."

"I can't afford to wait any longer, Mum, Zoey could be having the Cruciatus used against her right at this moment!" Fred tried his best not to yell.

"You don't know that –"

"If it isn't the Cruciatus curse, it could be another curse or some physical beating for all we know," Fred's hands formed fists and his knuckles whitened, "We need to save her!"

"I know that, Fred and I know that she's waiting to be saved but do you think she would allow herself to be saved knowing that You, George and Echo would be hurt during the process?"

Fred remained silent. Point two to his mother.

"I'm already allowing you three to do this dangerous task because I, as much as anybody in this house, want Zoey safe and sound but I want you lot to be safe as well. We don't want anyone go be sent to St. Mungo's now, do we?"

"I never thought I would live to see the day my own mother allowing me to go in a rescue mission that would involve violence being inflicted. Must be dreaming," Fred allowed a slight smirk to appear on his lips.

"Yes, well, why don't you head upstairs and being planning while I make up some sandwiches?" Mrs. Weasley patted her son's cheek before turning around to head to the kitchen, the smell of lunch filling the air.

Fred was just about to do what his mother suggested when a whispered call caught his attention. The voice belonged to a girl and she was saying his name. Troubled and curious at what he had heard, Fred looked around his surroundings, trying to see if Echo or Bridgit had come to visit or something.

"_Fred!" _the voice was a little bit louder now but it was still in its whispered tone. The boy's heart skipped a beat, wondering if it was Zoey but something kept him from jumping straight into that conclusion. The voice was stronger than Zoey's. It did not hold her delicate tone.

"Who's there?" Fred decided to ask, his voice soft so his mother wouldn't come out of the kitchen to wonder who he was talking to. There was a moment of silence before he heard a reply.

"_It's Jane. Jane Chatsworth, remember?" _

"Jane?" Fred blinked before looking down at the fireplace to see Jane's face pocking out of it from the flames. At the notice, the boy dropped to his knees to talk to her better. "Jane, what the bloody hell are you doing?"

"Talking to you, obviously," Jane said with a roll of her eyes before her expression turned serious, "Listen, I have something important to tell you. Where's George?"

"He's upstairs. I could get him if you –"

"We don't have time!" Jane suddenly said, her voice high with slight panic. "I have to tell it to you, just relay the message to George, Echo and Bridgit."

"What's this important message? Why is it so important that you couldn't – I don't know – owl us or something?" Fred asked, quirking and eyebrow at the pureblood.

"It's about Zoey."

At the mention of the Emeraude, Fred's face contorted into seriousness as well. "What do you know?

"Not much," Jane admitted before her face in the flames disappeared for a moment or two before coming back. "I have to make this fast, I think I heard my dad approaching."

"Just say what you must."

Jane nodded her head and took a deep breath before speaking. "I'm not certain of Zoey's whereabouts but it doesn't hurt to check every place possible, right? So, just this morning, my mother came to my room and told me that this weekend, there's going to be this annual 'Emeraude Ball'. I'm thinking Zoey could be there. Here's the plan, my mother told me that I should bring a date and Aiden's not here and of course, I wouldn't bring him on this mission."

"Where are you going with this?" Fred couldn't help but interrupt. His heart was pounding violently against his chest with every ounce of information Jane was telling him. Sure, it was already beating violently at the mention of Zoey's name but from the slight hope of finding Zoey at the Emeraude Suburb, well, Fred could have been having a heart failure and wouldn't even know the difference.

"Glad you asked. You're going to be my date," Jane then continued before Fred could interrupt once more. "I've checked the invitation and it basically says I'm allowed to invite more people because the Emeraude's believe in "The more the merrier!" Over used? Quite. Helpful? Yes. So you'll be my date and we're dragging Echo and George along with us."

"That's… That's great, Jane! Brilliant!" Fred couldn't help but raise his voice from the excitement he had but had to shut his mouth when he heard his mother drop something in the kitchen. He winced at the sound before bending even lower to continue his conversation with the Hufflepuff. "When do we start?"

"Like I said, the ball is this weekend so we don't have much time to plan anything out," Jane winced at that unprepared fact, "That and I have no idea what the Emeraude Suburb looks like."

"Basically you're saying we're going to have to wing it when we get there?" A twinkle in Fred's blue eyes came and a grin was slowly etching its way to his lips. "My favorite strategy."

Jane gave a small laugh before her eyes widened. She could hear the footsteps of her father getting louder and louder. He was fast approaching now. "Glad to here that. Look, my dad's coming and this is the last thing I have to say. Emeraude's are really big on the whole 'blood-traitor' thing – sorry that I had to use the term – So you and George have to go under disguise seeing as the red hair and freckles sort of throw you two off. You know any look you two can pull off?"

Fred thought for a moment, his mind flashing back to his second year. The grin on his lips grew even wider and his mind already building up countless of ideas. "I don't know if you remember, but George and I look pretty good with black hair."

"Great," Jane offered a smile and before she could even give a proper goodbye, her face in the flame disappeared just in time for Fred to hear his twin going down the stairs.

Straightening up from his crouched position, Fred looked up to see George looking at him oddly.

"Lost something, Freddie?" he asked.

"Bring out your Gringotts key, Georgie," Fred said, standing up from the ground, "We're going to buy ourselves some new dress robes."

* * *

Minutes turn into hours, Hours to days, Days to weeks. Weeks have passed since any news of Zoey was heard. She has been silent. No notes, no owls, no anything. This would have been normal to some degree, but it seemed as if she was off the grid! This caused a great deal of worry amongst her friends, Bridgit being one of them.

The brunette sat in front of her desk, a quill in hand, as she tried to write down a lesson plan for her first year as a trainee under Flitwick. She was to help him with his teaching, learn the ropes, and sometimes teach a few classes herself. This would have been a very fun and easy task for Bridgit. If only she was fully focused on the task at hand.

"How do you think Zoey's doing, Shinji?" Bridgit asked, turning to the teacup poodle on her bed. He was chewing on a chew toy and looked absolutely cute doing so. Bridgit smiled at the dog as he looked up at her. He sympathized with her, but didn't have an answer to give either.

"You're right, maybe I should be worried about Fred too." The Parker turned towards the window and looked at the beautiful scenery. The wide field with children playing football outside tempted her to go and join them, just to get away from the stress of the situation.

"CARI GET DOWN HERE!" A voice suddenly roared out, making the girl roll her eyes. Of course, who else to ruin a peaceful moment.

"CARI!" The voice shouted once more, making Shinji growl. She gave her dog a sympathetic look before making her way out of her safe haven.

The big house she lived in could be compared to one from storybooks. Marble walls and ceilings with gold trimmed curtains and furniture. The house was magnificent, but Bridgit didn't care. The only she cared about was how her place looked like. How her room looked like.

"I told you, my name is Bridgit!" Bridgit shouted out, walking down the white marble staircase. She decided to get lazy and just slide down the side to get down to her uncle faster. When she landed on her feet once again, there her uncle stood. "What's up Uncle Drew?" She asked, glaring at the man.

Zachary Drew James was not a very nice person. Well, he was depending on who you talked to. He had a tall build, shoulders broad, and muscular. His mousy blonde hair and sapphire blue eyes attractive as well. "Cari, would you care to explain what this contraption is?" Bridgit rolled her eyes as her uncle refused to call her, her birth name. The name her father had chosen for her.

Drew was pointing towards a box on the table, and Bridgit's eyes grew wide. "Finally!" The girl exclaimed running up to it. She has been waiting for it for almost two weeks now. "My laptop is here!" Before the girl could reach the box however, an arm had tugged and stopped her.

"Laptop?" Drew asked, raising his eyebrow. "Cari, do not tell me this is another one of those muggle contraptions!" Bridgit glared as her uncle walked up to the box. She wanted to stop him, but just watched as he took out his wand. He pointed it at the laptop and whispered _'Reducto'_. The box and everything inside smashed.

"Why must you keep getting these things? You have the best what galleons could buy! Your father and mother could never have given you this!" Bridgit sometimes wondered if her uncle loved her or hated her. He seemed like he cared, but it still confused her.

"I don't care! I paid for it!" Bridgit shouted back. "What do you know anyway? You always tell me what my parents couldn't do, but you always say you loved my mom! Can you just make up your freaking mind!"

The image of the burning house flashed into Bridgit's mind as tears formed into her eyes.

"Go to your room Cari," Drew whispered, making the glare send him a tense glare.

"MY NAME IS BRIDGIT!" She ran up to her room, wiping away the stubborn tears that continued to fall against her will. She had wanted the laptop for another way of communication with her friends. A safer way. Her owls were being monitored by Death Eaters, and she was already being suspected of betraying them.

"CARI…!" She heard a faint call, but she didn't mind it. She shut her door and lay down on her bed beside Shinji. She hugged the little dog close and wondered once again how Zoey was. Bridgit just hoped that she was in better condition than she was. "Hope that you're doing fine Zee…" Bridgit whispered, making Shinji nuzzle her cheek. She smiled at that.

"You and me against the world right Shinji?" Bridgit said, making the dog bark cutely. The girl looked out the window once again and decided that maybe a game of football with a couple of muggle kids wouldn't be so bad after all.

* * *

_High and evil cackles that belonged to the young Slytherin girls were carried out in the breeze and filled Zoey's ears. The leader of the three girls had an unpleasant smile plastered on her lips as she held her wand with mastery, a pair of glasses just floating above the point. The two other Slytherins were holding onto a young Hufflepuff, stopping her from reaching out for her glasses._

_Zoey was only in her first year at Hogwarts and already she was being picked on. Her book bag was thrown to the floor, her books and rolls of parchment scattered on the grass, and her hair was in tangles. There were even slight rips on her robes and dirt on her shoes. It was obvious that she struggled to fight against the Slytherins but lost._

"_Come on, Emeraude," the leader drawled, "You're a pureblood, ain't ya? Why don't you get your glasses from me?"_

"_I – I'm not allowed to use magic out of class," Zoey said in a strained voice, trying her best to loosen the other girls' grip on her. It was no use. She was too weak and frail to create any force against them. "Please, just give me back my glasses!"_

"_Why should I give this to a blood traitor like you?" the girl sniffed, her face contorting to disgust at the sight of the battered spectacles. "Trash. I can't believe they even let you into this school."_

_The two girls holding onto Zoey laughed, their long fingernails digging into Zoey's skin as they did so. The Emeraude winced at the pressure but didn't say anything. "So what do we do with trash girls?" the Slytherin suddenly said, her eyes showing that she had a plan in mind already. "We throw it away of course!" she answered her own question, pointing her wand towards the Forbidden Forest and sending Zoey's glasses flying towards it. _

_Zoey's gray eyes widened and she let out surprised gasp as the image of her spectacles grew blurrier and blurrier that farther it went until it was out of sight; both from Zoey's vision and someone's 20-20 vision. The girl's holding onto Zoey dropped her to the floor and stood beside their leader, laughing at Zoey's distraught state. _

_The Emeraude whipped her head to look at them but the three already turned their backs to her and were making their way towards the castle. The sun was already setting and soon, dinner would be served at the Great Hall. _

_Zoey took in a shaky breath and scrambled towards her fallen school materials before the night breeze could blow them away. Sniffling as she stuffed book after book into her bag, the girl did not hear someone approaching until that someone placed a hand on her shoulder, catching her by surprise._

_She let out a squeak._

"_Zoe?" it was Fred, Zoey guessed, "Zoe, what are you doing out here? Dinner is about to start."_

_Quickly wiping her eyes from tears that threatened to fall, Zoey looked up to Fred and gave him a weary smile, placing her tattered bag on her lap. "You should go on without me. I think I'm going to hang around here for a while."_

"_Hang out here? Zoe, you've always said you hated the Hogwarts grounds after dark. Freaks you out if I recall," Fred pointed out, kneeling on the ground to look Zoey in the eyes, the Emeraude's light gray eyes shining with the tears that had not been shed. _

_Fred blinked a couple of times before wiping the area below Zoey's eye with his thumb, noting that it was slightly moist. "Where are your glasses?" he asked her, realizing that he did not see the reflection of himself when he looked her in the eyes. _

_Zoey licked her lips and glanced towards the Forbidden Forest, a shiver running up her spine at the thought of all the creatures lurking in it. Why would someone put a school right next to such a forest? She would never know the reason behind it. The Emeraude drew in a breath and looked back at the Weasley boy._

"_Uhm… they're in the Forbidden Forest," she decided to be honest._

"_The Forbi – What are they doing there?" Fred asked._

"_They... flew," Zoey cringed at her explanation. It wasn't the best in the world to be painfully obvious._

"_Flew?" Fred's brows shot up with surprise before breaking Zoey's statement apart and trying to decipher the true meaning behind it. Through his observations, he had come to the conclusion that when girls say one thing they mean the other. One of their confusing ways of trying to get a boy to know what they felt or something. He was eleven, he didn't know if his conclusion was right or not. Nonetheless, he tried to figure out what Zoey really meant. How could glasses fly?_

_With a snap of his fingers, a humorous grin laced Fred's lips. "You tried that spell we learned in Charms class didn't you?" he asked, thinking that he got the right answer._

"_Ch…Charms?" Zoey's brows knitted together, "You mean 'Wingardium Leviosa'?"_

"_Yeah. You tried it out, didn't you? That's why your glasses 'flew' to the Forbidden Forest?" Fred asked, his grin slowly fading and his voice hinting that he was now unsure of his guess._

_Zoey took in a breath and offered a small smile. "Yeah, I tried to see if I could levitate my glasses like that feather and… I sort of messed up," she lied, "I guess I should have worked on something unimportant."_

"_You would need your glasses in order for you to come back into the castle," Fred chuckled, getting up from the ground, swatting the grass off his pants and robes and holding his hand out to Zoey. The Emeraude took it and allowed Fred to help her up. Once she was back on her feet, she swayed slightly, not used to seeing the word in all its blurry glory just yet._

"_Listen," Fred began, "Why don't you meet up with George and Echo back in the castle and while I'll look for your glasses?" The Weasley sent her a smile, his blue eyes already twinkling with excitement at the thought of entering the Forbidden Forest._

"_What?" Zoey gasped, "Fred, we aren't allowed out this late nor are we allowed to go into the Forbidden Forest. Going into the Forbidden Forest at this time will equal you double the punishment!"_

"_I know! Isn't that exciting?" Fred's smile turned into a grin._

"_No it isn't! Do you have any idea what's in that forest?" Zoey asked, panicked._

"_Of course not. That's what makes it more interesting! Hagrid keeps chasing George and I away whenever we get remotely close to the area, with him either in the castle or asleep in his hut, I can go in there with no problem – Look! It's George and Echo!" _

_Turning around, Zoey saw George holding onto Echo's arm as he dragged her towards his twin and herself; Echo being too immersed in her book to notice. When they finally reached them, he released his hold on the Veela and looked to his mirror image. _

"_Where have you two been? Dinner started thirty minutes ago!" George asked, his brows shooting up._

"_Zoey accidentally Wingardium Leviosa-ed her glasses into the Forbidden Forest. I was just about to head there and look for them. Want to come?" Fred explained._

"_Sounds like a brilliant idea," George grinned before looking at Echo, "You don't mind bringing Zoey back, right?"_

"_I don't mind," Echo momentarily looked up from her book before her eyes went back to the printed words._

"_Echo! You do mind. Tell them it's a dumb idea to go into the Forest!" Zoey said, not believing that her friend casually agreed to bring her back thus not giving a word in on the twins' plan._

"_Fine," Echo snapped her book shut. "Tell me whose bloody idea was it to make your glasses fly over to that eerie place? Zwei, you're not that stupid to use the levitation charm on your own glasses. You're as blind as a bleeding bat without them."_

"_It was an accident! I didn't mean to send them away," Zoey said, her voice taking a higher pitch from her lie mixed with panic._

"_Exactly why we need to find it," Fred then said, pushing Zoey slightly towards Echo. "Don't need to worry your pretty little head, love. Georgie boy and I will find them."_

_Before Zoey could get a word in, Fred and George already turned their back on them and ran towards the direction of the forest, wands held tightly in their hands as they began their little exploration. _

_The Emeraude's heart was frantically beating against her chest as she felt Echo take hold of her forearm, slowly leading her back into the castle. Zoey stumbled over her feet a couple of times for she could not tear her eyes away from the direction the twins went no matter how blurry it could the farther she was. The only moment she looked away was when her shoe made a slight noise from making contact with the cold floor of Hogwarts._

_The next morning, Zoey found herself shifting nervously on her seat on the Gryffindor table as she waited for Fred and George with Echo. Beside her, she could hear Lee chatting with the rest of the Gryffindors. The Hufflepuff felt uncomfortable. She never liked sitting at another house's table without her friends. It was like trespassing. Zoey was just about to excuse herself when Lee tapped her shoulder._

"_Did you hear?" he began, a grin on his lips, "Fred and George got busted last night."_

"_Busted?" Zoey squeaked out, her eyes wide with worry, "Busted for what?"_

"_I'm not all to sure about the details but from what I heard, they were caught walking around the Forbidden Forest. I knew they weren't afraid of anything but the Forbidden Forest? That's wicked. Kudos to them." Lee laughed._

"_Do – Do you know if they're hurt?" Zoey then asked him, already feeling guilty of not telling a teacher of where the twins had gone the moment she entered the Great Hall. Before Lee could reply, Zoey felt something slide from the top of her head only to land on the bridge of her nose. She let out a small scream in surprise._

"_Why don't you ask us yourself?" Fred grinned, placing his arm on Zoey's shoulder as he sat beside her, George beside Echo._

"_Fred!" Zoey gasped out, her vision of him already clear from the glasses that now rested in front of her eyes. She pushed them further up the bridge of her nose before continuing. "What happened in there? Are you hurt? How long are you in for?"_

"_I feel like I've answered this question before, don't you George?" Fred grinned, sending his brother a look. George simply laughed and began getting his food from the plates set in front of him. His journey last night worked up an appetite._

"_The Forbidden Forest is beyond wicked. At first, I thought that the place was not as cool as I thought it would be because it was all roots and leaves but the deeper you go –"_

"_The spookier it gets," George continued, "We saw these odd looking creatures lurking around. It sends shivers up your spine just looking at –"_

"_Their glowing eyes looking right at you. I guess they didn't bother us because we didn't bother them. Anywho, we started looking high and low for your glasses I'm quite sure we passed by a herd of unicorns somewhere in there –"_

"_The moment we got hold of your glasses though – Hagrid caught us and brought us straight to McGonagall's office," George cringed, remembering the scolding her and Fred got. "But so worth the punishment."_

"_What was it?" Lee asked, having been listening to the story._

"_Nothing new, just our usual punishment with extra weeks. I'm sure we'll be expecting a howler from Mum sometime this week though," Fred's face fell before he let out a snicker, "But like what George said, so worth it."_

"_How did Hagrid know you two were in there?" Zoey asked as her brows knitted together. She felt guilty for getting Fred and George in trouble but knowing them, they wouldn't take their punishment too seriously. If they ever did, then they wouldn't be the Weasley Twins._

"_Apparently this man-horse guy told him or something. I don't know all the details there," Fred shrugged, getting some food on his plate after a loud growl came from his stomach. Before he took a bite out of his food, he bent down a bit to whisper something into Zoey's ear. "Also, don't worry too much about those Slytherin chicks. George and I took care of them."_

_Zoey's eyes widened and she looked at Fred with disbelief, her mind swarming with questions but Fred said nothing. He merely munched on his food and chatted with his friends._

The Emeraude's eyes opened with a flash and a groan escaped her lips as she blinked numerous times trying to see what was around her. It was no use, the lights were off and her glasses were gone. She wouldn't be able to see anything clearly. Moving her head in order to see what was beside her, Zoey winced. Her entire body was sore. It was like that time she woke up in 12 Grimmauld Place after her escape from the Emeraude Suburb.

Only this time, she wasn't all too sure she was in a safe place.

Beside her, Zoey could see a broken shard of glass and several scattered pieces of parchment. Beads and such were scattered all over the floor and there were limp pieces of string as well. Not too far from these objects were Zoey's missing glasses only she could not see how they would be able to serve her seeing as there was a large diagonal crack going through both lenses.

Weeks had passed since her abduction and since her aunt opened her mother's box and to be frank, her dear aunt Damiana was not pleased from what she saw. Looking into the box and throwing out each and everything that did not grab her interest out, Damiana saw that nothing in this box was of use to her. Her exact words were "My sister's garbage bag." And "Useless crap."

Saying Damiana was angry… furious… enraged was an understatement. Her emotion at that time was like a combination of the three with more. It was unimaginable, scary…horrific even. Unfortunately for Zoey, she had to deal with her aunt's rage – for lack of a better word – and suffered greatly from it.

Yes, she had to endure the usually abuse such as Crucio and other spells that harmed Zoey both physically mentally. Spells that had given her scars that she wasn't all too sure would ever fade and spells that made Zoey lose hope. Hope of ever being rescued from the place she was now supposed to call 'home' but instead called it 'Azkaban Version 2'. She was deprived of food, water, sunlight and friends.

To put things in a simpler way, having your soul sucked out by a Dementor was more pleasing than staying in the Emeraude Suburb.

Deciding that she couldn't stay on the floor of her living room any longer, Zoey regretfully pushed herself off from the ground in order to sit up straight, her body sending tiny shockwaves of distress as she did so. Ignoring the obvious strain she was putting on her body, the Emeraude gingery got up from the floor and limped her way towards her kitchen in order to see if she could scavenge anything edible.

It was pathetic.

The reason for Zoey's limping was not only from the injuries she got but also from the fact that her entire left leg had turned into stone. The gray colored rock began from the tip of her toes and ended somewhere near her hip, making it impossible for her to bend her leg or, in this case, walk properly.

"Alabaster's Passing" was the name of Damiana's Emeraude gift and from the mind-numbing pain Zoey felt as her leg turned into stone, she guessed it was due to her aunt's power that the Entrance Hall of the Emeraude estate was so _beautifully _decorated by the statures. The Emeraude family's most prized possessions.

"_If you don't serve a purpose now. I'll find one for you," _Damiana's anything by sweet voice echoed in Zoey's mind as she retreated from the kitchen, not finding anything that would serve her any good. _"I'm pretty sure there is empty space somewhere in the Entrance Hall."_

Zoey sighed and limped her way towards the window of her living room. She was careful to take gentle steps, not wanting to literally break her leg. Looking at the window she noted its design. It starts from the very top of her wall and ends at the bottom of it. Simple. Damiana had given it large, thick curtains that made it impossible for the sun's raise to pass through and for Zoey to see anything outside and vise versa.

Could she open the curtains? No. Could she hear what was happening outside? Yes. Could anyone hear her? No. Damiana forbad anyone and everyone to go near Zoey's house.

Leaning her head against the stuffy curtains, the Emeraude listened to the world outside the walls of her house. Occasionally, she would hear Audrey's voice discussing something with another Emeraude but that was the only familiar voice that she was able to hear. Everything else were just noise.

That is until a pompous sounding voice caught Zoey's attention, making her lean closer to the curtain in order to hear the voice clearer.

"_As one of the Ministry Officials, I do have quite a lot of duties. I am also most trusted by the Minister and am in a high position for the current Wizarding World. Did you know that?" _the voice asked, making the owner sound full of himself.

Zoey's heart began to beat wildly against her chest as the voice sounded more and more familiar the more it spoke _Percy! _Zoey's eyes widened at the realization. She could recognize that pompous voice anywhere. _Percy's here! Why is he here?_

But she never got an answer for the Weasley's words got fainter and fainter and Zoey was sure he was walking further and further away from her. Her heartbeat slowed down and that small amount of hope she developed was soon washed away and was replaced with despair.

What was she thinking? He wouldn't save her. He probably didn't even know she was taken away from her friends and loved ones.

* * *

"As one of the Ministry Officials, I do have quite a lot of duties. I am also most trusted by the Minister and am in a high position for the current Wizarding World. Did you know that?" Percy said as he puffed out his chest, a habit he developed ever since he became a Prefect, and continued walking side by side with Audrey.

Audrey's eyebrows knitted together and a shaky smile graced her lips. She was ordered by Damiana to show Percy around after he had discussed something with her. He had asked Damiana, on behalf of the Ministry of Magic, to consider taking up an important post in the Ministry of Magic. Damiana politely told him that she would think about it and get back to him later in the day. In the meantime, Audrey was to show the boy around.

Was she enjoying this little assignment? She couldn't really say. Percy Ignatius Weasley seemed rather pleasant at first, being all professional when discussing things with Damiana but now that Audrey spent some alone time with him, she wasn't so sure. What she was sure of was that Percy really thought highly of his position at work and his previous positions back at Hogwarts.

"Did I know what you were or did I know what a Ministry Official does?" Audrey asked him, trying to keep the conversation alive and polite.

"That I am one of course," Percy answered, his tone snotty and arrogant. "Everyone knows what Ministry Official does. Unless, of course, you've been cooped up in a place where there's basically no news of the Ministry."

Audrey's already shaky smile twitched a bit at the end and she tried to keep her thoughts in line. This boy…this man in front of her… How big does he want his head to get? Trying to keep herself from lashing out (seeing as she had a low tolerance for egotistical people) Audrey gave him a humored laugh.

"I… Is that so?" her voice wavered, "Well, I bet your family is quite proud of… of your _high _position."

"Proud?" Percy scoffed as if insulted. "They should be proud," he continued, "But they choose to look down on my position and follow what they _think _is right and not what _is _right. What do they have to be proud amongst themselves? They have no achievements, they have no proper pay, and indeed my father works for the Ministry but for a division that is known to be a joke. Truly my family is something."

"Don't you think you're being a tad bit… _harsh?_" Audrey said, her tolerance level slowly disappearing from hearing what Percy had just told her. "They _are _your family. I mean, sure your father isn't in a _high _position like you but I suppose he's doing the best he can to support you and your siblings."

"Harsh?" Percy asked, wanting to laugh at the sound of the word. "Harsh? How can I be? What did they ever do for me? I got a Prefect badge and my brothers disrespect my authority. I become Head Boy and my brothers and their stupid friends play all the pranks they want on me. I become part of the Ministry and my parents and siblings end up getting disappointed instead of happy? I earn a living. I have a decent income. I wake up every morning with no regrets about my life, yet they must always ruin my plans with their long speeches and bloody scolding." He continued, his face turning red with anger.

"Perce – Mister Weasley… Uhm," Audrey wasn't quite sure on how to refer to him but instead continued, "That's just sibling rivalry. They're just messing with you and your parents _could _just be looking out for you and –"

"All those years of ridicule and shame placed by my brothers by those Slytherins, but I knew I'd be more successful than them," Percy ranted, not taking note of what Audrey was saying. "Now look at me? I'm successful and what are they? My brother's will never succeed like me. It's a known fact that I am the smartest Weasley. Never will I be humiliated by those insolent buffoons again."

"Now that's really harsh. Down right mean. You actually have the nerve to say that about your own family? Your own flesh and blood?" Audrey's tolerance practically just flew out the implied window, her brows furrowing and her cheeks getting a tinge of red on them from the anger she was desperately trying to hold in. "You should count your lucky stars that you actually _have _a family."

"What's the point of having a family that has no appreciation or respect for what you do?" Percy now retorted. "Family or no family, what you do with your life is what's important, not who's in it."

"How could you have a important – or rather – _meaningful _life if there isn't anyone to spend it with? Family or no family my arse. Everyone needs a family you prick!" Audrey faltered a bit after her choice of words but maintained her fierce look on Percy.

"Easy," the red head smirked. "You have to make something out of yourself and besides, you wouldn't know what I've gone through. You have this big house with all those people and house elves inside. What do you know about what us _real _wizards do?"

And that was it. All of Audrey's self-control went out the window together with her tolerance and her politeness. She drew her hand up and sent a strong slap against Percy's cheek, shocking him in the process and causing him to take several steps back to regain his balance, hand on his now read cheek. Percy's eyes were wide and he watched as Audrey's brown eyes flared.

"I know plenty," she said in an angered tone, "I may live in this big house with all those people but they aren't my family. No, we don't have a relationship like what you have with yours. They truly aren't my family. I am no Emeraude. House elves? Who bloody cares? They don't deserve to be trapped in this dump. They deserve to be free or working for kinder masters. To tell you the truth, I would rather have home cooked meals by my mother. But wait, I wouldn't know what they would taste like cause I _have no mother._" Percy was just about to interrupt but Audrey beat him to it.

"I would rather have a struggling family with lots of love than a wealthy 'family' who brings up their kids to live up to unkind expectations. This place, you don't even know what goes in here," Audrey's mind flashed to a seemingly abandoned house before continuing. "You just work for that Minister of Magic of yours with your _high _position. Get wondrous credit and acknowledgement instead of going out there and fending off dark wizards and crap like that. _Real wizard _my arse!"

Percy gaped at the auburn haired beauty, his mouth opening and closing, wondering what to say. Before the boy could even gather up the words swarming in his mind, a gently cough caught his and Audrey's attention. Audrey, realizing what she had done, opened her mouth to apologize but was distracted by the presence of an un-amused Damiana.

The Emeraude quirked a thin eyebrow at the two, folding her thin arms above her chest and tapping her finger on her arms, sending Audrey and Percy a look. Percy dropped his hand to his side and straightened up while Audrey brushed her hair away from her face and straightened up as well.

"Am I… interrupting something?" Damiana asked, her gaze turning to Audrey, "I told you to show young Mister Weasley around and yet I see you two here, standing. Tell me, what have you shown him?"

"The Entrance hall, the playground, the flower maze and…" Audrey trailed off, her face now showing worry and panic. She had not shown him everything. She was just about to lead him towards the directory when they had gotten into their row. Her plan was to ask him what he wanted to see but to the obvious eyes, that didn't happen.

"I see," Damiana then said, seeing that Audrey had nothing more to say. She turned towards Percy. "I'm sorry for Audrey's behavior. I think I may have given her too many responsibilities. She's just about your age, you see, very young yet has the duties of someone my age. You could see that she's under much stress," Damiana apologized to the Weasley.

"Yes… well, I think that maybe she's in need of a break," Percy suggested, "I would be happy to take her off of your hands for a day or two. " He continued, giving Damiana a shy smile.

Damiana's eyes widened while Audrey out right said. "Have you gone mental?" before clearing her throat and continuing, "I don't want to be a bother, you don't need to."

"Oh, you won't be a bother at all," Percy answered, turning to her, "I find you quite… interesting."

A rather odd laugh escaped from Audrey's mouth and she was quick to cover it along with the blush that was forming on her cheeks. The laugh escaped once more before she cleared her throat and looked up to Damiana. "If you would allow me… then I would go with him for a day or two," she said, her voice failing her for her flattered laughs kept trying to jump out her throat.

"Oh… yes… A day or two sounds just about fine," Damiana said, slightly speechless. She then turned to Percy, "Before I take my leave and let Audrey pack, I would have to decline the Ministry's offer. I have duties to my family and I don't think I can squeeze in work at the moment. I'm sorry."

"Oh, that's rather disappointing," Percy commented, his eyes still on Audrey. "But please do contact us if you change your mind."

"Yes, Audrey would Owl you if there is ever a change of plan," Damiana then turned to make an exit, not wanting to stay with the two any longer. Just before she was out of earshot, she turned around to say another thing. "Audrey, before you leave, please do feed the… pet. It's been far too long since she's had a _decent _meal." And with that reminder, the woman left.

Audrey blinked herself back into reality and nodded her head to Damiana to show that she had heard her, she then turned to Percy and sent him a quick half-smile. "I'll just pack and… feed the pet. I'll meet you at the gates."

"Very well," Percy gave her what seemed like a smile and walked of towards the direction of the said gates.

The girl watched as the back of the pompous Weasley disappeared from her sight before she pulled out her wand and gave it a nice wave. No later than three minutes passed before a plum colored trunk flew through the air and landed just in front of Audrey's feet, packed with all the things she would need for her two days with Percy. Holding its handle, Audrey lifted it up and quickly made her way to the seemingly abandoned house, opening the secret passage to make her way in.

Dropping her trunk near the door, Audrey crept her way up the stairs and made her way towards the living room where she caught sight of Zoey leaning against the curtains, her chest slowly rising and falling with every delicate breath she took. A heartbreaking scene, Audrey took a breath and slowly avoided the shards of glass, ripped parchment and broken glasses on the floor before she was able to reach and yet to be fully turned to stone girl.

Zoey eyes were unseeing. The gray color had taken a misty look and her face was expressionless. She could have been mistaken for the dead if not for the obvious signs of breath still in her. Bringing out her wand once more, Audrey summoned for the plate of food Damiana had said was for Zoey and while waiting, Accio-ed Zoey's glasses and repaired it. She gently placed it on Zoey and tapped the girl's cheek, whispering her name to get her attention.

A soft groan was heard and Zoey's head lolled to the side before she straightened it and looked at Audrey with her misty eyes that screamed despair and loss of hope.

"Perce… Percy Weasley was here… wasn't he?" Zoey's voice was horse and scratchy, obvious signs that she hasn't used in the longest of time. Audrey could only nod in reply. "He… he doesn't know I'm here… He isn't going to save me…"

"No," Audrey cringed at the sad fact, "He isn't."

"No one is?"

Audrey did not reply. Zoey's food arrived and she held it in front of her, waiting for the girl to take her first bite so that she could leave. Zoey never took the first bite, she pushed the plate away and turned her head against the curtains, closing her eyes and going to sleep.

She had lost everything. She didn't see the purpose of eating… or even living anymore.

* * *

**AND I AM OFFICIALLY DONE WITH THIS CHAPTER!**

**LET. US. CELEBRATE!**

**We get to see Audrey once again and according to my friends she's so "BAD ASS!" ALSO! We get to see PERCY~ CLAP CLAP CLAP!**

**Oh the awesomeness of that couple! I hope to write more of them soon!**

**Percy sure moves fast :**

**Okay, so you guys had no update for a little over a month and am HEARTLY SORRY for that. School has been really busy with our practices, home works, requirements and such.**

**The first term has ended and today was actually my last day of my First Term Exams. **

**I'm glad about that fact but I cannot guarantee that I can update soon because now that I'm entering Second Term, who knows how busy I'm going to be?**

**Before I talk more on my lack of update, I would like to thank DresdenDoll15 and HayleyParadox for their continuous help with this story, without them, who know where this story would end up in?**

**Okay, I last updated on July 26 and on that day I had a English-Research, Science and English quiz, a presentation and a Mass. On the 27****th**** I had to do my Practical Arts homework and I had a quiz. On the 29****th**** I had an activity. On August 1 I had a Recollection then on the 4****th**** I had a Science activity. On the 5****th**** I had practice for a contest. 8****th**** I had to submit a requirement on Filipino. 9****th**** I had a long test in math and an English quiz. 10****th**** and other practice for a contest. 11****th****, CLE and Social Studies quiz. 12****th**** another school activity, 13****th**** an Outreach and another practice for the contest.**

**On August 15, I had a Health and Science quiz, 16****th**** I had a practice for the contest until 5pm then a quiz the next day along with Club and another practice. 18****th****, I had another quiz. 19****th**** of August, I had my English and CLE long test and an English quiz, had practice once again on the 20****th****. 21****st**** I had to work on a scrapbook project and a research paper that kept me up until 2 in the morning. On the 23****rd****, the contest took place and on the 24****th**** I had my Filipino Long test and English Quiz. 25****th****, had a Computer test.**

**26****th****, another school activity. 27****th****, had a check up.**

**September 1****st****, first day of Exams, 2****nd**** was the second day of exams, on the 3****rd****… I got accepted into POTTERMORE so you can see my distraction there… on the 4****th**** I had to study and on the 5****th****, today, was my last day of Exams.**

**I'm NOT putting my schedule here to show any malice, I'm just showing you all that I am incredibly busy. Yes, I go online EVERYDAY to see your reviews and such and I really feel guilty for making you all wait. Please believe me when I say, when I have the time, I work on Crossroads but sadly I do not have much time.**

**AND TO TELL YOU ALL THE TRUTH. Crossroads isn't my only project. I am also working on an Original Story of mine and when I can, I update that to for my friends to read. When I update then, I keep you all waiting. When I updated Crossroads, I keep them waiting.**

**If you want any updates on how things with Crossroads are going or if I'm updating or not, you can check out my twitter which goes under the same username "AnimeFlowerGirl" you can search it because for some odd reason… I can't put links on my profile so yeah…**

**ALSO, This chapter is OBVIOUSLY not the last chapter.**

**It's actually FAR from the last chapter.**

**Crossroads is a long fic and it's going to be even longer before I reach the final chapter.**

**AND WHEN I DO.**

**There's going to be a sequel so you lot have nothing to worry about.**

**The only thing to worry about is the long days without updates. **

**Once again I apologize for those.**

**Please don't rush me when you have not seen an update for so long.**

**Everyday I think of what I'm going to do for Crossroads in the next chapter and everyday I worry about not updating and rushing me won't help either.**

**School comes first and I really wish that this and everything else that isn't school comes first but sadly that isn't the case.**

**OKAY. I think I've said what was needed to be said.**

**Well, I guess that is all. I have nothing more to say except**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter**

**Please tell me what you thought**

**Excuse my typos and the like **

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter**

**And**

**I only own what I own**

**(PS I got inspiration for that James and Lily smooch-fest from a drawing I saw so I take no ownership over their positions or anything. Like I said… I only own what I own)**


	86. Chapter 84: A Heart of Stone

**Chapter 84: A Heart of Stone**

_One of the best things about loving in the Wizarding world and actually being able to cast magic are the Holidays – Christmas, Easter and the best of them all, Halloween. Yes, Halloween, that special day of they year when Muggle children dress up as those in the Wizarding world such as werewolves, vampires, goblins and, of course, wizards and witches. But what do the witches and wizards dress up as during this eerie Holiday? Muggles? You've got to admit, some of them are pretty scary. But no. The gift of being able to cast magic comes with your creativity with spells._

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is every horror story fanatic's dream of a building. It's tall stone walls and ice cold floors, the statues and suits of armor in every corner, not to mention the moving paintings and Peeves popping in every once in a while to cause mishap. The ghosts of the four houses with their shortcuts through the walls and the Bloody Barons' presence would send any Muggle crying to their mother._

_Oh! But don't forget the young wizards and witches with their pranks and midnight duels, the school's moving staircases and secret rooms that would attract any Muggle to enter their doom. But of course, Muggles aren't allowed in Hogwarts._

_When the sun finally rose from behind the castle and all the students woke up to greet the last day of the month of October, they jumped out of their beds, suited up in their best costumes and ran out their doors, wands at the ready. Today, for most of the morning at least, they were going to decorate the castle themselves (with the supervision of the professors of course). _

_In just a matter of minutes, the Hogwarts castle had taken a turn towards the spooky with its stone walls dripping mysterious glowing green goop, the ceiling holding curious gremlins that would swipe down at any moment and snatch whatever's in your arms. The statues and suits of armors would greet you at random moments, sometimes taking you in their arms and refusing to let go without the correct spell. Peeves, dressed up in his usual garments, came out every once in a while to throw balloons filled with rotten eggs at you and pelt you with toilet paper rolls until the professors shooed him away._

_When Peeves was taken care of, the Weasley twins would come out and cause havoc. Dressed up as each other, Fred and George would cast naughty spells on who ever were unlucky enough to fall into their trap. Several students, particularly Slytherins, had fallen victim to the Weasley twins' pranks and ended up walking away with either a tail, scaly skin or neon pink hair! Some were even unlucky enough to be transformed into an animal before heading off to their next class._

_Yep, Fred and George were having the time of their lives._

_Little Zoey Emeraude, of course, was the last to wake up in her entire dorm. Pushing herself off her bed, she noted the scattered clothing, spider webs and the aftermath of certain spells decorating the dorm. She was careful enough to avoid stepping on some mysterious puddle on the way to the changing room where she calmly slipped her arms through her wizard's robes and placed her wizard's hat on the top of her head. _

_From her own little guess, the Emeraude figured that her dorm mates (and probably the rest of the female population of her house) left wearing costumes such as butterflies, princesses and a sandwich…. Zoey was late for breakfast. The girl decided to keep her costume, if you could even call it that, simple. She wore her Hogwarts uniform. _

_Leaving the room, the girl tucked her wand into her robe's pocket and skipped down the steps, leaving the Hufflepuff Common Room and making her way to the Great Hall. She easily avoided her hat getting snatched by the gremlins and she successfully jumped over what seemed to be swamps on the floor. She passed by several students trapped by the statues and maneuvered her way through the spider webs._

_Feeling lucky, Zoey looked back and tried to see if she could help the other students in anyway when something latched onto her ankle, pulling her up above the ground, hanging her upside down by her leg. Screaming, Zoey made a quick move to hold down her skirt so no one would be able to see her underpants._

"_Fred! Get me down from here!" Zoey cried out when the Weasley twins came into view, wanting to see who their next victim was. The scream was so familiar; they couldn't help but check the scene of their crime right away._

_Seeing that it was the naïve Emeraude herself, they broke down in laughter. The girl furrowed her brows and tried to reach for her wand, all the while keeping her skirt covering what was should to be covered, only to have it fall out of her pocket and onto the ground beneath her. She wanted to curse._

"_How are you so sure that I'm Fred?" Twin number one smirked, bending down to pick up the girl's wand, "I could very well be George."_

"_But…but your jumper has the letter 'F' on it," Zoey trailed off, studying the Weasley sweater before catching on, "Or are you George dressed up as Fred?"_

"_Maybe I am, indeed, George," Twin number two said, taking the wand into his own hands and twirling it, "Or I could be Fred dressed up as George."_

"_Or George dressed up as Fred." Twin number one leaned on twin number two's shoulder and took Zoey's wand back in his hands. _

"_Maybe Fred dressed up as Fred but claims he's George," the second twin placed his hands in his pockets and grinned up at Zoey. The Emeraude's brows were furrowed in concentration, trying to keep up with what they were saying. _

"_Or George dressed up as Fred claiming he's Fred but really he's George wanting to be Fred but Fred indeed saying he's George to begin with." They said in unison, ending with a triumphant laugh when Zoey let out a groan in frustration._

_The Hufflepuff began to struggle against the rope around her ankle, causing herself to sway back and forth and all around. The blood rushing to her head along with the twins' confusing words were not helping her headache. She felt like she was going to be sick. Closing her eyes, hoping to ease the pain, she spoke._

"_Well, whoever you two are, can't you just get me down?" she squeaked out, talking only made things worse for her. "I'm serious."_

"_We could get you down," the twin holding her wand said, walking beneath her, "But only if you say the magic word."_

"_Please?" Zoey tried, already knowing that it wasn't the word they were looking for. _

_The second twin made a noise similar to a buzzer beeping. "Nope, that's wrong," he snickered, staying in his place._

"_Then what is it?" Zoey gasped out, feeling the rope begin to move and wrap itself around both her ankles until it reached her knees. "Wha – What is it doing?"_

"_For every wrong word," the twins said at the same time, "The further the rope wraps around you. Soon, you'll be a human sized cocoon."_

"_Are the professor's allowing this?" Zoey asked, panicking. Surely this was against Hogwarts' rules and regulations!_

"_Probably not," the second twin shrugged, his voice uncaring at the thought of breaking a rule._

"_But since when did we do something the professors actually approved of?" the first twin then asked, "Don't worry, Zoe, we aren't going to hurt you."_

_Zoey's eyes snapped open and she tilted her head a bit to look at the twin beneath her. "You're Fred aren't you?" she asked, a small grin forming on her mouth, "You just called me 'Zoe'! You're Fred! Wait – FRED! Get me down from here! I figured out which one's which!"_

_The second twin, who was, by default, George, clapped his hands. "Very good, Zoey," his grin widened, "But we are asking for the magic word, not who's who."_

_The Emeraude let out a frustrated scream, wriggling violently as the rope inched higher and higher. "Wait till Echo hears about this!" she said with annoyance, not particularly liking the fact that she was soon to become a human butterfly._

_Fred just chuckled at the state the girl was in before retreating to his brother's side, laughing along with him. Suddenly, two hands grabbed hold of Fred and George's necks from behind, making them jump about four feet in the air. _

"_Hear about what, Zwei?" Echo looked up at Zoey and smiled an innocent grin that was too innocent, creepy looking and weird for someone who doesn't smile much._

_Zoey grinned down at her friend, dismissing the fact that the violet-haired girl was wearing a very lacey and detailed white dress that just reached her knees, and called out to her supposed savior. "Need I say it?" the girl cried out, "These two won't let me get down and I'm pretty sure that all the blood from the tips of my toes just reached my head!"_

_Echo released her hold on the twins and got her wand, which was placed in her sock, and pointed it at Zoey. With a quick swish, the rope began to disintegrate. Thinking she was safe, Zoey released a sigh before the feeling of falling passed through her, letting out a surprised squeak, the Emeraude slipped fast from where she was before colliding into someone else and falling on top of him. Fred groaned from the impact of the floor and Zoey._

"_Serves you right," Zoey breathed out, hiding the blush sneaking its way to her cheeks by making her hair create a curtain to shield her face, her heart beating fast from the fall. Standing up, she pulled the Weasley with a letter 'G' on his jumper up and turned to Echo who was quietly slipping her wand back into her sock. _

"_What are you supposed to be?" George asked once his twin and Zoey reached him and Echo. He knew for a fact that he was dressed as Fred and Fred dressed up as him and Zoey was just in her uniform but Echo's costume was quite curious._

"_Me? I'm supposed to be your worst nightmare!" Echo spoke in an equally high-pitched voice, "Being all innocent when you've got someone behind your back, but when you're alone…. Well, you know." She turned to George, "And you're dressed up as Fred. Why do I sound so surprised?"_

"_Hey, don't mock our creativity!" Fred said, nose in the air when his twin was too shocked by Echo's explanation to speak. The boy then turned to Zoey. "What about you, Zoe? Where's your Halloween spirit? You're not even wearing costume!"_

"_What are you talking about?" Zoey raised a brow at the boy, snatching her wand back. "I'm dressed up as a witch!" She then waved her wand in the air, making it shoot out small sparkles of different colors, falling on Fred's head. _

"_A witch? Really?" Fred stated, brushing the sparkles out off his ginger hair before looking Zoey up and down. He made a small tsk-ing sound, uncanny to how Mrs. Weasley sounds like when something doesn't go her way._

"_How unoriginal," George added, finally getting over the shock Echo sent him into. He folded his arms across his chest and shook his head from side to side. "You could do better than that!"_

"_Really, George? Is it that unoriginal?" Zoey tested, putting her wand back into her pocket and folding her arms across her chest, imitating him. "How many students have you seen dressed up like a witch or wizard?"_

"_Everyday?" George now said, his eyebrow rising. "I see almost thousands, can't even count –"_

"_But never on Halloween!" Zoey interjected, a smirk playing on her lips. She smiled with triumph when she saw George's expression and heard Fred snicker into his hand._

"_Point one for Zwei," Echo grinned._

_As George was about to retort once more, loud shrieking erupted from the end of the hallway, catching their attentions. Lightning seemed to be erupting, white smoke coming out as well. Students fled and ran away, looking like they've seen a bloody troll! Zoey, Fred, George and Echo turned towards the retreating students and all wondered what was going on. The air around them seemed to grow colder and the sky darker even when it was still morning. _

_"Did one of your pranks cause that?" Zoey asked, looking back at the twins with wide eyes. She felt an eerie shiver go down her spine when the atmosphere around them changed. She felt like she was in a Muggle horror movie. _

"_No," Fred answered, raising a suspicious eyebrow towards the direction where the lightning and smoke were coming from. What room was by that hall? He wondered. The boy couldn't seem to remember at that moment._

"_Not ours" the twins both shared a look of annoyance and shock. Who was this person trying to steal their thing for Halloween?_

"_Then what the bloody hell is their problem?" Echo squinted her eyes at the running students. _

"_Maybe Peeves is playing a prank?" George suggested, not truly believing in what he was saying._

_Echo snorted. "Come on, you seriously think Peeves could cause that much of a havoc?"_

"_A poltergeist could only do so much…" Zoey trailed off, her brows knitting together with worry and fright. Halloween was never exactly her favorite holiday._

"_They've got a point Fred," Fred now said, talking to his twin that was dressed up as him. "Well, if it's not us, and not Peeves then who's doing this?"_

"_A beast running lose? The professors scaring the students because it's Halloween? A prankster who is totally owning the twins' skills?" Echo guessed._

"_HEY!" Offended, the twins shouted. They averted their glares towards the Veela who merely folded her arms across her chest and maturely made a face at them._

"_Please don't tell me we're going to investigate on this," Zoey said, trying to keep a distance from her friends when she saw the twinkle in each of their eyes. She should have never spoke, the answer was obvious when their fellow Hogwartians' shrieks filled the air._

"_No shit, Sherlock," Echo smiled, already grabbing hold of Zoey's hand in an iron grip._

"_Echo!" Zoey scolded the girl, but was ignored. _

_The Emeraude was then dragged against her will to the scene of the 'crime', her friends excited to see who caused all the commotion. Turning a corner, they were greeted by a dark and cold hallway where things were only visible when the lightning flashed. White smoke was covering everything, making it look like a thick fog. The scene reminded Zoey of a cemetery. Wriggling her wrist out of Echo's hold, she took a cautious step back, not wanting to be dragged into the darker side of the hallway._

"_What in Merlin's beard is this guy playing at?" George let out, feeling slightly creep-ed out by his surroundings._

"_If it's scaring the spirits out of the students, he or she has definitely done it," said Echo._

"_Well, it looks like no one's here. Why don't we just head to the Great Hall where everything's bright and cheerful?" Zoey offered but was sure no one was paying attention to her. She had the chance to run like hell but she was quite curious as to what was going to happen next. Curse her curiosity. _

_Before the Hufflepuff could do anything, a voice rang out. "Momma? Momma is that you?" sickeningly sweet like any little girl's voice it was. Zoey could have sworn her heart leaped to her throat at that moment. _

"_Momma?" Zoey, Echo, Fred and George turned towards the sound of the voice and froze. At the end of the hallway stood a silhouette of a girl, a teddy bear in her arms and her hair reaching the floor. "Momma, Poppa?" the girl voiced out._

_The lightning flashed and Echo screamed. The little girl was pale, dead looking pale, and was crying tears of thick red blood. Her teddy bear was ripped, springs dangling where the eyes were supposed to be and it seemed to be bleeding the stuffing inside. "Momma?" the girl asked, stepping closer to the group of four, "Poppa?" she continued, her head tilting to side, eyes wide open._

"_Poppa, Momma, why did you kill me?" the girl now asked, standing in front of them. Her dress was torn, red spots covering parts of it. She had no shoes on and the blood continued to gush out of her eyes. Echo and Zoey wanted to make a run for it, what was going on? They thought they had known all the ghosts in Hogwarts!_

_The girl walked up to Fred and George, suddenly hugging them. "Momma! Poppa! You said you loved me!" The twins froze, in outrage and shock. The little girl was now staining their sweaters with the blood from her eyes. Zoey and Echo couldn't move an inch. "Don't worry, we'll be a family again soon."_

_In an attempt to lighten spirits, Echo spoke, low enough for all to hear. "Who's the mum?"_

"_I don't think that really matters right now, Echo," Zoey whispered, jumping a bit when the girl flashed a cold look towards both girls, having heard them speak. "We shouldn't ruin their family reunion…"_

"_Are you going to take my parents away?" the little girl cried out, angry and unbelieving. "YOU CAN'T!"_

_Fred and George wanted to cover their ears at the sound of the girl's shouts but were still trapped by the girl's hug. Echo began trembling, taking small steps backwards, not knowing whether she'll hit a wall or fall into something._

"_YOU CAN'T TAKE THEM! THEY'RE MINE!" The little girl shouted once again, suddenly taking a knife out of her teddy bear. The four sets of eyes widened as she looked back at her 'parents' with anger._

"_Now, come one," Fred began, raising his hands in defense. "You really don't want to kill us, right?"_

"_Really, Momma?" The girl shouted, George holding his laughter all of a sudden. "I didn't say that when you stabbed me with those knives, feeding me to the wolves outside!"_

"_FRED!" Zoey suddenly cried out, forgetting the situation they were in and letting her motherly instincts get the better of her. "How could you do such a thing to the girl?"_

"_WHAT? This isn't even my daughter!" Fred answered back, the girl intensifying her glare at the red head. Before anything else happened, Echo squinted at the armed girl. Her trembling stopped when she realized something. Ghosts couldn't hold knives… or teddy bears._

"_You aren't a ghost, are you?" the Ravenclaw spoke._

_The girl suddenly turned her attention to Echo once again and smirked. She had prepared for these situations, expected of a Ravenclaw. "Peeves can throw water balloons can't he?" she said, in a little girlish tone before turning to Fred and George once again. "So, Momma, Poppa, who's going first?"_

"_Alright, joke's over," George suddenly said, taking hold of the girl's hand. Her skin was cold to touch and her glare was indeed scary, but still he knew this was no real ghost. "You're obviously not a real ghost, so give up this lame prank and just stop."_

_Fred took hold of the girl's other hand, the one with the knife and found out the blade was real. What was this girl planning to do? He took the knife away before he and George swiftly placed her hands behind her like how a policeman would cuff a criminal. "I must say, almost believable for a few seconds there," Fred added._

_The twins pulled out their wands and waved them in the air, making the smoke and lightning disappear. The lights also turned on, and only the little girl was left from the horrid scene that had just unfolded. Zoey even took note on how the atmosphere returned to how it was before. She sighed with relief. She then looked at the little girl and furrowed her eyebrows in concentration._

"_Your eyes," Zoey began, noticing that once the tears of blood stopped flowing, the color began to change, "Were they blue to begin with?"_

_George wiped the 'blood' from the girl's cheek and tasting it in his mouth, earning many disgusted looks, and smiled. "Strawberry juice, creative." He commented, smirking down at the girl in his hands._

"_Sadly, not creative enough," Fred added, making said little girl glare at him._

"_Says the guy who traps people and making them cocoons!" The little girl shouted, her voice changing from very high pitched to a normal girl's voice. She smirked as Fred and George's face grew red with anger._

"_At least ours was supposed to be funny!" George said, redeeming himself, "You failed at scaring anybody!" The girl's smirk grew._

"_Really? Then why are your pants wet?" She commented, making George blush._

_Zoey's eyes widened, making a glance at the twins' pants before quickly averting her eyes, a blush appearing on her cheeks. She saw Echo smirk. The Emeraude tried to cough in order to avoid the awkward tension but ended up letting out a giggle. She then covered her mouth with both of her hands when the twins averted their glare to her._

"_Oh get off it you wannabe!" Fred answered back, rather loudly, making the girl glare once more. She was about to speak, when she realized that the blonde hair she was currently wearing was turning back to its original brown. "LET GO OF ME!" she shouted._

"_We'd rather not," George answered, "We would very much like to find out who you are, wannabe."_

_The girl looked at Zoey and Echo for help, pleading that they give it to her. Zoey bit her lip and shared a look with Echo before sighing. She didn't know this girl but… "How about we let her go?" she said, a sheepish smile on her lips, "She was just playing a prank, like you guys. No harm done."_

"_No harm done?" Fred exclaimed, the girl worried as her hair was now almost completely brown. "She stole our thing!" He added. The girl had no other choice._

"_Sorry," she whispered to the twins, before kicking their shins, forcing them to let go of her. "Thanks…" she muttered towards Zoey, making a run and vanishing from view._

_The Emeraude ignored the twins' pained curses or Echo telling them how the mystery girl was better than them in doing pranks as she stared towards the direction the girl disappeared from. The girl had sapphire blue eyes and light brown hair. She was clever and thought her prank through. She was also not afraid to talk back to the twins or cause a prank so big that it could get her expelled from Hogwarts._

_Who was she? _

Cold pale manicured hands held themselves on the marble banister. On both sides were two curved staircases leading to an ever – magnificent and well-kept ballroom. The ballroom, which looked like a mini-mansion in itself, was not new to Damiana. The witch leaned against the banister and held out her wand, pointing it at every corner of the ballroom, casting silent spells as sparks flew from the tip of her wand.

The ballroom was, of course, the very familiar entrance hall of the Emeraude Estate. The walls expanded, creating more room in the middle for people to dance and mingle, tables appeared in their designated areas while the statues of the tortured were distributed around the room, looking as if they were telling a story rather than screaming in agony. The staircase Damiana stood on moved to make room for the three pillars sprouting in the middle, all of different heights. A steep staircase wounded itself around the pillars for people to climb if they wanted to see the statues perched on top of them.

Everything was decorated in the traditional Emeraude colors of emerald green and gold along with some scarlet red sprinkled on each and everything. Two statues lifted from their place, replaced by some other Emeraude, and appeared on the two pillars, the tallest remaining bare. Damiana furrowed her brows at the undecorated pillar and looked down to the middle of the ballroom where Lecso stood, arms at his sides, quietly observing the ballroom decorate itself.

"Lecso," Damiana began, twirling her hand and looking around the ballroom herself, "I can't help but feel like there's something's missing."

"Could it be that the third pillar lacks a statue, Madam Emeraude?" Lecso spoke, his voice gruff. "How about the one of Sir Edison?" he pointed to a statue of a man looking as if his limbs were just about ready to be torn out of his body. "He's a favorite."

"Yes, quite," Damiana trailed off, looking over to 'Sir Edison'. Soon enough, a wicked smirk appeared on her ruby red lips. She then turned her attention back to Lecso. "I know the perfect piece to put on that pillar."

She began to descend from the steps and stopped right in front of the Teleporter. "Would you be a dear and fetch my niece? I'm sure she'd love to see what I've done to the place."

A smirk broke on Lecso's lips as he bowed to Damiana and teleported away without a word. When the man left, Damiana gazed up at the third pillar, her smile growing more sinister. She then pocketed her wand and elegantly glided to trail her hand over each and every statue decorating the walls, humming to herself.

* * *

Echo stared at herself in the vanity and raised an eyebrow. Dyeing her hair blonde but keeping the same golden eyes is somewhat dumb. If Mary Sue were there, she'd be suspicious of her. She was wearing a strapless sweetheart floor-length that was covered with gold embellishments with a white sash at a natural waist and was standing in some high heels, hoping that it would disguise her height. She grabbed for a golden barrette and clasped it on her recently curled hair. Her tresses began to interlock, cross, and twirl until they formed a sweet romantic up do.

For makeup, Echo went as natural as possible and went through little of it. Just as she was going to apply gloss after a tiring fifteen minutes of endless application, she heard someone knocking on her apartment door.

"Echo are you — " George practically lost all the words and thoughts forming in his mind as he spotted his girlfriend standing in front of him. He looked at the beauty that now stood in front of him, then down at his own self. He now knew why Echo had made him choose _this_ particular suit.

"So how is it that you—" George began, pointing at Echo. "—Could look more beautiful every time I see you?" A small blush appeared on the, now, blonde's cheeks as George smiled, proud at himself.

"Don't you dare look at me like I'm some recently-fried bacon, George Weasley." Echo then snarled a little menacingly, but started to laugh. "After all those months dating me — " the rest were engulfed in giggles.

The dress Echo was wearing matched his entirely. The gold detail would look great beside his beige suit, with the simple golden necktie. George honestly thought that they were 'a match made in heaven', but now they actually looked the part. "All those months of dating you and what?" The red head asked, looking at his still giggling beau. "And don't think you're bacon, cause I like bacon." George began. "But I love you."

"I love you most, Weasley," Echo looked him in the eyes for one moment then smiled.

George walked over to Echo, the smile seeming to be permanently plastered on his face as his arms wove its way around her waist. "You do now do you?" The confident Weasley asked. "Well then, why don't you show me?" George was just about to lean in when something disturbed them.

The door slammed open and in came an impatient looking Frederick Gideon Weasley. "Oh will you two save the snogging for tonight?" He called out, tearing George away from Echo, making the blonde glare daggers at Fred's head. "Got these from Bridgit," Fred now said, pointing at the bottle in his hand. George realized that it was the hair-changing potion that Bridgit had tricked them with in their second year.

"Drink it and get down! Jane's already waiting downstairs." Fred gave one more look at his brother before downing the potion in hand. His hair turned midnight black, accenting his blue eyes and black tuxedo very well. George would not admit that Fred might actually be the handsome twin after all. "Got that?" He asked, the two nodding as he closed the door behind him.

"Wait here for a moment." Echo whispered to George as she went into the bathroom and stayed there for a couple of minutes, she athen came out coughing with bright blue eyes. Holding up an empty flask, Echo spoke, "The best I could do without killing myself."

"So, is this how you _originally_ look like?" George asked, eyeing Echo up and down. "Honestly, even if you have all that –" He said, gesturing towards the hair and eyes. "—You are nothing like Mary Sue, her beauty and attitude is way out of your league." He smiled as he said this.

"Your league is up here" The boy raced his hand up above his head. "And Mary Sue is here." Now placing the other hand to the floor.

"Hey, hey, I don't even know how I really look like!" Offended, Echo nudged George on the arm, "For all we know my blonde hair is lighter and my blue eyes more... _intense."_

Before anything else could happen between the two, there was a gentle knocking at the door. Not waiting for a response, it opened, revealing Jane who wore a flowy cream-colored satiny charmeuse, strapless empire waist gown with blue flower bead embroidery. She looked Echo and George up and down before smiling.

"You guys ready to go?" she asked pleasantly, "Fred is practically tearing his hair out waiting… and that's a waste seeing as black hair does suits him."

"Well, who knows?" George asked, shrugging his shoulders. "Bald might be a good look for him."

"If it fits him, it should fit you too," Jane laughed before pushing the door open wider and standing aside. "We should go before my mother starts to wonder what's taking us so long."

"Let's get going, then? Zoey wouldn't want us to be late," said Echo a little melancholically.

"Alright," George sighed, hearing Zoey's name hurt knowing that his twin was probably suffering so much right now. "Let's go."

Jane nodded her head in agreement and led the two out of the room and downstairs to where Fred was waiting. The older of the Weasley twins was pacing back and forth, muttering things under his breath as he waited for the three to arrive. Hearing their footsteps, he looked up and shouted: "ABOUT BLOODY TIME! What are you – girls?"

He then walked up to them. Jane and Echo were about to speak but before they could, Fred practically shoved them out of the door. "No time to waste now turtles, we best be going."

"No need to be pushy – _literally," _Echo snarled.

"Easy on the force, Fred," Jane said, pulling out her purse and taking out the invitation from inside, "It's not easy to walk in these heels!"

Opening the envelope, she took out a small postcard with the picture of the Emeraude Estate on it. It looked like any other mansion only larger, it had a white-green tint to it and one could see different pureblood witches and wizards already making their way into the building. The girl dropped the postcard onto the pavement, facing up, and pushed her friends back slightly as the picture grew in size and molded into the floor.

"Shall we?" she then asked, not waiting long enough to hear a response, she stepped into the picture and slipped right into it. Dropping to the floor, she was greeted by her mother.

"About time, Jane," Mrs. Chatsworth said, her neatly plucked eyebrow rising at her child, "Where are your _guests?"_

"They're –" Jane began, hearing Fred, George and Echo dropping through the postcard with surprised grunts from the sudden contact with the floor. "Right here," she ended with a smile, catching the postcard as it fell from the sky. She placed it back into her purse.

"I see. Well, they're presentable," the woman said, scrutinizing the three, "I believe I didn't quite catch your names. Jane said your old friends back in Hogwarts?"

"Hayley. Hayley Beaumont," Echo said at once, smiling. She was so thankful for her long name. Jane felt herself inwardly sigh with relief, when her mother seemed to know the name. She could only hope that the twins were fast thinkers and very creative with names.

"I believe there's another Beaumont attending the ball. Kassandra was it?" Mrs. Chatsworth said, "You know her?"

"Yes. My… cousin. We aren't on speaking matters, though." Echo faked a sad tone in her voice.

"A shame," Jane's mother said though she didn't sound at all sympathetic. She then turned her attention towards Fred and George. "I didn't have the pleasure of being introduced to my daughters date and his… twin?"

"I'm urgh –" Fred began, thinking of an appropriate name. "– Gideon Prince, yes that's right." He said, smiling widely and proud. "And this is my brother, Fabian Prince, pleasure to make your acquaintance," he added.

"Likewise. You're quite attractive," the woman said, squinting her eyes before turning her attention back to Jane who looked like she had been holding her breath throughout the whole introduction. "He's a much better choice than that mudblood 'boyfriend' of yours. Maybe you should consider… replacing him with someone else," she casted a look towards Fred before smirking.

"Now child, we must not keep the Emeraudes waiting. After all, they were ever so kind enough to invite us." Mrs. Chatsworth ended, walking away from the group and made her way towards the entrance of the estate.

When her mother was finally out of eye and earshot, Jane turned to her friends. "Glad that's over," she gave them a smile, "Clever naming."

"Well, we are the Weasley Twi –" George was saying, earning a whack on the head from his brother. " – Prince Twins."

"Yes, well, we better go," Jane said and led them towards the entrance. They were just about to take a step on the green carpet when an arm suddenly fell in front of them, causing the four to stop. Jane blinked curiously at the arm before tracing it up to the person who owned it. It was a guard. He raised a brow at her and Jane took a cautious step back.

"I have the invitation," she said, already reaching into her purse, "It said I could bring guests –"

"I'm well aware of what the invitation says, Ma'am," the guard said, clearing his voice. He then snapped his fingers causing four broomsticks, Firebolts, to fly to the floor, in front of Fred, George, Echo and Jane. "We just have to test your magical ability, if that's alright."

"Wait, so we have to be tested?" Fred asked, turning to the guard and squinting his eyes. "For what exactly?"

"Obviously not for intelligence," The guard muttered, shaking his head. "You would have failed that right away." Fred and George glared.

"Test our magical ability? For what use? We are purebloods!" Echo crosses her arms.

A realization crossed over both the _Prince _twins' faces – they smirked. They could get through this test no sweat for they _were_ purebloods to begin with. Echo on the other hand, they were not quite sure. Sending a look towards the Veela, she appeared to stay as calm as ever, her eyes looking at the broomsticks with boredom.

"Just trying to keep the Emeraude ball clean, Ma'am," the guard said gruffly, getting impatient with the four. "The tests aren't hard. For the first one, all you need to do is get your broom by saying 'Up!' I believe you've done this in school?"

"So there's more than one test?" Jane asked, squinting slightly at the guard. "How many are there, exactly?"

"Three," the man replied.

"And how would we be tested with the other two?" she then asked.

"That's classified, Ma'am," the guard looked passed them and saw several other guests approaching. "If you don't get your broomsticks up from the floor and into your hands soon, I'm afraid I'd have to put you kids aside so the other guests can enter."

"Do we go one by one or all at once?" Echo asked, stoic expression on her face. She didn't want to get kicked out before she could even enter the estate.

Fred and George, or Gideon and Fabian rather, stepped up to the broomsticks at lightning speed, smirking. They held out their hands, smiling as the flying lessons in Hogwarts suddenly flashed into their minds. "_Up!_" They both exclaimed, both their brooms shooting upwards into their grasp.

"You may enter," the guard said, snapping his finger and the broomsticks in the twins' hands flew into his own. "Next?" he looked to Jane.

Not being much of a flier, Jane was slightly panicked, but the mere fact that her _dainty _mother got through this test gave her some courage. Holding her hand over the broom, she repeated what the twins said and the broomstick came flying into her hand within the second. She smirked and gave the broom back to the guard and stood by the twins' side, waiting for Echo to make her move.

Echo eyed the guard before going beside the broom. She held her hand hesitantly over it. Trembling with uncertainty, Echo spoke, "Up." The broom wavered a bit before shooting upwards into Echo's hand.

"You may proceed," the guard said, eyeing the girl as she and her friends made it to the next test.

Entering through the door, they were welcomed into a white room with marbled floors and walls, a chandelier hung above them and there was a regular sized mahogany table in the middle of the entire room with a healer sitting behind it. She gave them a smile.

"Welcome to the second test," she said, opening her arms wide and soon, four velvet-red chairs appeared. "I'm sure the guard gave you the reason why you need to be tested before entering, right?"

"Something like that…" Jane trailed off, slipping into her seat and motioning the other three to do the same. Slowly, they all sat down.

"Are we going to get operated or something?" George whispered to Echo.

"Shame. My dress is new," the girl replied, smoothing out her clothes and looking back at the healer, prepared to be cut open at any given time.

"Really now?" George asked, smirking at the given opportunity to flatter the lovely maiden once again. "It's a new beauty is nothing compared to you."

"Oh no, nothing like that," the nurse giggled, hearing what George whispered, "All we need to do is have a small sample of your blood. It would just take a second. Nothing too hard."

"And what will our blood be proving?" Fred scoffed. "That we don't have muggle blood in our system?" To Fred's shock, the healer nodded.

"Exactly, Mister…?" the healer asked, facing him.

"Prince," he answered, feeling his face pale when he saw the nurse dig into the drawer in the table, pulling something out.

"Well, Mister Prince, would you like to go first?" the healer asked holding up what seemed to be a syringe. The smile on her face was so sweet that it almost looked sinister.

"I – I…" Fred stuttered, staring at the healer and her needle. "I…think my brother would like to go first."

"Oi!" George suddenly piped up. "Who gave you that idea, git – I mean, _Gideon?"_

"You _did _say you were the _braver_ twin," Fred answered, begging to his brother. George didn't take it.

"No, my dear brother, I am the _better _looking twin." He said, contrasting with his thoughts moments ago. "You, on the other hand, are the braver."

Jane rolled her eyes at how the twins were acting and tapped the healer on her shoulder, making her turn her attention to her. Jane offered her a smile, though it twitched a bit in the corners. She was getting impatient. "How about _I _go first while the gentlemen settle who's manlier," Jane said sweetly; showing her arm to the healer, ready to get tested.

"Perfect," the healer giggled, extracting a bit of blood from Jane before tapping the girl's arm with her wand, sealing up the small cut she created, and then tapping the syringe. The needle was replaced and blood inside disappeared.

Seconds later, the tip of the healer's wand emitted pink sparks. "You may pass," she said, smiling at Jane. The chair beneath the girl disappeared, almost making her fall to the floor if she didn't grab hold of the table.

"Great," Jane faked glee and made her way to the door, waiting for whoever wanted to go next.

"So who's next? The healer asked, not excited to face the bumbling twins once again, but had to keep the smile on her face present and pleasant. It was part of her job.

" – But, dear brother, don't tell me you're afraid of a little needle," George said, smirking at Fred's now reddening face. He sure knew how to get his twin worked up.

"Of course I'm not afraid!" Fred exclaimed. "And don't you remember who shouted like a girl during our first check up, _Fabian?" _He added, proud, obviously not remembering that day correctly.

"Of course I remember, _Gideon," _George answered, his smirk still playing on his lips. "It was you."

Echo released a sigh at their stupidity. "I can't believe I'm dating one of you," she then said, placing her palm to her face and shaking her head.

"Mister Prince? Mister Prince?" the healer called, turning the twins' attention to her once more. "I'm sorry to burst this little fight, but there are guests outside."

"Oh uhm…" Fred said, taking a breath and sighing in defeat. He couldn't waist anymore time. He needed to find Zoey as soon as possible. "Fine then, I'll just go first."

"Finally," Jane muttered shaking her head. She watched as the nurse continued to smile her perfect smile, showing her pearly whites, as she asked Fred to remove his coat and push up his sleeve.

The healer repeated to process of drawing blood, healing his cut and changing the needle, removing the blood from inside the tube. Her wand then released pink spark and the chair from underneath Fred disappeared. He caught himself by placing a hand on George's armrest.

"You may go now, Mister Prince," she said, without looking towards Fred's direction. The boy grumbled before straightening up, putting his coat back on and making his way to Jane, standing by her side.

"Well that was polite," Fred commented, dusting off his coat.

"You deserved it," Jane laughed, "You were taking too much time."

"I believe you're next, Mister Prince," the healer said, facing George. Without warning, she waved her wand and George's chair zoomed to her side, his coat soon off of his body and over his lap.

"What the –?" George said, shocked at the sudden development.

The healer then pushed up his sleeves and repeated the same process with only greeter speed. As soon as the pink sparks shot out of her wand, the chair beneath George disappeared and the boy fell to the floor with a harsh _thump. _Before he could even complain, Echo's chair came zooming to the healer's side.

Just as the healer was about to inject the syringe into Echo's arm, a voice made itself known. "_Hurry up in there!_" the voice came with a loud knock, "_The guests are complaining!_" The healer's eyes closed with irritation, looking like her patience was wearing thin. She was just about to insert the needle through Echo's skin when the girl made a quick grab for George's wrist, placing it under the syringe. Without noticing it, the healer had drawn out George's blood instead.

George yelped as the needle left his skin as soon as it entered (Fred had to hold back his laugh). The healer then opened her eyes and repeated the same process she did with the other three. When the pink sparks came, she sent a twitching smile at Echo. "You and your… boyfriend," she trailed off when she saw George's arm over Echo's while the rest of his body was slumped on the floor, "…May leave now. Hurry, please."

Jane thanked the healer, pushed through the marbled doors and the four of them exited the marbled room. They were walking down a long, dimly lit, hallway, wondering what the third test had in store for them. When they were finally out of hearing distance of the healer, Fred belted out his laughter like there was no tomorrow. How could he not? George's face was priceless! He wished he had a camera to relieve that moment forever, and for blackmail purposes of course.

"What are you laughing at?" George harshly asked.

"Well," Fred began, getting control of his laughter. "I know you didn't, but you should have seen your face! That was bloody hilarious!" the _braver _twin added.

"Oh, Har har!" Fred laughed at George's obvious irritation.

Echo whacked Fred's head with her clutch, obviously irritated as well. "Can we just go to the third test?"

"She's right. We were lucky enough to get Echo passed the last one," Jane said, her eyes adjusting to the dim hallway. The hallway seemed to go on forever but the further they went in, there seemed to be a bright light at the end accompanied by music one could dance to. She was suspicious of where in the mansion they could be.

"Fine, fine," Fred answered, rubbing his head. First Bridgit would whack his head, now Echo? Did his head look like a whacking bag or something? "But I still say that happened because you didn't want to go first." At that, George _maturely _stuck his tongue out at his twin.

Fred made a move to stick out his tongue as well but was stopped when Jane spoke in an almost terrified voice. Looking to his "date" he saw her eyes widen with both shock and disgust as she looked at something in the direction of the wall.

"Guys," Jane's voice trembled, "Did you notice these before?"

"Notice –" Fred began to say but his words weren't able to escape his mouth when he saw what Jane was looking at. It was a statue of a man, pressed up against the wall looking as if he was facing his worst nightmare and was stuck at a dead end. Looking back at where he and his friends came from, he saw more statues similar to the one Jane was looking at. He then turned his attention further down the hall; statues decorated the walls as well.

"You don't think…" Jane swallowed hard, turning to look at the twins and Echo, "If we fail the third test… we'll end up like…them?"

"What do you think?" Echo raised an eyebrow.

"How…how are you so sure that…" Fred answered, trying to form a coherent sentence. "That… they are real witches and wizards?"

"Yeah," George added. "Maybe, ugh, the owner just likes statues that show immense pain."

"Or that purebloods are _really _that stereotypical nowadays," Echo mused.

"Let's just hope that it's just that," Jane took a deep breath and headed down the hall, hearing the sound of a door opening and closing. "We better hurry before the other guests catch up. We might not have enough time to help Echo through the third test if they're right behind us."

The girl lifted her dress up slightly and made a near run towards the lighted part of the hallway. She wanted to buy them more time. She heard the twins make a surprised noise from her sudden dash but she didn't have time to talk. No later than a second, she heard them, along with a reluctant Echo, running behind her.

When they finally reached the end of the hallway, a tall arc with a translucent green curtain greeted them. They could see figures dancing and mingling just behind it. Next to the arc was a witch holding a clipboard to her chest. The smile on her face wasn't as wide and creepy as the healer's.

"Welcome to the third test," her voice was soft yet clear. "Well, I wouldn't really call it a test."

"Just…Just…what do we have to do?" Jane said, her voice evidently failing her. She wasn't used to running around let alone in heels. She glanced back and saw the twins standing tall, panting as well, and Echo trying to massage her aching feet without removing her heels. "So… sorry. We just thought we saw something down the hall and decided to make a run for the light." Jane tried to explain.

"Saw the statues did you?" the woman chuckled, "They do tend to scare anyone who's new to the Emeraude estate. Is this the first Emeraude ball you're attending?"

"Hopefully the only…" Fred muttered lowly, trying to catch a proper breath within his lungs. Lucky for him, the witch didn't hear his words.

"Well, this test is quite easy to do," the witch began, not seeing the grimace that came across the four's faces. "All you have to do is give me your name and I'll check them off the list."

"Li…list?" George asked, sharing a look with the other three. "What list?"

"Hold on a moment," Echo said between breaths. "How about the other people the guests brought?"

"That's simple, Ma'am," the woman chuckled once more, beginning to explain. "On this list is _every _pureblood family in the Wizarding world. If your surname is here, you're in. It's that easy!"

Echo, understanding the woman's clear explanation, nudged Jane in the side and tilted her head, motioning her to go first. Seeing what the Veela was trying to tell her, Jane cleared her throat. "Chatsworth, Jane," she said, her eyes blinking.

"Chatsworth… Chatsworth…" the woman trailed off, searching the list, before smiling. "Excellent. I believe your mother passed through not too long ago. Welcome to the Emeraude Ball! Next!"

"Good luck," George whispered, placing a comforting hand on Echo's shoulder before giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Beaumont, Hayley," Echo bit her tongue the moment she finished speaking.

The woman's eyes now scanned upward, muttering Echo's surname under her breath before stopping at the name she was looking for. "Right this way, Miss Beaumont, I think your cousin was one of the first to arrive! Next!" Echo turned to George and gave him a reassuring smile before joining Jane.

"Who goes first now?" George asked, making Fred turn to him with an '_Are you stupid_' look.

"Obviously it doesn't matter, dimwit," Fred answered, his patience growing thin when he found out how close he was to getting Zoey back. "We're twins, meaning same surname." He added, making George glare at his brother.

"No need to be cocky," George replied, "You're making me miss Bridgit and Hermione."

"Names, please," the woman interjected, "I'm quite sure the other guests are about to arrive."

"Prince, Gideon and Fabian," Fred answered, hoping that his voice didn't stutter.

The woman nodded her head and began scanning the list, even flipping to the second page as her eyes went over every pureblood name on the list. Her mouth formed a tight line and a crease appeared on her forehead. The four began to panic. Had their luck finally run out? Before long, the woman looked away from her clipboard and back at the twins.

"That's funny." She said, her voice hard. "You're names are on the list but here's the thing…I do believe that there hasn't been a _pureblood _Prince in quite some time."

"Well..." Fred began, forming an explanation, but George had already begun to talk.

"We're, Long-lost-distant relatives hidden away in the deeps of the Wizarding world never to be heard of unless in such rarities where they attend parties like this," he said quickly.

Echo and Jane's jaws dropped, what did George just say? It seemed so fast to be understandable. Fred's face was of shock and disbelief as he looked at his twin, praying that those words did not just spray out of his mouth. Judging by the look George was giving and the reaction of Jane and Echo, what he heard was true. Groaning, he looked back at the woman.

"Hidden? For what reason?" the woman asked, not wanting to believe in that he was saying. She held the clipboard more firmly against her chest as she narrowed her eyes at the twins, slowly inching to block their way if they ever felt like running right passed the green curtains.

"Yeah, _Fabian, _why were we hidden?" There was an edge in Fred's voice. Not the joking kind. It was more like the 'make it good or you'll be sleeping with the fishes' kind.

"Exactly what you said!" George exclaimed, smiling at the woman. "There are no more listed purebloods, they hid us so that we would sustain our blood and keep it away from those...those...dirty muggles –" George apologized to any muggle born or half blood friend he had. " –And that's exactly why we are here with these purebloods, we're to be married and continue on in our family's honor."

A smile danced on Echo's lips as Jane and Fred both stared at him in outrage. Was he bloody of his rocker? Surprisingly, the woman bought George's explanation and stepped aside, granting him and his twin entrance.

"Well, Mister Prince, I can assure you that you and your brother would find lovely brides-to-be here," she said, opening the curtain. "The Emeraudes are of a lovely and pleasant race. You'd be lucky to have one of them as your wife."

As they passed by the woman and went through the curtain, Fred turned to George. "Did… did she just… believe you…?" he asked, making George smirk and turn to him.

"Apparently, now we know who the smarter twin is too," George retorted.

"Will you two stop it?" Echo spoke in a clipped tone while she got a handkerchief from her clutch and started coughing. There was a rather foul stench in the air. It was a perfume but it was strong.

"They have those stature people in here too," Jane commented, looking around the ballroom seeing a statue in every direction she looked. She even saw a couple perched up on some pillars but they were too high to distinguish. Looking back down to earth, she saw that the purebloods were scattered around. Some were dancing, mingling and eating while the four of them were the only ones staying put. She turned to the twins and Echo. "Should we split up and look for Zoey? We stand out if we just stand here, unmoving."

"We could –" George began to say but he suddenly felt the hairs at the back of his neck stand when a familiar squeal was heard. His eyes wide, he stiffly turned his head to look towards the direction the squeal came from.

There stood, or practically running, Mary-Sue with her long blonde curls flowing behind her. She wore a lavender A-line dress with a fully beaded bust and a halter neckline that went so low that it looked like her _bongo drums _would burst out. The fact that she was running didn't help either.

"Please don't tell me she recognizes you," Jane whispered out, remembering the girl from back in sixth year and how Bridgit played a prank on her in order to "stall."

"Oh dear Merlin," Echo whispered, wishing that what she was seeing was just a horrible hallucination.

"Seriously? She's here too?" Fred muttered, annoyed. The universe was not kind to him today.

Mary-Sue reached George in no time and not even a second passed before she latched herself onto her arm and pushed Echo away from his side, the latt9er stumbling back, only to be caught by Fred and Jane. The glare she was giving the girl… if looks could kill. The perfect princess's grip on George's arm was so intense that he felt all feeling disappear; he grimaced at the fact that he once again attracted the girl's attention. Glancing back, he tried to beg his friends to help him out.

"Hey there, handsome," Mary-Sue said, her voice low and sultry. "I've never seen you at an Emeraude ball before. Where have you been hiding?"

"Obviously somewhere safe if it kept him away from you," Fred whispered, making Jane laugh beside him. It couldn't be said about Echo though.

"What do you want, girl?" Echo snarled, pretending to not know Mary-Sue. Deep inside her pituitary gland, she wanted to kick her arse to Kingdom come, bring her back, skewer her, roast her in the flames of a thousand infernos and drop her charcoal bits into the water. And that was putting things nicely.

Mary-Sue's brow twitched a bit at what Echo used to address her as she slowly turned her attention to the Veela, not recognizing her due to her hair, eye and height change. The anger, though, seemed familiar. After all, Mary-Sue witnessed many like it. Looking her up and down, Mary-Sue smirked.

"Isn't that cute. The little girl wants to look like me so she can get your attention too, sweetie-pie," she already gave George a nickname. The boy felt his stomach churn.

"How old are you?" Fred finally let out, making Mary-Sue look at him. She furrowed her eyes at him, looking at Fred up and down before her smirk turned into s flirty smile. Twins. She was feeling lucky.

"Seventeen," Mary-Sue answered proudly, and Fred smirked. True, he didn't like Mary-Sue, but he would embarrass her in the simplest way possible. Hit her straight in her pride.

"Oh trust me, girl, I can get a hell lot more boys than you can in thirty seconds." Echo narrowed her eyes at the spoiled brat in front of her. "At least _I'm_ legal."

"Also_, girl_," Fred added, deciding to use Echo's name for the annoying nymph. "She was born _before _you, therefore, she's not copying you at all. Quite the contrary, you could be the one copying her."

"Oh, _burn," _Jane couldn't help but say, laughing into her hand.

Mary-Sue was too appalled to speak after receiving her about three hundred degree burn. Her eyes went wide and her glossy red mouth hung open, gaping at the two. George took this as his chance to escape, wriggling his arm loose from her hold, he inched away from the girl and went back to Echo's side, wrapping his arm around her waist and leading her away from the girl and towards the dance floor. He was just about to take the first step when Fred coughed.

"Blending in," George told him, "You should try it."

Fred's mouth formed a tight line but he couldn't change his brother's mind for George had already dance Echo and himself far from Fred. Sighing, Fred was just about to escape in order to look for Zoey when Jane took hold of one of his hands and placed it on her waist. She laid her right hand on his shoulder and took his other hand in hers, gliding him to the dance floor. He sent her a confused look as they danced to the rhythm of the music.

"George has the right idea on blending in," She whispered to him, forcing Fred to spin her around as she took a good look at the people dancing around them before returning into Fred's arm. "I don't think the Emeraudes would be too pleased if they saw you sneaking around."

"I won't be sneaking –" Fred began, offended on how Jane described his art of 'snooping.'

"Then what would you be doing? Casually walking around their house? That's not very polite for someone who went into hiding to keep his blood pure and what not. Besides, are you so sure they would keep Zoey in the estate? I thought there were torturing her not pampering." Jane added, catching the eye of her mother who was dancing not too far away from her.

She seemed pleased. "Bring me away from my mother, please," Jane muttered under her breath, "She likes the thought I'm getting _cozy _with a handsome pureblood."

"Well, you _are _getting cozy with a handsome pureblood," Fred answered back, his expression smug. "Problem is, the pureblood is a blood traitor and in love with a girl named Zoey, while you're are pureblood in love with a bloke named Aiden."

"Whom my parents disapprove of," Jane sighed, tilting her head to point the ground. She watched as her feet and Fred's avoided each other with ever glide of step. "We should stop this dance soon before they think you're going to propose by the end of tonight."

"Sorry to disappoint your mother," Fred began, backing away and bowing as Jane curtsied. The song had ended and already a new one began to play. "I only have one girl I plan to propose to, and no offense, but it isn't you." Jane laughed as she playfully hit Fred on his arm.

"I'm pretty sure that the girl you want would say yes too," Jane added. "And besides, I already have someone to love, and he's much more dashing than you." It was Fred's turn to laugh.

"I guess it's true what people say about love." Jane raised her eyebrow at Fred's words. "It makes you blind, especially if you think Aiden is much more handsome than me." And the third girl in Fred's life whacked his head. Yup, Zoey was the only one for him. She would never abuse him like these other bloody women did.

The two were just about to leave the dance floor, hopefully to find clues as to where Zoey was being hidden, but were stopped when a small tug on Fred's coat caught his attention. Looking down, he saw a young girl; probably the age of nine, with large grey eyes and brown hair curled and held up in pigtails. She wore a flowy yellow dress with a black bow around the middle along with black flats. She grinned up at Fred who only gave her a questioning look.

"Hiya Mister!" the girl giggled, "My name's Evelyn!"

"Uhm… Hello…?" Fred answered, not really prepared for a nine-year-old to walk up to him.

"Say, Mister, you dance pretty well," Evelyn swayed, her eyes blinking at him. "Could you, _pretty please_, dance with me? I'm sure you're girlfriend won't mind, right?" she then turned her attention to Jane who's eyes widened at the sudden look the kid was giving her.

"Go ahead, Gideon, I don't mind," Jane said, her voice forcing a laugh as she stepped a few inches away from the little girl.

"I'd love to, but… I'm sort of…" Fred was flustered. Why would a nine-year-old girl want to dance with him? Surely there were some other pureblood wizards her age around? "Looking for someone."

Evelyn pouted, her eyes welling up alligator tears. "_Please?" _she begged, using a baby voice. The pouted her lips and made a whiny sort of noise with her throat. It was almost like she was imitating a sad puppy. "It's just _one _dance!"

"I'm really sorry, maybe later, okay?" Fred said, looking at the girl pleadingly. He did not want to deal with a crying girl tonight especially when he truly wasn't welcome in the Emeraude estate. A churn in his gut told him that something bad was going to happen soon.

Maybe wasn't good enough for Evelyn. She folded her arms across her chest, puffed out her cheeks and stomped her foot against the floor, making her body shake violently. When Fred made no move to take back his words, she glared at him.

"Is this because I'm younger than you?" she asked, her voice changing slightly. "Fine! I'll just dance with your brother!" As if on cue, George and Echo came to view and the girl tugged harshly on George's coat, tearing him away from Echo who was just as shocked as anybody at the nine-year-old's strength.

Evelyn took George's hand in hers and began to grow in height before their very eyes. Her yellow dress grew from her knees to her ankles as her flats turned into heels. Her hair changed in style and her eyes shrank just a tad. Everyone gasped at Evelyn's new appearance.

Not only were the four friends shocked but also a girl standing not too far from them. This girl had long auburn hair tied up into a tight ponytail and brown eyes with gold specs in them. She was just talking to her date, a tall, freckle covered, ginger haired man, when she saw the nine-year-old change. She nearly dropped her wine glass at the sight.

* * *

The night air blew, whistling as it hit the Yew hedges of the manor located within Wiltshire, England. The wrought-iron gates standing tall, intimidating those who even dared to sneak into the premise. Standing tall with high towers, pointed roofs, large windows, and castle like structure, Malfoy Manor did not look like a welcoming place what-so-ever. Perfect.

"How can we possibly get into Hogwarts? With Dumbledore there no less!" Antonin Dolohov shouted out, standing from his seat and staring at Pettigrew from across the hall. How stupid was this rat to believe in such poppy cock? His mind truly was as small as that of his Animagus.

"The only links to the school we have are these two –" Dolohov continued, now pointing a finger toward Bridgit and Draco's direction. "–And they're both just as useless as you!" Pettigrew looked like he was about to retort, when Voldemort suddenly waved his hand in a manner of silence.

"Now Dolohov," He began, turning to one of his most faithful Death Eaters. "You have no right as to belittle the talents of these two." He continued, facing Bridgit and Draco with a smile. Bridgit and Draco cringed under the piercing stare of his blood red eyes and shuddered at the sound of his dark, cruel, and merciless voice. "They have done well."

Bridgit and Draco shared a look and gulped. They did not like anything that was planned, nor did they like what was going to happen. "So, Bridgit, Draco, what have you both found out?" He asked, his voice seemed kind but disappointment was proven to be fatal. They had better prepared a good answer or suffer the consequences. "Something useful I hope."

Bridgit turned to Draco and saw that he was cowering, probably wanting to runaway and hide in his room. Narcissa and Lucius seemed worried for his well-being, and somehow, Bridgit was too. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder as she spoke.

"Draco has managed to find something very useful." The brunette said, turning to Draco with a comforting look. They had shared many fights in the past, the chicken prank included, but when they were both trapped within the walls of Malfoy Manor like this, it was only in each other they could find a friend.

"Really?" Someone voiced out, seeming to be in disbelief. It was Severus Snape. Bridgit and Draco nodded at the same time. They had both spent hours in Draco's room just to rehearse how to say this. Being Draco's first official meeting with the Death Eaters, he was nervous and had asked Bridgit for help. The Parker agreed, feeling his pain, but saying that the nerves never go away. Not really. "Do share."

"Last year, I found out about a cabinet within the Hogwarts walls," Draco began, Bridgit noting Snape's widening eyes, Narcissa's worried glances, and Nagini's irritating hisses. "It makes the things placed inside it disappear, A Vanishing Cabinet," Draco added, making Bridgit's hold on him tighten. He was getting nervous.

"And what is the importance of this Vanishing Cabinet?" Yexley asked, catching Draco off guard. "Relax, Draco." Bridgit whispered, squeezing his shoulder once more. "Just say what we practiced." She added, making Draco nod.

"This cabinet isn't just simply a Vanishing Cabinet," Now getting some self-confidence, Draco continued. "It has a partner cabinet within the safety of Borgin and Burke's, and it transports the objects within each other." He finished, and most of the Death Eater's seemed confused.

Bridgit rolled her eyes, they truly were as stupid as they looked. "Meaning that even people can get transported." She added for Draco, making the people within the room smirk and grin rather evilly, getting on to what the two teenagers were now saying.

"So, dearies," Bellatrix LeStrange's voice rang out. "Is this cabinet in tip-top condition?" She continued. The color faded from the two teen's faces. They obviously have not gotten to that part yet, and were now nervous once again.

"That's the point," Bridgit now said. "Peeves the Poltergeist damaged it in 1992 and Draco and I will need time to fix it." She continued, Draco nodded beside her. "We were planning to check out the one in Borgin and Burkes and find out what's wrong with the other, we will send a message through the cabinet when it is restored and finished." Draco now spoke, making Voldemort smirk.

"Very well then, you two may now take your leave." Bridgit and Draco hastily stood up as they heard the Dark Lord call Snape's name and did not stick around to find out what the matter of their discussion would be. They wanted to be away from them. From the Dark Lord, Nagini, Bellatrix, Dolohov, everyone! They just wanted to be out of that room.

Up the stairs, through the corridors, passed the house elves (Bridgit saying sorry as she hit one), and down the hall they ran and didn't stop until they were safe inside Draco's room. They heaved, trying to catch their breaths, and both sat on Draco's bed. Bridgit looked around and smiled at the fact that nothing had changed since the last time she was in there.

The bed was still Slytherin green, the walls were still silver, the curtains green as well, and the posters of some famous Quidditch teams up on the wall. It was probably the only thing that described Draco as Draco and not Malfoy.

"Truly do love your decorating skills you know Draco." Bridgit commented, offering the fifteen-year-old a warm smile. He smiled, but not as warmly. She could hardly blame him.

"I could say the same for you and your room." Draco answered, making Bridgit shake her head. It was true, when they both needed to escape the world of the dead and dark, they would hurry to her, well uncle's, house and play some Quidditch out back.

"Oh very funny," Bridgit said, throwing a pillow at Draco's direction. "For your information, you still owe me a new Backstreet Boys poster!" Bridgit added, making Draco confused. Bridgit rolled her eyes. "It was the poster with the five guys, you know, the one you poured spilt milk on!" She added, making Draco smirk at the memory.

"Not my fault your dog suddenly pounced on me!" He shouted, Bridgit, again, rolled her eyes.

"You stepped on his tail! What did you expect him to do? Lick you to say hello?" Both the teenagers shared a laugh at their situation. Moments ago, they were cowering in fear, now they were messing around like a couple of thirteen year olds having a sleep over.

When their laughter finally died down, Bridgit and Draco looked at each other with grins on their faces. True, in Hogwarts they were thought of as enemies, but they really weren't. What she had told Fred and George before, about Draco, all of that was true…well probably except the Drakie part. When he had seen her in Hogsmeade alone, he had confronted her about it and even said he would call her Cari if she ever used that putrid nickname ever again. She had cringed.

"Do you really think we'll get that cabinet fixed, Cari?" He asked, a smirk forming on his lips. They were just that kind of friends. Insults and annoyance won't really do anything but make the other fight back.

"Sure, Drakie, but I honestly don't want it fixed." Bridgit answered, making Draco frown at the name, but he shook it off immediately, replacing it with a serious look.

"Why is it that you got out of the Dark Mark, but I didn't?" Draco asked, wondering. He knew very well how persuasive Bridgit could be, but somehow he still wondered why he had not gotten than same privilege.

"Honestly, Draco, I don't know anymore. Maybe it's because I'm a half-blood." She answered, making Draco look at her apologetically.

"Really sorry I called you a Mudblood before, you really didn't explain your situation to me until a few weeks back."

Bridgit sighed at the mention of their heart to heart, brother to sister talk within this very same room. Draco had convinced her to tell him about her past. She seemed to know everything about Draco's; he just wanted to know the person he thought of as an older sister better as well.

_Draco and Bridgit sat on the younger's bed Indian style and facing each other. They had taken a break from training with the Death Eaters and decided to take their deserved rest in the comfort of Draco's air-conditioned room. They both had asked for a glass of juice (Pumpkin for Draco while Strawberry for Bridgit) and were now gulping it down like there was no tomorrow._

"_So Bridgit," Draco began, wiping the drop of pumpkin juice that escaped his mouth. "I heard that your Boggart is a burning house, why is that?" Bridgit almost choked on her drink as she heard Draco's words. How did he possibly find that out? She decided not to ask as she stared curiously at Draco._

"_Why do you want to know?" She asked, and Draco shrugged his shoulders. "Just curious"_

_Bridgit sighed as she turned her attention to the window. She really didn't want to talk about it, but she couldn't lie to Draco either. No, he deserved the truth. "Well I guess you could say it's because of Lord No-Nose." Bridgit answered, making Draco laugh. The nickname never failed to make anyone who hated him laugh._

"_You see Draco, my uncle had a sister. He tells me that she's really pretty. She had light brown hair, hazel eyes, peaches and cream complexion and a smile that was so contagious even the sun copied it." Bridgit began, Draco listening intently. "Her name was Cari Alexandra James, that was my mother's name." Bridgit continued, Draco looking at the tears that seemed to be building up in the girl's eyes._

"_She fell in love with a muggle while doing a job for the ministry." She now said. "She bumped into him in a coffee shop and she spilled a hot White Chocolate Mocha onto his pants. She felt so embarrassed, but the muggle man decided that Cari was simply too beautiful and decided to buy her another drink. Cari insisted that he shouldn't, but the man insisted." The tears now were falling and Draco put a hand on Bridgit's shoulders. "She later found out that the man was named Adam Sean Parker, he liked to be called Adam though."_

"_Adam and Cari fell in love and had a daughter. Adam named her Bridgit after the powerful goddess Brigid." Draco somewhat regretted asking his question, but this was also the first time Bridgit had released so much about herself. _

"_Uncle Drew never liked Adam, but he would never say that out loud. He said that Cari had ended up pregnant once again, but they had never found out what gender the baby contained for the house of the family burning down had killed him or her."_

_Draco could see the tears that continued to flow as Bridgit closed her eyes, probably reliving the moments that she could remember. She squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. "Bridgit wasn't killed though." She explained. "She was found in a magic dome, protecting her from the fire. The Death Eaters had taken her to their leader and he had decided to use her for his gain. She became his spy, but she hated them. Bridgit hated them cause they killed her family."_

_The blonde boy couldn't hold his own tears back as he now pulled his 'older sister' into a hug. She sobbed onto his shoulder as she released all the pain that she was feeling and shared it. "And her uncle can't even look at her without seeing the man he hated and sister he loved." She finished, Draco rubbing her back in a comforting manner. He was happy yet sad at the same time. He knew her better, but why did he feel so guilty for making her say all that?_

"_I'm sorry Bridgit" Draco whispered as Bridgit continued to sob._

"Hey Draco, I'm hungry." Bridgit all too suddenly said, deciding not to live in the past and focus on the present. Draco turned to her and asked what she wanted to eat. "I want a strawberry shortcake, let's go make one!" She exclaimed, taking hold of Draco's hand and pulling him out the room towards the direction of the kitchen.

The fifteen year old resisted. "Let me go! I don't know how to bake!" He exclaimed.

"Much more reason to learn, Drakie!" Bridgit reasoned, opening the door to the kitchen. The house elves greeted her warmly, seeing as she was one of the only people nice to them.

"Miss Bree-jeet" one said, making Bridgit laugh at the prolonged 'dgit' on her name. "What would you like?" The house elf asked.

"I would like to teach Drakie here how to bake a strawberry shortcake!" Bridgit answered, making Draco complain once more.

"I'll get you back for this one, Cari." He mumbled, but he couldn't complain now. They both really needed a good laugh. Maybe messing around trying to bake would give them that.

* * *

Evelyn was obviously an Emeraude. If she wasn't, then she was a metamorphmagus. The once nine-year-old girl aged about six years at most! By the time her hair, clothes and everything stopped changing, she looked like an entirely different person. When her transformation ended, she looked eerily familiar. Evelyn was now about fifteen years old, reaching just around George's earlobe with her heels. Smirking at their shocked stares, she placed a hand on George's chest, leaning her head on it as well.

"Now, don't you wish you accepted my offer to dance?" her voice changed into a low, smug tune as she giggled. "I'm pretty sure your brother here would be a much better dance partner anyway."

Finding out who the girl looked like, Fred snapped. At that one transformation, his already thing patience broke and something in him change. Something he couldn't quite control. He had experienced such a feeling before, but never was it this intense.

"Where. Is. _She?_" Fred shouted, walking up to the girl, taking her hands and pulling her away from George. "_Where is Zoey?" _he continued to shout, causing people within a five foot radius to turn to him.

Suddenly, the music ceased to play and everyone on the dance floor moved out, finding shelter behind the tables and by the walls. Those within the same age group as Fred and the others looked at them curiously while those older that them stared with disgust. How _dare _he disrupt the Emeraude ball! The children of the pureblood families retreated to their parents, hiding behind them, scared at what Fred might do in his angered state.

"Hey!" Evelyn squealed, her eyes widening with fear. She took a step back from Fred, trying to create a distance. "_Let. Go. Of. Me!_ I don't know who you're talking about!" she then said, trying to break Fred's hold on her.

"_Don't know?_" Fred asked, tightening his grip on the girl's hand. Evelyn began to feel pain surge through her, but Fred refused to let her go. "How can you _not_ know? You look _exactly_ like her!"

George, Echo, and Jane stared at Fred not knowing what to do. He was causing a scene, something they did not need, but they also wanted to know why this girl looked so much like Zoey. Staying quite, they watched as the scene before them unfolded, ready to break it up if anything bad happened. One could only imagine what Fred would do if he didn't get the answers he wanted.

Before Evelyn could say anything, a hand was placed on top of Fred's, forcing him to release his hold. He looked up and was surprised to his older brother, Percy, standing behind the girl who forced him to let go of the Zoey look a like. She pushed Fred slightly, causing him to stumble towards his friends as she took hold of Evelyn's hand. The girl was trembling from shock at what just happened.

"Please, Mister Prince," she surprisingly knew his 'name', "You're upsetting Miss Evelyn and our guests."

"_Upsetting?_" Fred continued, bellowing out in full blast. He didn't give a damn about who heard him. He had enough. He couldn't contain it anymore. It was just too much for him to handle. His hands slowly formed into tight fists, his knuckles turning white, before he spoke once more.

"I DON'T FREAKING CARE WHO'S UPSET! THAT GIRL KNOWS WHERE ZOEY IS AND I'M BLOODY NOT LEAVING THIS SPOT UNTIL SHE TELLS ME!" George walked up to his twin, standing beside him and placed a hand on Fred's shoulder. Fred didn't notice this due to his rage. Upset? If they were upset, he was just about ready to explode.

"Mister Prince, is it?" Percy suddenly spoke, making Fred turn to him with a glare. At home, school or in a party, Percy was still a big pain in the arse. "You are out of control, please do find a way to keep your temper at bay or do leave the Emeraude estate. We do not want you causing such scenes here."

Fred smirked as he turned towards his older brother. Oh how long had he been waiting to do this. George was shocked, Audrey froze, Jane and Echo both stared bug eyed as Fred, the supposed brave twin, punched Percy making the older boy fall to the ground clenching his jaw.

"_Our of control?_" Fred bellowed out, glaring down at his brother. There was no forgiveness in his eyes, possibly no mercy either. "YOU'RE TELLING ME I'M _OUT OF CONTROL_? WHAT ARE ALL OF YOU HERE THEN? _HUH_?"

"YOUR ALL A BUNCH OF FAKE AND TWO FACED PEOPLE!" Fred continued, forgetting who he was. Who he was supposed to be on that day. He didn't give a damn if he was Fred Weasley or Gideon Prince. He just needed to scream. "ESPECIALLY YOU! YOU HANG OUT HERE WHEN YOUR MOTHER CRIES AND MISSES YOU AT HOME!"

George glared at Percy now too as he remembered how much tears their mother had shed for him. Him, Percy Ignatius Weasley, the blasted big head of the family. He remembered how Bill and Charlie were so devastated to lose their brother to the Ministry of Magic no less. Especially now, when it couldn't be trusted.

"And _you_–" Fred, now turned his attention back to Evelyn and Audrey. "You're hiding the only girl I loved and ever will love from me! Or so help me I don't care what happens to you!"

At his twin's words, George finally had enough and took hold of him. Fred looked at George with wide eyes, his breathing hard and his throat sore from all the shouting. He did not notice the way George's fists cleaned or how his hair casted a shadow over his eyes when he drew back his hand "I'm sorry. But this has to stop." George whispered, before landing a hard blow on his brother's cheek.

Fred landed on the floor near Percy, but George leaned down. "What you're doing isn't helping us, you could get us kicked out, and then we'd never be able to find Zoey. Remember, Gred, she's why we're here. Not because of you, or me, or even of Percy. We're here for _Zoey_," he emphasized the Emeraude's name, knowing it would strike a cord in his brother. At that moment, he saw Fred's eyes change.

George saw Fred's eyes hardened yet there was a trickle of water forming in them as his cheek began to swell slightly. The tears he refused to shred were caused by his mixed emotions together with the hard blow his brother sent him. It was obvious that all the emotions Fred was holding were finally showing, though he refused to cry. All the pain, loss, anguish he had felt when Zoey had disappeared that day. A breaking point, everyone had one, and for Fred, this was his.

"Calm down," George said in a soft tone, helping his twin up onto his feet. Fred thanked him and used his sleeve to quickly wipe away the tears before they could even fall and placed a hand on his cheek.

"That's a damn good right hook you have there, Forge," he said, trying to lighten up the mood. He winced when the bruise stung but said nothing else.

Percy groaned in pain, not recognizing the nicknames the twins used for each other, as he still clutched his jaw. Fred's punch had hurt, probably more than it should with all the guilt that managed to build with that one sentence Fred shouted at him. Audrey wanted to help him, honestly she did, but she was frozen on the spot and could not dare make a move.

George looked back at Echo, giving her a reassuring glance before turning back to his brother once more. He patted his brother's back reassuringly before moving to his girlfriend's side. Fred then faced Evelyn, who seemed petrified, and spoke. "Tell me where Zoey is," His voice was lower, but the intensity just as strong as when he was shouting.

"There is no…No one by the...that name here!" Audrey answered, her voice failing her as she looked back at the angered Fred who was now clenching his fists. Why wouldn't they tell him? It was obvious she was there! It was obvious that Zoey was somewhere within these walls! Why was it no one would help him?

"How can Evelyn look so much –" Fred was saying, about to get mad once more, but something stopped him. Another punch had managed to land on his face. Percy had managed to steady his footwork and land a strong one on Fred.

George knelt down beside his brother, Echo rushing up behind him, and glared up at Percy, whose nose was now bleeding. Suddenly, a sound rang out, a sound that no one was expecting to hear. It was the sound of Fred's sarcastic laughter filling the air that was stained with silence.

"Really think you could hurt me, Percy?" Fred said, forgetting about his façade as _Gideon._ "Really? You all think you can hurt me?" He continued, laughing once again. Percy looked at him as if he were crazy and belonged in St Mungo's.

"Well let me tell you something," Fred was now standing up once again. "When you lose the girl you want to spend the rest of your life with," he began, all his attention focused on his older brother. "Nothing, not even a Cruciatus curse, can compare to that pain." and with that Evelyn had enough. The little girl shrieked them to shut up before speaking in a softer voice.

"T – The third pillar," the girl said, trembling. She suddenly began changing in age and returned to her nine-year-old self. She was clutching onto Audrey's hand with an iron grip and refused to look at Fred as she pointed to the three pillars in the middle of the grand staircase. "I saw her at the highest pillar. She was there. She looked pretty. I wanted…I wanted to look like her too… so I… I…"

But it was no use. Evelyn was so frightened that she broke down in tears, refusing to go on. Several times she tried to tell Fred exactly what she did but she couldn't. It was just too much for her. In the end, she refused to even turn her body towards their direction.

Fred stared at the sobbing girl, and somewhere inside him, he truly felt guilty for letting her see that. She was just a child, what did she know about what was going on right now? He sighed as he listened to her sobbing, but Fred had no time for this right now. Taking hold of George and Echo, he made his way towards the pillar that Evelyn had pointed to, but everything suddenly grew dark.

Looking left and right, everything and everyone in sight vanished except for the grand staircase, the three pillars and all the terrorized statues. Fred dropped his hold on George and Echo's hands and briskly made his way to the winding staircase, hearing George and Echo following closely behind. He stopped at the first pillar and didn't even spare a glance before continuing up the staircase. He did the same for the second. The travel towards the third pillar seemed to take longer and by the time he, George and Echo reached their destination, they were out of breath.

True to her word, in the middle of the third pillar stood a girl about seventeen years old age wearing a simple sleeveless –neck dress flowing down to her knees, appearing to have been ripped. It had folded detailing but that didn't really matter to Fred and the others. What really mattered was who this statue was.

Zoey, it was obvious, stood in a stance that looked like she was shielding herself from an attack. Her feet were set firmly on the ground as her arms where held up, shielding her face. Her expression, it was a mixture of pain and determination. It was hard to decipher but it was easy to see that the girl was not pleased about being turned to stone.

Fred felt his heart skip a beat, a surge of happiness and anger coming through him. He touched the statue's, Zoey's, face caressing her now cold cheek. "I finally found you." He whispered, feeling his heart hammer violently against his chest.

"So how on earth are we going to get her to turn back to the Zoey you oh-so love?" Echo asked Fred.

"I...I don't know..." Fred honestly answered in defeated as he hung his head low. He had imagined saving Zoey countless of times but never did he exactly think that he would find her, rock hard and unmoving. What could _anyone _do at this point?

The echo of someone's clapping rang around the dark room, catching the attention of the three. They looked down at the staircase and saw Damiana, along with Mary-Sue who was sliding her hand across the railing, walking down with her hands still clapping. Stopping at the center of the grand staircase, the woman looked up at the pillar they were in and smirked, her clapping slowing down before fully ceasing.

"I see you three finally found your _beloved _Zoey. Very good!" Damiana mused, placing her hands on her hips, beginning to make her way up the winding staircase. "But judging from your faces, you're quite… what's the word? _Disappointed_ to see that she isn't how you remember her, am I right?"

"No shit," Echo laughed before glaring at the woman who was now standing at the first pillar, gently trailing her fingers over the statue decorating it.

"What she said!" George continued, watching Damiana lean against the stature with boredom. Mary-Sue hadn't said a word yet. She was just further heading down the grand staircase until she reached the floor of the ballroom. Slowly, she pretended to be dancing with someone, humming a tune.

"Such foul words for a pureblood," Damiana's voice evidently showed irritating as she made a disapproving sound at Echo. "But… you aren't really a pureblood are you? Echo Acheflour Hyacinth Hayley _Fournier_ Beaumont?"

Echo's eyes widened. "How on earth do you know my mother's maiden name?" She resisted the urge to grab her handkerchief to cough again; there was something in the air making her sick.

"It's quite simple, really," Damiana shrugged, the smile on her face growing wider. "Your _dear _Kassandra is very much fond of you."

"Isn't she your aunt?" George whispered to her. Fred still had his hand on Zoey, afraid that if we would let go, she would disappear once more. He needed to get all of them out of here before things got any worse.

"Oh no, George, she's my sister." Said Echo sarcastically before turning to Damiana. "And no, Kassandra is only fond of making my life miserable."

"A hobby we aunts tend to enjoy," Damiana said sweetly before averting her eyes towards Fred who was looking every which way. She assumed he was looking for a way out. Typical. "You know, _boy," _Damiana began, pushing herself away from the statue she was leaning on and resorted in just laying her hand on it, similar to what Fred was doing to Zoey.

"You best be careful with her. One wrong move and you could reduce her to smithereens." And with that, Damiana's eyes turned gold and the statue under the palm of her hand broke apart and crumbled at her feet. Mary-Sue laughed, dancing towards the other statues.

Fred's eyes flashed with anger as he gripped Zoey tighter. "You wouldn't dare…" his voice was filled with rage, pure, utter and uncaring hatred. His hand inched towards his wand, ready to draw it out if ever Damiana chose to attack at that very moment.

"And who's going to stop me? You? _Please. _I saw what you did to your brother down there. It wasn't much," Damiana began making her way towards the second pillar where she leaned against the statue there. She smirked as the three's eyes followed her wherever she went. "Besides, what good would it do for me if I turn her into rubble now?"

"You have no idea what I can do," Fred glared daggers at the blasted woman, his magic becoming so strong that some parts of the estate began to shake. "No bloody fucking idea."

Damiana raised a brow at the boy before pulling out her wand at the same time Mary-Sue did. "I would love to see what you can do but… I don't feel like getting my gown tainted with your blood tonight." She and Mary-Sue raised their wands up in the air and both exclaimed "_Piertotum Locomotor!" _causing all the statues to move from their place, eyes glowing gold, and began making their way towards Fred and the others.

The three looked down at the statues in shock, wondering how the hell they were going to be able to fend them all off alone. Damiana smirked at their faces and folded her arms across her chest. "Well, if you're so strong, let's see how you can defeat your _precious_ Zoey," Damiana finished before quickly disappearing in the blink of an eye together with Mary-Sue. It appeared that they have Disapparated, but Fred knew better. They wouldn't leave knowing people could Apparate and Disapparate whenever they felt like it.

"Zoey?" Fred questioned, turning around to look at her statue but was shocked to see glowing gold eyes mere inches away from his. Without a word, the girl pushed him, his twin and Echo down the pillar and silently watched as they seemingly fell to their doom.

Fred's was so sure that they would crash violently to the ground but was thankful that Echo casted a quick spell which stopped them from touching the marbled pillar, levitating mere millimeters away from it, before they landed with a _thump. _

The Weasley then looked up as Zoey began to move, her arms going into a new position, dust falling with every movement she made. He was worried about their situation right now, especially with Zoey approaching them and looking like a menace, but he was much more worried about Zoey falling and breaking. After all, she wasn't indestructible.

"What are we going to do?" Fred asked, turning to Echo.

"I don't know!" Echo panicked, "I can barely run in this!" She was indicating her dress and how bad it was that she was going to battle dressed in such stiff attire. It just _had _to be an Emeraude Ball.

"You're Echo!" Fred said, exasperated. "How can you _not _know?"

"Fred, give her a break!" George answered back, standing up from his place on the floor, Fred and Echo soon following his lead.

As the three talked, the golden-eyed statue of Zoey, moved to the staircase and jumped from the step she was currently on. "Fred, watch out!" George shouted, taking hold of Echo's waist and pulling her away as Fred backed up and Zoey landed between them, the floor underneath her breaking and forming a crater where she had landed.

Fred panicked as he saw a crack on Zoey's leg, they could not risk another move like that, or they could lose a part of her foot. What was she thinking? Jumping from that height? Was her stone-brain not wired correctly? His eyes widened. Of course. Damiana knew he couldn't fight her, but Zoey, she had no control. She had no choice but to attack and kill.

"We can't lead her into jumping, we can't trip her. We can outrun her, but the force she will put to move might cause her to break apart!" Echo realized, trying to think of a solution to their problem. When she found none, she turned to the twin. "So what can we do?"

"_Nothing!_" Fred shouted, making himself heard. "We do noting but dodge!" The boy then began to run, urging his twin and the Veela to follow him

"Can we reach for the Zoey beneath all that marble?" Echo suggested but dismissed it immediately, running after Fred and away from Zoey. "What am I thinking?"

Zoey moved her head from side to side, the sound of the contact and friction of rock, causing Fred to look back. He had heard Echo's words. _Reach for the Zoey beneath all that marble_. That could actually work. Who else could get Zoey back but Fred? Who else could give a statue-fied Zoey a heart but the reason why it would even beat?

A stone statue of an old woman with three fingers on each hand and her head wrapped in bandages made its way towards George and Echo, and Fred knew that they didn't have enough time to save themselves. He didn't want to kill anyone at all, but his choices seemed to be limiting. Taking out his wand, he apologized for what he was about to do.

_"Reducto!" _Shouted Fred, the spell making contact with the statue behind them. Echo and George ducked as the pieces of rubble that came from the statue flew through the air.

"Fred!" George shouted, eye widening as he pulled out his own wand. "Behind you!"

Fred quickly turned around and came in contact with Zoey about to attack him with her stone fist. He dodged each punch, each kick, each blow that Zoey made. Not wanting her to get damaged and not wanting to get hurt all the same.

"George, Echo, now would be a good time to have your wands at the ready and _help_ me out here!" Fred exclaimed, dodging another blow from his girlfriend, or what used to be his girlfriend.

_"Stupefy!"_ George shouted, sending the statue that was sneaking up on Fred to the wall. It broke into pieces, and somehow he felt guilty for taking that man's life. His brother and Zoey were just much more important. He saw Echo destroy two statues, and realized that Zoey was now backing Fred up to a wall. Not good.

"_You never came back for me, Fred Weasley!" _Zoey's voice seemed to have a darker echo behind it with every word she spoke. _"I waited. I hoped for you to come. For any of you to come and nothing! I was left there to rot! How could you?"_

Fred felt as if he, himself, became a statue at Zoey's words. A stone cold kick made contact with his stomach and he fell to the floor, landing on some of the remains of the statues he had 'killed'. George and Echo were now defending themselves from the other statues, unable to help Fred.

"I never left you, Zoe, I never could." Fred answered, his voice strained and his hand on his stomach. He was trying to get Zoey, the real Zoey, to hear his words. "I came for you, I'm keeping my promise."

"_What promise? The promise you broke all those years ago? Back at the garden of your house?" _Zoey cackled, her stone mouth forming a sinister grin. _"'I would never leave you.'" _She coated him, mocking his words, _ "Rubbish! You left me as soon as you found out who I really was! I Black! The daughter of a murderer!"_

"You have to understand Zoey, that was not something easy for me to take in!" Fred defended; waiting for Zoey to do something, anything to make him realize that the Zoey he knew was still in there. He got nothing. The statue of the girl only squinted her eyes at him, the glow intensifying.

"_LIES!" _Zoey cut in, aiming another blow at Fred's direction. He dodged it and instead, Zoey hit the wall beside his head, causing particles of herself to fall. _"All of those are lies! What's there to take in, Fred? You always knew something was up! You knew that I wasn't treated like a special guest back home but yet, when you find out about who my father was, you just tossed that all aside and assumed I was exactly like him!" _The girl withdrew her hand and her glowing gold eyes locked with Fred's.

"_I… I was a good friend wasn't I? Kind…caring…protective. I never did anything wrong. I never wanted to hurt you. I was just being shy. I didn't want to hurt anybody…but you… You –" _She then growled, _"You just wanted a reason to finally get rid of me!"_

Fred felt his heart stop beating at Zoey's old and cruel words. This was worse than any pain he's ever felt before. Worse than the time he thought Zoey agreed to go to the Yule Ball with Cedric and worse than the time Zoey began to compare him to other guys, not knowing how much it hurt him to hear her words. During those times, Zoey was naïve; she didn't know what she was saying. The same couldn't be said about what was happening now and that only hurt Fred more.

"_No!_ Zoey, you know that's not true!" Fred tried to explain, glancing at George and Echo who seemed to be struggling against the growing number of statues attacking. He wanted to help them, but he needed to handle Zoey because she was _his _priority. "You know that what you're saying is nowhere close to the truth!"

"How could I get rid of you, when I loved you more than everything?"

There was a gasp and Zoey took a step back from Fred her stone face contorting into shock and confusion. Her gold eyes blinked several times as her head twitched to the side a bit. _"NO!" _she yelled, her hands reaching to cover her ears. _"You're – You're lying! That's all you ever do! You lie!" _Her eyes flashed a familiar grey before returning to gold.

"And the promise I'm talking about is the one where I save you from the dragon and become your dashing prince." Fred continued, seeing that his words were finally affecting her. Something struck Zoey; a feeling of realization was coming over her.

Fred smiled. Zoey was fighting. Zoey had heard him! She knew that he was there to save him. "I'm not lying Zoe, I never lie to you." He said, trying to stand up and get closer to the statue. "I hide the truth, but never have I ever directly lied to you." He continued.

"_Hide the truth? What – _What truth_?" _the dark echo in her voice disappearing and the melodic voice of Zoey came from the statue as the bits of rock began to fall revealing a portion of her long brown hair and her dress, which was revealed to be white. _"_WHAT TRUTH?_" _she screamed, taking a cautious step back. She was losing control.

"The truth about when I look at you, rain becomes sunshine and no matter what I'm going through, I'll make it as long as your there." Fred began, stepping closer. He watched as the stone began to leave her ears, her chin and the lower half of her face. "That when I hear your voice its like a bird's melody in the breeze." He took another closer. "That when I smell your coconut scent, it intoxicating, better than any other potion or drug."

He now stood directly in front of. He took hold of her shoulders, now softening and warming. "And that the promise I was talking about was that I would finally be your dashing prince and save you from the dragon." Fred leaned down and captured Zoey's lips in a passionate kiss.

The golden glow in Zoey's eyes slowly faded away and was soon replaced by the interesting grey of their original color. The stone encaging her soon fell to the floor in large bundles as the rest of her face began to soften up to her skin texture. Her brown hair flowed down her back and her dress stopped just at her knees. The buzzing sound in her head soon disappeared along with the hollow feeling in her chest.

Blinking away the confusion she originally felt after returning to normal, the girl felt the warmth of Fred's kiss spread across her entire body, giving her back the sense of touch she once lacked. The feel of Fred's lips against her own was too much for her to handle that the moment her arms were free, she wrapped them around Fred's neck for support as her legs regained the feeling within them. Fred's arms wove around Zoey, latching onto her waist, before pulling her closer, obviously showing how much he missed her.

When air finally became a problem, they broke apart. "I missed you, Zoe," Fred stated, as his eyes softened at the sight of the girl in his arms, his hand running through her long brown hair.

"Same here, Fred…_FRED!" _Zoey's eyes widened when she finally came to her senses. She placed her arms on Fred's chest and gently pushed him away before looking around and seeing George and Echo still fighting against the statues. There were statue remains all over the floor but their number seemed to be endless. "Wha – What's going on?" She gasped out, seeing Fred pull out his wand and attacking a couple of statues on his own.

"I saved you from the dragon! What else does it look like?" Fred answered, smiling widely. He finally had _his _Zoey back. The feeling inside him pushed away all negative emotions he felt before The anger, hatred and sorrow were soon gone from the Weasley twin, much to the relief of his twin and Echo.

"_Dragon_? What Dragon?" Zoey furrowed her brows in confusion, dodging a statue that tried to grab her. It sucked not having her wand at hand and her glasses. Everything besides her friends seemed to be a blur. "Are you off your rocker?"

"For once, Zoe, I am honestly saying I'm not." Fred turned towards her after destroying yet another statue and the love in his eyes was as obvious as winter in December. Zoey blinked at him, her eyes wide as she tried to catch on with what was happening all around her. She was so confused.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Zoey let a small smile escape but dropped it as soon as George and Echo flew towards her, having been hit by a statue of a man with a large beer-belly. "And what did you guys do to your hair?" she couldn't help but ask seeing the twins' familiar black hair and Echo's curious blonde hair. "I thought you _hated _having black hair?"

"Do you _honestly _think that this is the right time to ask?" Echo grunted out, standing up from the ground and quickly dusting off the dirt from her dress. "And welcome back."

"I'm not quite sure where I went but it's great – OW!" Zoey exclaimed, having felt something bounce off her head and land on the floor beneath her. Looking down, she saw her wand. The Emeraude picked it up, all the while rubbing the top of her head, looked up to see Audrey peering down below them, looking panicked.

"_Audrey!" _Zoey said a smile breaking out on her face. Fred, George and Echo looked up as well, faces not quite as trusting as Zoey's. Audrey gave a small wave to the enthusiastic girl; it was obvious to her that Zoey wasn't quite sure what was happening at the moment. She put down her hand; however, when George spoke.

"You were the girl with Percy!" George exclaimed, throwing a short glare at her. A quick blush appeared on Audrey's cheeks but she shook it away and continued to look down at them, trying to get them out of the ballroom and away from death as soon as possible.

Fred shook his head at George's exclamation. "Tell Evelyn 'Thanks!'" Fred suddenly said, looking up at the girl that was named Audrey. Audrey sent him a curious look at the mention of the transforming Emeraude. "Without her, I would have never found Zoey again."

"Found me? Where did I go?" Zoey asked, not knowing what was going on at all. "Last I remember, Percy asked Audrey out on a date and she passed by the house to give me some food."

The Emeraude then paused in thought when she saw the statues climb over the fallen friends and continued to make their way towards them. Fred, Echo and George blasted a few out of the way and Zoey was just about to do what they did when stone arms wrapped around her. She let out a surprised scream and was quickly saved when Fred sent a well-aimed spell at the statue, destroying it. Zoey let out a breath and held her wand more securely in her hand.

Zoey thanked him with a smile but the fact that they weren't able to concentrate with escaping due to the statues eating away their time by attacking, Zoey got an idea on how to temporarily stop them. It was simple. A spell that a mere first year student in Hogwarts could do but it just might work. She pulled at Fred's coat, causing the boy to dip down to her level as she whispered into his ear. When he finally understood what she was saying, a smirk played on his lips and the twinkle in his eyes returned. He then went to his brother, backing him up and told him what Zoey had in mind.

"You think that would work?" George said, shooting another spell at a statue causing it to fly back into two others like it, breaking all three of them. "We did that how many years ago? And for what? Pranks! This is _dark magic _we're facing."

"Not really," Fred answered, lifting a statue of a man up in the air, throwing it off only for it to land on its friends, destroying al of them in the process. "If Old McGonagall can cast the spell then it isn't really dark magic. I'll bet you twelve Galleons that she would use the same exact spell in the near future."

"You're really going to bet against me at a time like this?" George asked in disbelief before his own smirk formed on his lips and an identical twinkle in his eyes. "Good to have ya back, Gred."

"So, you up for it?" Fred asked, facing his brother, the smirk on his face turning into a wide grin. He almost looked like a young child in a candy store. Or a young Weasley twin in Zonko's Joke shop with a bag full of Galleons, Sickles and Knuts.

George did not need to reply with words, holding up his wand, Fred imitating his actions, the two casted a silent spell that cause brown, rope like objects to shoot out of their wand and spread all over the ballroom. Zoey briefly glanced at what the twins were doing before turning her attention back to defending herself along with Echo, who though seemed irritated, looked to be having fun destroying all the stone like Emeraudes. They weren't really how they were before. They were fighting the mere crust of the past Emeraudes. They have all long passed by now.

When the twins finished casting their spell, they placed their wands at their sides and watched the scene unfold, by the time Zoey and Echo defeated the statues attacking them, the rest, who were still making their way towards the floor, were now hanging upside down by either their ankles, legs, the lower half of their body or their arms, struggling against the rope-like binds attaching them to the ceiling, the floors, the walls and each other. The Emeraude grinned at the sight.

"Brilliant," she said, looking back at the twins, glad to see that her idea worked. "Just brilliant! Love the added features." Echo nodded with approval at the sight, pocketing her wand and looking back to the twins and Zoey.

"Well, we simply can't use the same spell we used back in first year," Fred said, his tone smug, folding his arms across his chest.

"That would be embarrassing!" George ended, his voice equally smug as he and his twin admired their wand work.

"Yes, that _would _be embarrassing," Audrey interrupted them with a roll of her eyes. Of course she didn't know what they were talking about but at that moment, she didn't really care. The clock was ticking and if they didn't hurry up, they would run out of time. "Now could you four just jump up and get out of there?"

"Jump?" Fred asked before realizing something. He looked around the dark ballroom quickly before looking back at Audrey. When they had found out where Zoey was, everything went dark and everyone vanished. Evelyn, Percy, Audrey and Jane. If Audrey was up there… "Where's Jane?" he questioned, his brows furrowed. They couldn't leave without the very girl who helped them by bringing them there.

"Jane's here too?" Zoey asked, eyes wide. She had never expected her fellow Hufflepuff to travel to wherever they were. Where could they be with moving statues? The girl couldn't think straight. Her head was still fuzzy from her sudden transformation into her human form. "What am I missing?"

"Zoey, right now is _not_ the time for explanations. If you aren't going to jump, I guess I have no choice," Audrey sighed irritably before waving her wand in the air. The four gasped when their feet left the ground and were soon entering the hole Audrey was looking down at them through. When they were finally by the side of the older girl, the hole closed. "Come on, let's get you guys out of here!" Audrey said, prepared to leave at that very moment.

"Wait, wait, wait!" George suddenly began, refusing to leave just yet. Audrey gave him a flabbergasted look. Didn't he want to leave? Wasn't his and his friends' only mission accomplished? What else could they want? Why did they need to wait?

The auburn haired girl then watched, eyebrows furrowed with confusion and irritation, as he and Fred shared a look of disbelief mixed with shock before looking back at her. Audrey took a step back after seeing their expressions. What was up now?

"Did we just hear what we thought we heard?" George continued, his eyes squinting with suspicion.

"Percy. Percy _Ignatius_ Weasley asked you out on a date?" Fred spoke next, staring at Audrey like she was an alien from another dimension. "_Please_ tell us you turned him down!"

"Was it a date?" Zoey then mused, not really knowing the danger they were still in. She was still in a slight daze. The buzzing in her head had ceased but it still felt a tad heavy. Like something wasn't right with her just yet. "You stayed with him for about two days didn't you?"

"_Merlin's pants!_" The twin's exclaimed, their blue eyes wide and disbelieving.

"_Two _days? You lasted with that prat for _two _days?" George asked, his face scrunching up. "How'd you live through it?"

"Actually, how'd he get you to say 'yes'?" Fred added, still not believing his ears. Only one girl, one girl in the history of his memory, ever said agreed to go out with Percy and that was Penelope Clearwater. He did not want to believe that another girl would do the same thing. It was unfathomable!

"Is this _really _the time for an interrogation?" Echo now snarled, pushing the twins out of her way. "You're on our side, yes?" She turned to Audrey, her eyes piercing.

The Veela wanted to get out of there as soon as possible so she could head back to the Burrow, remove her disguise and help herself to one of Molly's home cooked meals. If they were delaying over such a thing as Percy, she had to do something to get them moving.

Audrey slowly nodded her head and held out a postcard. It showed the familiar crooked structure of the Burrow and in the image, they could vaguely see Mrs. Weasley out on the porch, looking up and around, most likely waiting for them to return. Zoey's eyes widened. Beside the woman, she saw her luggage and her mother's box. Briefly, she saw Jane leave the Burrow, gave Mrs. Weasley a reassuring smile (she guessed) and apparated away. At least she knew Jane was safe.

"We should head back now," Zoey spoke once more, looking back to her friends. "Mrs. Weasley looks worried, we should head back."

"Finally! Someone who's with me on this," Audrey turned her attention to the twins. "You should follow our girlfriends' lead. _They _not what to do in these troubled times." The auburn haired girl huffed, placing the postcard on the floor beneath them and stepping back as it grew in size and molded into the floor.

Audrey then placed her hand on the small of Zoey's back and gently guided the girl into the postcard. Zoey, already being used to Audrey saving her, did not need to say anything as she slipped through the floor. She sent the auburn hair girl a smile before getting a surprise present from the girl. Audrey had quickly placed Zoey's glasses on her face before the Emeraude fell right through the postcard and landed on the soft grass in the Weasley's backyard. She slowly gut up from the ground and dusted off her white dress, looking back up and waiting for the next person to come.

Echo, glad to finally be leaving the Emeraude Estate, fell right through the postcard and successfully landed on the ground gracefully before walking to Zoey's side and waited along with her. George came soon after and when he finally got back on his feet, he and Echo made their way to the Burrow, Echo making a comment on how hungry she was and how she didn't get the chance to eat anything back at the ball (not like she wanted to).

Zoey smiled at the retreating figures of the couple before looking back and waiting for Fred to come right through as well. Her memory was hazy and she didn't know exactly what was happening or where she was to begin with but she was sure Fred and the others would fill her in.

The Emeraude figured she was somewhere in the Emeraude Estate seeing as Audrey was there, but she didn't exactly know _where _in the estate or how she got there and even why her friends were there, 'saving' her. Everything was happening so fast that she couldn't catch up. Zoey didn't need to know all the answers that night, she was just glad that she was back in a familiar setting with her loved ones.

"Thanks, for everything," Fred said, half his body already through the postcard. "And… good luck with Perce. I bet he isn't that much of a prat to you if you're staying by him." He ended awkwardly, slipping through the postcard and landing just mere inches away from the Emeraude.

Fred groaned from where he fell and looked up at the night sky, the hole he just passed through already gone, not believing how young it looked was when he felt like he had been in the Emeraude Estate for weeks! Turning his head, he saw Zoey looking down at him with a small smile. She held her hand out to him, ready to help him up.

"By the way," Zoey began, still waiting for Fred to take her hand, "I like the black hair. It suits you in a way…but it's not exactly _Weasley." _Fred gave a chuckle before reaching up, taking her hand in his.

"I love you," Fred muttered, a goofy smile on his face as he let Zoey help him stand back up. When he was finally back on his own two feet, he looked down at Zoey, seeing as she was shorter than him, and saw how her cheeks flushed and a bashful smile traced her lips.

Zoey looked right up at him, her eyes sparking as her bashful smiled soon turned into a grin. She had forgotten how much she needed Fred by her side. Not like a life support, saying she couldn't live without him was too cheesy for her sake. She just couldn't _be _without him. She wasn't Zoey without Fred right by her.

There would be no one to laugh with, scold at, and get embarrassed because of his sweet words. There was no one like him. Not even George, Harry or Cedric could compare to how Zoey felt about Fred. She squeezed the boy's hand and began leading him to the Burrow where she saw Mrs. Weasley already running towards them.

"You know, Fred," Zoey began, glancing at him to see if he was listening. "I love you too."

* * *

**I JUST HIT THE WALL!**

**I JUST HIT THE BLOODY FREAKING WALL!**

**ALL OF THEM! JUST CRASHED THROUGH ALL. OF. THEM. TRYING TO FINISH UP THIS CHAPTER WITH DRESDENDOLL15 AND HAYLEYPARADOX (Who I send my immense gratitude for the help with this chapter!)**

**IT'S DONE. THIS CHAPTER (NOT STORY) IS FINALLY DONE!**

**I waited since the beginning of my sembreak to start and finish this but the Universe kept finding away to stall my friends and I.**

**BUT WE FOUND AWAY TO BEAT THE UNIVERSE.**

**Yesterday, November 3, we started this at 1pm and worked on it all the way to 5am the next day**

**You can see how many walls we (though HayleyParadox claims she passed right through them) crashed into just trying to finish this up.**

**After finishing this at 5am, we took a three hour sleep, woke up around 8 something am and began to BETA this story like there was no tomorrow (Cause we couldn't wait for tomorrow)**

**We added details, quotation marks and much much more just trying to make this chapter for you all to like it!**

**TWO MONTHS! **

**TWO BLOODY MONTHS THERE WAS NO UPDATE! O_O**

**When I went to my Doc. Manager, it said my Chapter 83 file only had ONE day left before being deleted.**

**LUCKY US THAT WE HAD CHAPTER 84 READY IN TIME.**

**My schooling resumes on November 8 and I will be busier than ever with the upcoming events my school has planned so I don't know how long it would take before the next update.**

**I'M PRETTY SURE IT WOULD BE A MONSTER CHAPTER TOO!**

**WOULD YOU TAKE A LOOK ON THE SIZE OF THIS THING?**

**IT HAS LIKE, WHAT?, 22 THOUSAND SOMETHING WORDS IN IT?**

**IT TOOK UP 30 SOMETHING PAGES IN MY WORD DOCUMENT!**

**That should have broken a bloody record!**

**Anyway, it's 5pm now and I'm just glad to be finished with this chapter.**

**I almost forgot what it was like to update Crossroads until I had to work on this chapter with my friends.**

**THE WALLS NO LONGER EXIST! THEY HAVE TO REBUILD THEMSELVES NOW!**

**Okay…. I don't think there's much for me to say now except**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter **

**(And how we FINALLY saved Zoey and how she FINALLY said those THREE FREAKING WORDS TO FRED – STRAIGHT TO HIM!)**

**Please tell me what you thought **

**(PLEASE. PLEASE. PLEASE. We worked mega hard on this and we all want to know how you guys found the chapter. Please share your thoughts. Even though it doesn't seem like it, we ALWAYS ALWAYS read your reviews)**

**Excuse my typos and the like **

**(Even though we beta-ed this… Some of those little devils just find their way into the story…)**

**Don't forget to review and the like**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter **

**(CAUSE THERE WILL BE ONE!)**

**And**

**I only own what I own**

**(PS: Sorry if I sound a tad bit extreme in this Author's note. I just hit a freaking wall so hard! I'm sort of concerned for my sanity at the moment :P)**

**EDIT: It's 8pm now and I had to improvise on my editing here because isn't agreeing with me right now….. the page breaks = improvised. If you see any errors, believe me when I say that they weren't there before I uploaded it to .**

**THE UNIVERSE IS HATING ON ME!**

**SECOND EDIT: 9pm = SIGH! I had to edit this entire thing in my old computer. Glad to see it came through for me in the end. :)**

**Anywho, now that everything's settled... I hope you all enjoyed the story. Tell me what you think and all that! :D  
**


	87. Chapter 85: Through the Fog

**Chapter 85: Remembering**

_Sirius and James were snickering to themselves as they heard the confused and panicked screams of several Slytherins who recently found themselves stuck to one another in the most awkward of positions and being placed on top of a pillar that sprouted out of nowhere, in plain sight. Anyone who was within a hundred mile radius would be able to see them and there was no way for them to get down or at least away from each other. Struggling against being bonded together, they made the most suspicious of sounds. _

"_That was bloody brilliant!" James exclaimed in between gasps as he clutched his stomach. He and Sirius were making their way to their next class; the two were late enough as it is, leaving the Slytherins behind. Someone would find them eventually and they would be away from the scene of the crime. They were just about to round another corner when something caused the two of them to halt. It was voice._

"_What was brilliant?" the voice belonged to a girl who was around the same age as them since it wasn't too high or too mature. A new shadow suddenly appeared and the two Gryffindors found themselves gulping as they looked up to the owner of the voice and shadow. They couldn't believe their eyes. It just wasn't possible!_

"_James? Sirius? What's got the two of you shocked?" the owner of the voice raised her brow, her voice light and innocent. After her question, a giggle escaped her lips and she called them cute with their bewildered expressions._

_The two Marauders had no idea what to do. They never expected that in the history of forever would they encounter such a strange and unnatural sight. Could this kind of transformation be possible? Was it a spell? An effect of a wrongly brewed polyjuice potion? Did any wizard, dead or alive, ever see such a change? Was this written down in the books? Could this be healed? Solved? Was this permanent?_

_The questions continued to swirl in their minds as they slowly backed away from the girl in front of them, their hands holding on to their wands tightly just incase they needed to cast a quick jinx to buy them some time to run away.. The girl continued to look at them oddly, the way she tilted her head to the side making her cute. Innocent almost. Like she was one of those girls who were known for being helpful, sweet, kind, loveable and just plain girly!_

_This was BEYOND wrong._

_She opened her mouth to ask them again, slight concern showing on her face when they haven't responded to her question, but was not able to for Sirius and James made a mad dash away from her, passing the pillar where the Slytherins stayed, ignoring their yells. Something was definitely wrong and they needed to find a way to fix it…_

_FAST!_

* * *

_An entire week had passed since Sirius and James's encounter with the girl and they had yet to voice their concerns to their friends. After all, no one else seemed to see the change. It was like the incident never happened. That Sirius and James just imagined it. Like a horrible nightmare. _

_But no. _

_They refused to believe that what they had seen was a figment of their imagination. They encountered the girl every day since then and each time she was her sweet, innocent self. It was vomit worthy. Unsettling. _

_Why haven't the others notice her change? Was something wrong with them? Or did the girl just act different in their presence? Was this some kind of sick joke? They were not sure. What they were sure of was that they needed to steer clear from her if they wanted to remain sane._

_Lucy, who was completely unaware of Sirius and James's dilemma over the past week, thinking they were just crazy or acting stupid, was calmly eating her bowl of cereal in the Great Hall, her mind reviewing the things she studied last night for a quiz she was to have later that day, when a sudden whisper surprised her, causing her to drop her spoon into the bowl and making the milk splash out at her. She automatically stood up to avoid getting drench, accidentally making the bowl tip over and her back hitting the person who whispered behind her, knocking him to the floor. _

_The entire Great Hall saw the set of events that happened within a second and erupted into uncontrollable laughter. Lucy, trying her best to hide her embarrassed blush, swiftly turned around to see none other than Sirius Orion Black on the floor, rubbing his chin and groaning. The Emeraude couldn't help but let out a few of her own giggles before she lent out a helping hand, assisting the Black back to his feet._

"_Bloody hell, Luce." Sirius muttered, taking back his hand looking down at the girl. He rubbed his chin, wincing a bit, before letting his hand drop to his side. "Did you really have to do that? Talk about a hard head…"_

"_It's your own fault, really. Who goes around whispering into other peoples ears when they're eating breakfast, which is now dripping all over the floor." Lucy hadn't even realized that she had hit him with her head. A dull pain suddenly emitted from the back of her head but she ignored it, glancing down at her tipped over cereal bowl and watched as the milk dripped to the floor. _

"_You owe me a free lunch when we visit Hogsmeade this Saturday." she added, looking back at Sirius, her tone not joking._

"_I'm not at fault here. It's Hunter. She's creeping me out." Sirius said in a low voice, glancing around the Great Hall, everyone returning to his or her own business. When the said girl was not in sight, much to his relief, he sat down on the bench, back turned to the entrance._

"_Natalie? What's wrong this time? You decided to make her hair a bird's nest again?" Lucy asked, obviously not having seen what Sirius and James have been seeing for the past seven days. Pulling out her wand and cleaning up her mess, she sat down as well. _

_The Emeraude then glanced to Lily, who was calmly studying for their first class of the day, and saw that a crease formed on her forehead probably from irritation due to Sirius' panicked voice._

_Before Sirius could answer, James Potter decided to burst through the Great Hall's doors gasping for breath. The boy's hair was messier than usual while his shirt was lopsided in appearance, the red and gold tie hung loosely around his neck, his robes falling to his elbows and his shoelaces untied. _

_It looked like he had just gotten out of bed and realized he had school that day. Or maybe he was getting ready when something spooked him. Either way, he did not look right in the head. When he caught sight of Sirius and Lucy, he made a run and nearly tackled Sirius back to the floor as he tried to make room to sit._

"_Hide me!" James said in an equally scared voice as he fixed his robes and made sure it covered his face while he spoke. "I think she's making her way here."_

"_What are you on about, Potter?" Lily finally looked up from her book to ask, closing it gently already knowing that she wouldn't be able to study any longer with two Marauders in her presence._

"_It's about your psycho friend, Evans." James said, not even bothering to impress her at the moment. This shocked the two girls. What could Natalie have possibly done to scare the two boys so much? "If you could just make her return to her 'normal' self then Padfoot and I wouldn't be causing any problems."_

"_Won't be causing problems?" Lily rolled her eyes. "Like that's possible."_

"_Don't act like you're not impressed with our skills, Evans." James got a smirk on his lips, dropping his shield to ruffle up his hair to make it its usual messy look. Lucy simply shook her head at this while Lily wrinkled her nose, not at all impressed by the boy._

"_Can we go back to the real problem at hand? Where did you see her?" Sirius spoke, brows furrowing as he began to plan his next escape. He wouldn't be able to handle another minute with Natalie at her state._

"_Where did you see who, Sirius?" a voice suddenly came. _

_It was sweet, innocent and sent shivers down the Marauder's spines. Lucy and Lily ignored the frozen state of Sirius and James and looked up to see Natalie who actually had her hair tied up in a tight ponytail, a slight fringe falling just above her eyebrows while a scarlet clip was placed at the side of her head. _

_Natalie's uniform was unusually neat. Instead of her usual sloppy tie, it was actually properly secured around her neck. The bottom buttons of her blouse were buttoned and her skirt reached just two inches below her knees. Her socks didn't sink to her ankles and she wore no bulky robe to hide her attire. She wore a pleasant smile when she greeted James and Sirius and that was what made Lucy and Lily suspicious._

"_Are you feeling okay, Nat?" Lucy asked slowly when Natalie turned her pleasant smile towards Lily and herself. The Emeraude finally noticed what the boys were talking about. How could she have not seen this drastic change before? "You seem a bit out of sorts today." Lucy noted the strawberry gloss on the girl's lips and her powdered nose._

"_Out of sorts? What ever do you mean, Lucy?" Natalie giggled a girly sort of giggle and Lucy blinked in confusion. She glanced over to James and Sirius and saw them giving her look that clearly screamed out _'See! We told you she was a psycho!'

_Lily bit her lip and cleared her throat before speaking. "I think what Lucy means is that you're not acting like your usual self. For one thing, you actually look like a girl today."_

"_And is that wrong? I thought you told me to look my gender." Natalie said, her eyes wide as she mocked a gasp. She suddenly developed a sort of damsel in distress accent, her voice going up an octave to sound every ounce feminine._

"_Yes, back in second year, why start now?" _

_Natalie didn't reply. When Remus decided to join in the conversation, entering the Great Hall only moments ago, her entire body froze. The glossy smile was plastered on her seemingly flawless face and her body seemed to imitate that of a manikin. Remus didn't notice for it seemed that he had not even sensed her presence when he squeezed himself between Lily and the first year Gryffindor beside her. _

_The boy looked a bit pale and worn out, his school robes having some lint, grass, dirt and holes in them while his hair was sticking out in all directions and not in a James Potter style. He gave his friends a tired smile, them already used to him looking in such a harassed way. When he looked over to Natalie, his smile faltered._

"_Good Morning." he said awkwardly, moving his attention to James and Sirius who were looking between him and the still frozen Natalie, "What were you guys talking about?"_

"_Well, Mister Remus John Lupin, if you simply must know what we were talking about – Why don't I tell you?" Natalie said in a loud and forced cheerful voice as she stiffly turned her attention to the werewolf, glossy smile still present yet irritation was evident in the way she spoke. Lucy and Lily began to fear for what was to happen next. _

"_You see, Mister Remus John Lupin, my dear friends and I were discussing on how I suddenly wanted to be a girl! You hear that, Mister Remus John Lupin? I was actually a girl this whole time!" Natalie placed her hands on her hips and let out a loud, sarcastic laugh. "Isn't that a relief? To think, if we didn't know that sooner, people would have thought you were gay for dating a boy like me! And, you know what else, Mister Remus John Lupin? I was walking down the Gryffindor Tower just this morning and I was called pretty!"_

_Another loud laugh was heard, but this time, one could see tears begin to well up in Natalie's eyes. She looked to Remus once more, the smile on her lips beginning to twitch as she was nearing to break. One could only hold so much frustration. _

"_Apparently, Mister Remus John Lupin, not only am I a girl, but I am a pretty girl! Weren't you lucky? You were dating a pretty girl!" Natalie then stopped. She sucked in a breath, trying to keep her tears back._

"_A pretty girl who did nothing but stick by your freaking side through everything…A pretty girl who has never mocked you, belittled you, but only supported you…A pretty girl who has done her best to make you happy…A pretty girl who accepted you for who you are yet you only saw what she had in her name…You git!" Natalie yelled out, her smile changing to an angered scowl as her eyebrows furrowed and her eyes formed slits. _

"_What the bloody hell is your problem? What did I ever do to deserve this? Did I offend you or something? Did I say the wrong thing at the wrong time? Sure, I'm Maria Natalie Hunter and all I ever do is spew things out at the wrong time, but never did I do that to you! I understood you and I never saw you for whatever you thought you are! What did you think I would do at _those_ times? Kill you? That's a laugh!" Natalie's hands formed fists. Her teeth clenching before she continued her angered yelling. She had caught everyone's attention by now. All eyes looking at her and her friends. Some of the professors even stood from their seats, ready to intervene when things got worse._

"_And to think I ever thought you were different. Apparently a person is what they are due to their name! You think I'm the same monster my dad and grandfather were? Fine! You better watch your back next week, Mister Remus John Lupin!"_

_Remus stayed rooted in his seat, eyes wide open along with the rest of the Great Hall. Natalie said no more, she held her chin up high, trying to stop her tears from spilling out, and marched out of the Great Hall. Just as she left the large mahogany doorframe, she brought out her wand and with a swift wave, slammed the Great Hall's doors shut breaking everyone from their trance._

_Dumbledore and the rest of the professors were the first to act. He stood up from his large chair and clapped his hands, making everyone's attention turn to him, telling everyone to head off to their next class or they would be late. Professor Sprout was next to speak, telling the Hufflepuffs and the Ravenclaws to hurry up to Greenhouse two for they had an exciting activity to do for that day. While everyone rose from their seats and heaved the Great Hall's doors open, Remus remained on his seat, yet to come out of his trance. His heart was beating rapidly against his chest. He felt like he had attempted to out run a Seeker's broomstick._

_Lucy bit her lip, seeing Remus' blank expression turn to that of pain and regret, and looked to Sirius and James, asking them silently if they knew what that was all about, but the two silently shook their heads. They had been so focused on running away from Natalie that they had never suspected that something was up with Remus. Or maybe something happened between the two for the girl to make such a change. Lily leaned over the table and grabbed hold of Lucy's hand, whispering to her that they should head to the dungeons or they'll be late for potions class, she then turned to James._

"_If you can, please tell us what happened." she said calmly, knowing that Remus wouldn't be able to hear her since he was lost in his own world. James nodded his head and watched as Lucy and Lily disappeared into the sea of students. Dumbledore and the rest of the professors left as well. Soon enough, it was just the three of them in the Great Hall. Sirius was the first to speak._

"_You mind telling us what that was all about?" he said, jerking his head to the spot where Natalie was previously standing in. "I never her saw her that mad. Not even when we covered her with the green gunk we found in the Forbidden Forrest."_

_Remus slowly shook his head and got up from his seat, leaving his two friends on the Gryffindor table to ponder over what could have possibly happen between him and Natalie. Sirius looked over to James and got nothing but a shrug._

"_Maybe the girls could get something out of Hunter?" James suggested, getting up from his seat and motioned Sirius to follow him out the Hall._

* * *

_When Lucy and Lily entered through the dungeons doors, they saw Natalie at the back left corner of the class, feet already resting on top of her table, her chair leaned back while her arms were folded behind her and her gaze focused on the cobweb filled ceiling. Lucy slowly made her way to the seat beside Natalie while Lily, who knew it was best for Natalie to talk to one friend at a time, moved to the front of the class at her usual desk. _

_Natalie made no move in acknowledging Lucy's presence. The girl merely continued to gaze at the ceiling, a thoughtful expression on her face as she tipped her chair further back. Any further, Lucy worried, and Natalie would fall off and break her neck. _

"_Are you okay?" Lucy asked in a gentle tone, not wanting to surprise Natalie. The girl's chair jerked a bit, surprised by the familiar voice, but she was able to catch her balance and put all four feet of her chair back on the floor again before moving her attention to the Emeraude. _

"_Lucy! When did you get here? Is it time for class already?" Natalie asked, her eyes looking everywhere but Lucy._

"_Natalie, what happened earlier? Did you and Remus get into a row or something?" Lucy blinked her eyes, trying to see through Natalie's glassy look. The girl still had that blasted smile on her face. It was obvious that there was no happiness behind it. Glancing to the front of the class, Lucy could see Lily looking back at them, worried for her friend's condition._

"_A row? What would ever give you that idea? It's not like he's the type to fight, right? The bloody prick has no spine to hold up a fight against me." Natalie's words were tainted with venom and her glare towards the wall was so intense that Lucy could have sworn that if Natalie were to focus on it a little bit longer, there would be a burning hole in the stone. _

"_Do you hear yourself right now? Where are all those words coming from? You never call Remus any malicious names and here you are, calling him a bloody prick? If you didn't have a row then what happened?" Lucy said in a rush, knowing that in a few minutes, the classroom would be filled with students, particularly the Marauders, and she would not be able to interrogate Natalie until later. From what it seemed, Natalie was waiting for just that moment of escape._

_Natalie moved her attention away from the wall and looked to Lucy, her face expressionless. The bell rang and slowly the Gryffindors and Slytherins made their way into the classroom, Professor Slughorn entering through his own door. The chitter chatter filled the air and Lucy needed to lean closer to Natalie when she saw her lips begin to move, not wanting to miss what the girl was going to say._

_When the Marauders, minus Peter who was sick in bed, slipped through the door, Natalie uttered three heartbreaking words Lucy never thought she would ever hear in her life._

"_He dumped me."_

* * *

_Class began once everyone was settled in their seats. Professor Slughorn made all of them flipped to page two hundred and twenty four of their book and with a simple wave of his wand, all their ingredients appeared on their tables. He informed them that they could either work alone, much to Lily's glee, or in a group with a maximum of four members. Mostly everyone decided to work with a partner. It wasn't for team effort purposes. More like they wanted to squeeze in a few chats while working on the potion. _

_Five minutes didn't even pass by and already James couldn't hold in his curiosity. As Sirius worked with the mortar, James took hold of the next ingredient and watched as Remus quietly read the instructions on the book. _

"_Bloody hell, Moony! Are you serious?" James whispered as he added the six dried Billywig stings into the cauldron after Sirius dumped in the six crushed Snake Fangs. Remus was adjusting the heat to a medium temperature and waited around thirty seconds before telling Sirius to add the next ingredient into the cauldron. He then turned his attention back to James_

"_Serious about what?" Remus asked stirring the potion three times, clockwise. He didn't want to screw up the potion. It was going to take up a large chunk in his grade. Glancing over to Lily's table, it looked to him that she was nearly finished because she was now having a friendly conversation with their professor. No surprise there._

"_About breaking up with Hunter," James waved his wand over the potion and looked back to his friend. "She was a mess in the Great Hall. Quite frightening, really."_

_There was a snort from Sirius and the two looked over to him. He was pulling out the next ingredient when he spoke. "I must say, Moony, your tolerance is admirable. I'm surprised you didn't break up with her sooner. She's constantly off her rocker. A man can only handle so much." His intentions were that of a joke, but how it came out was offensive to Natalie, and Remus as well because that wasn't the reason why he ended things between them, who was quite good at hearing from where she sat. _

_The trio heard the sounds of a knife, chopping board and a mortar clattering to the floor along with Lucy's shocked scream causing everyone to look at the back of the classroom. They saw Lucy clutching onto her wand, bringing the fallen materials and wasted ingredients back to the table with an easy spell while Natalie glared at the Marauders. The girl's magic was beginning to affect the potion and the flame under the cauldron grew in size, making Lucy take a step away in fear._

"_Ah! So the truth comes out!" Natalie bellowed, her grip on her wand tightening, the fire not calming down. "I was too much for you to handle, is that it? That's a laugh considering the kind of people you hang out with!"_

_Remus' eyes widened. Was Natalie addressing him? Did she honestly think so lowly of him as to break everything with her just for the mere reason that he could not handle her? He never would have guessed such shallowness from Natalie, and he refused to think that she was desperate for a reason. No, Natalie was not like that at all. "Of course I did not break up with you for that inexcusable nonsense." He said, his voice calm. _

"_Then what reason do you have, hmm?" Natalie dared him. "I would bloody love to hear it! Come on, announce it right now for all to hear because obviously you did not have the balls to say anything to me last week!"_

_"Honestly woman!" Remus exclaimed, shocking everyone in the room (Sirius and James mostly) at the volume his voice took. No one ever heard Remus John Lupin shout. Not once. "Stop being so immature about it. It's not the end of the world you know! And for dear Merlin's sake why must you know so badly?" The room was silent, not even the cauldrons were bubbling and boiling._

"_Well, I'm sorry for not being a damn Marauder. From what I've observed, when you're a Marauder, you can have any freaking girl with a pulse while if you're me, a girl who's 'off her rocker', then you're lucky to have one guy stick by you. I was pretty damn lucky to have a Marauder stick by me. The sensible one no less!" Natalie paused, biting her lip slightly to stop it from quivering so much. She then continued, her voice still loud and hurt. _

"_So sorry for thinking it's the end of the world because not only did I lose my first boyfriend, I feel like I'm losing my best friend!" Natalie took a deep breath, her tears forming once more. This was too much for her. She had never felt so hurt. So betrayed. "You hardly look at me in the eye anymore. Whenever you do, all I see is guilt! If you're so bloody guilty, why'd you do it then? I have the right to know!"_

_The girls in the room glared at the so-called sensible Marauder, relating with Natalie's pain. The pain of losing your first love, of forever asking the question: what did I do wrong? What could I have done better? Was it me? Was it him? Am I just not meant for love? A cold shiver ran up Remus' spine. He didn't like discussing this in front of so many people. This fight wasn't suppose to get out. If he had it his way, Natalie would have automatically understood where he was coming from and wouldn't explode because of their breakup. But of course, Remus couldn't fully grasp the fact that Natalie wasn't only hurt because of their relationship ending. There was more to this._

_"Nat…." He whispered, guilty once again to the pain he has caused her. He did not want to hurt her, which was exactly why he left her. He was dangerous, to himself and most especially to her! What could he offer her but fear and pain? No, she deserved much better than that. "It's just not easy to explain."_

_Natalie squinted her eyes at him, not to glare but to scrutinize. A few seconds passed before the girl took action. She grabbed hold of Lucy's hand and dragged the poor Emeraude towards the Marauder's table. Lucy blinked her eyes curiously and sent a quick look towards Lily who merely shrugged, her eyes furrowing, trying to understand what was happening. She then wondered why Professor Slughorn wasn't doing anything. Before she could voice out any questions, she felt herself being flung into Sirius and James, pushing the two boys back, as Natalie took hold of Remus' hand and pulled him to the dungeons door._

"_It would be good if we dealt with our problems outside of class, right Sluggy?" Natalie said out loud, not really caring about her professor's opinion. She pulled the door open, pushed Remus out and slammed the door closed, leaving everyone in the room baffled._

_Remus was forced onto the floor from Natalie's push and wasn't even able to regain composure since the girl grabbed hold of him once more and led him away from the dungeons and into an abandoned hall. She then brought out her wand and muttered a spell before looking back at Remus._

"_Is it easier to explain now?" she asked him, "No one else is here to listen." _

_"Nothing about what I'm gonna tell you is pleasurable to hear..." He began, messing his hair up in frustration. "But you have to get this into your head. No matter how corny you may think this sounds, it really isn't you, it's me...and when I mean it's me I really mean it's me." He was talking gibberish, or to what was gibberish for Remus Lupin, and he wasn't even sure if he was making sense._

"_If this is about you being a werewolf, I thought we went over this, I don't care," Natalie said, her eyes urging him to tell her the truth. "What logical reason do you have for wanting to end this? If you can give me that reason, I'll accept your choice and move on."_

_A sigh escaped the boy's lips. She really would not let this go would she? Sometimes she was hard to read, other times she was as see through as glass, but right now she just wanted a justified reason as to why she was dumped. She deserved one. Remus knew that. "Yes, it does have something to do with that."_

_Natalie tapped her foot in impatience, waiting for his continuation, while Remus tried to gather his thoughts. She wanted to give him time to explain himself but time wasn't really easy to find seeing as they were skipping class and anyone could run into them. Yes, no one could hear their discussion but Natalie wasn't all too sure that people couldn't see them. It was better safe than sorry in this situation. _

_"I guess you could say, I didn't want to drag you into this whole mess. I didn't want you suffering and getting hurt because of me. I also didn't want you pretending like everything was okay when nothing was! Do you know how it feels like to live a life where during once a month you suffer through that kind of agony – and no, your monthly periods do not count Nat – just please, accept the fact that I am dangerous, and that we aren't meant to be."_

"_Who are you to say we aren't meant to be?" Natalie asked, her face returning to that of seriousness after Remus little insert on the girl's monthly cycle. "I never said we should graduate, get married and have little babies together. Sure, that would be fun. The getting married part, yeah, but I don't want to rush into things, Remmy._

_I was raised to deal with people with your condition so you can't say that I'll get hurt because of you. In fact, I fear that you'll get hurt because of me. I…I never minded your little problems because to me they aren't a big deal." She then paused, seeing that no matter what she would say to reassure Remus that he isn't a danger, he wouldn't listen. Biting her lip, Natalie decided to give up. He gave her a reason didn't he? She might as well accept it._

"_They aren't a big deal but…. I can't pretend can I?" Natalie offered a sad smile. "I guess you gave me the reason I needed. It's over then?"_

"_Yeah/" Remus answered, feeling awkward at the current situation he was in. "But I would hope we could still be friends, I like you calling me Remmy instead of Mister Remus John Lupin, if you must know."_

"_Damn, really, Remmy? The 'Friend Card'? Are you kidding me? When has that not been used before?" Natalie couldn't help but grin, pushing all the bad feelings inside her away. "But fine. I guess we can be friends again, but remember this Mister Remus John Lupin!" She couldn't help it. _

"_One day, you're going to meet a girl who wouldn't give a darn about what you become every month and she will love you and you will love her and you two will have a baby together." Natalie paused, a smirk playing on her lips. "And you shall name the baby after me!"_

Zoey sucked in a breath of cold, night air, feeling the breeze brush past her, sending her hair and dress flowing behind her, just being carried by the breeze. The area there were in was familiar. It was like home. The tall grass was tickling her ankles and she could swear that it was slightly damped. Morning dew either came a little too early or it had drizzled while she was away. She just wished the water was clean. The Emeraude, her head still fuzzy but a fuzziness she could manage, felt Fred squeeze her hand as they neared the Burrow. She could hear the soft clucking of chickens coming from the shed in the distance and she briefly wondered how long it would be until a rooster, she hoped there was one, would come out and wake everyone up with its crow. She prayed that morning was still hours away.

Squinting her eyes, she saw the light from the Burrow illuminate a small part around the crooked building and she saw George and Echo slip past the Burrow's, after being bombarded with questions from Mrs. Weasley and suffocated by hugs and kisses, doors. They were finally allowed through after Echo voiced her hunger.

"Be prepared," Fred bent down a bit and whispered in Zoey's ear, making the girl shiver from his warm breath and look up at him, confusion evident on her face. Fred decided to elaborate more on his warning. "She hasn't seen you in weeks and she's been worried sick."

"Worried–?" Zoey began to say; curious as to why she had to be 'prepared'.

Mrs. Weasley was a mother of seven children, the eldest working with Goblins, the second with dragons, the third in the ministry, fourth and fifth were troublemakers at heart, the sixth hung around the _Chosen One _and the last was tougher than how she looked. Of course she would be worried sick if her any of them went out on a rescue mission, not knowing if they would come back alive or in one peace. Just knowing that they could cope with life outside the Burrow was not settling. If she had her way, they would all still be living with her, safe and sound.

Before Zoey could further question the currently black haired Weasley, Mrs. Weasley could not wait for them any longer and ran out of her porch, decked in an old blue dressing gown, and forced Fred to bend down to her height so that she could kiss his cheeks and welcome him back into the safety of their home. Fred, though used to it and expected it, groaned like he was starting his first year in school and didn't want his mother to embarrass him in front of his new friends. It was like he wanted to be _cool. _Zoey, of course, smiled and laughed softly under her breath, her now free hands laced behind her.

When Fred was released, much to his relief, childishly wiping away his mother's kisses, Mrs. Weasley turned to Zoey. The woman gave Zoey a look over, checking if she had any injuries, and when she saw that the girl was in one peace, no bleeding, scars or scabs, she brought her into a bone crushing hug, Kissing her cheeks as well and even scolding her about not telling them about her deal with her aunt.

"You are never ever allowed to see that horrid woman again!" Mrs. Weasley said in her strict, mother tone, not yet releasing Zoey from the hug. Fred scoffed.

"Like I'm going to let that happen," he said, stuffing his hands into his pockets, his temper having calmed down after rescuing Zoey and getting away from the Emeraude Estate. He then grinned at Zoey's pleading expression. "Deal with it," he teased her. "You'll be trapped forever."

"Do you know how worried I've been? You nearly had me tearing my hair out wondering what on earth happening to you. What was happening to you! And when Fred, George and Echo left to save you along with Jane – Dear Merlin, Zoey! Why didn't you tell us?" Mrs. Weasley continued, not having heard Fred's comment.

"I'm sorry….But I'm okay now… Mrs. Weasley? Uhm… Mrs. Weasley, you can let go now…" Zoey gasped out, her voice raspy due to oxygen not really making its way down her throat. Mrs. Weasley hadn't let go. She didn't hear her. "Mrs. Weasley? Ack… Mrs… Mrs…Weasley? Air… Air… AIR!"

At the girl's exclamation, her voice was still soft and timid, it would return back to her old voice in time, Mrs. Weasley released her hold and just smiled at the girl, wiping a tear out of the corner of her eye, just glad to see the Emeraude back. She had already lost her dear friend, she couldn't stand to lose Lucy's daughter especially after the impact she made in their lives. Mrs. Weasley then made a noise of disapproval.

"Zoey, dear, you're still far too thin. You're a twig, to be frank. Come inside and I'll fix you up a nice, filling dinner," The woman placed a hand on Zoey's back before looking over to her son, squinting at his hair.

"What on earth did you and your brother do to your hair? Echo's was already reverting back to its purple color by the time she entered the house." Mrs. Weasley wrinkled her nose. "Change it back."

"I don't know how." Fred shrugged, a non-caring expression on his face. He was tired. He wanted food and sleep. "Zoey changed it back when we were in second year. Never told us how she did it."

The two Weasley's then looked at Zoey expectantly. Both wondering if the girl would bring out her wand, do a few waves and flicks making Fred's, and later George's, ginger locks to return. Zoey only blinked, raising her brow at them in question. Her eyes were blank. It was obvious she didn't know what they were talking about.

"Changed it back?" she asked. "I don't remember ever doing such a thing. Are you sure it wasn't Echo? Bridgit even?"

"Bridgit was the one who caused our hair to be this way," Fred supplied, remembering the potion he and his brother took in the Great Hall and Zoey running up to them, out of breath, and casting a spell on them just before they headed down to the Quidditch Pitch for tryouts. How could she not remember?[

"Then Echo turned you back then?" Zoey said, still not believing that she was able to revert their hair back to its natural color at the young age of twelve. "I mean, she's probably doing it to George as we speak."

"No, she's Echo, but it wasn't her who changed us back." Fred placed a hand on Zoey's shoulder and looked deep into her eyes. How he missed those grey orbs of hers. "It was you, Zoe. Don't you remember?"

"Fred, I was like twelve years old, how would I know how to cast that sort of spell?" Zoey raised her brow, smiling slightly in confusion. "I'm not a prodigy or anything."

"You got Bridgit out of her sticky situation." Fred said, aghast. Was she messing around? Why couldn't she remember it? If It was due to anything the blasted woman of an aunt she had, Fred knew he wouldn't be able to stop himself from killing her. "You even got best in Charms, Zoe. These are your expertise."

Zoey furrowed her eyebrows and took a step away from Fred, his expression scaring her just a tad. It almost looked like he was afraid of something, she just didn't know what. "I know I got best in Charms. I had a couple more awards didn't I? Like…uhm… loudest voice in the room when she wants to be or something like that, right?" she gave a soft laugh, just remembering the ceremony. "Wait, what happened after our graduation?" Zoey then asked, realizing that all she could remember was climbing up the stage and accepting her diploma.

Fred's world felt like it was crumbling. His resolve and mask, vanishing. He thought everything would be fine now. He had saved her from the evil dragon, he was her knight in shining armor. Why was this happening now? They were both supposed to live happily-ever-after, yet it seemed Merlin wouldn't allow it.

"You were taken away." Fred's voice was empty, just a mere whisper in the wing. "By your aunt and another man."

The last thing in the world Fred wanted was for Zoey to lose her memory. Should he be happy that she had not forgotten about him? Should he be upset she has forgotten some of the most important memories that he held dear? Fred couldn't answer his own questions. All he knew was he was going to kill the woman who was the cause of all this. He was going to kill Damiana. No one would lose their memories so easily; it would be the result of something so traumatic that her brain had suppressed memories that would bring her grief and pain. They were lucky she didn't forget everything.

To Fred; however, it made no difference. He didn't even want to know what Zoey went through resulting to this, because if he did, how would he even sop himself from walking out the door right now?

"My aunt and another man….?" Zoey scrunched up her face, thinking hard. What was Fred talking about? Taken away? Well, obviously she wouldn't go back to the Emeraude Estate willingly. She knew that she was forced into that horrible building by her aunt but…. there was someone else involved?

The Emeraude closed her eyes and tried to remember everything she knew before the night of her 'rescuing.' Zoey knew her name, her birthday and her parents. She knew her mother died saving her and she was sent to stay with her godparents before being forced to live with her aunt. She remembered the different kinds of torture and pain she had to live through before going away to Hogwarts. Zoey smiled a bit remembering her first encounter with Echo, the twins, Bridget and Jane, the Golden Trio as well. But, there were some parts that were just a mere fog in her mind. Some parts of her sixth year were missing as well as her seventh. She could vaguely recall Percy asking Audrey on a date but she couldn't figure out how she returned to her old house nor how her leg had gone all stiff and grey.

What happened during her first Christmas at Hogwarts? How did she reunite with her Aunt Maria? She recalled seeing her and her father fighting at the dinner table once, but where? How? When? Zoey couldn't remember? What was her favorite song again? What kinds of toys did she play with as a child? What was the first spell she stumbled on? Did she ever cast a spell for the first time without fail? She didn't know. She couldn't remember.

Fred felt like he needed to sit down, she really didn't remember it all. It made him wonder what else she had forgotten. She knew they were together; she seemed to know Bridgit, Echo and George too. Did she recall their first kiss? Did she remember his confession? He would even be happy to find out she remembered them almost knocking her off of the Astronomy Tower. Just something to comfort him, make him feel better.

"Yeah." He answered, looking away from Zoey as a pang hit his heart. He was supposed to be overjoyed! She had finally said it! She said she loved him! Yet….yet why is it that his heart hurt like a thousand daggers were stabbing it? Was he honestly afraid she didn't mean it? That she was emotionally confused as she was mentally? Fred didn't even want to think of the possibility.

"Your aunt and a man…"

Before Fred could continue, someone appearing by the Burrow's patio interrupted the two of them. Looking towards the newcomer, they realized that Mrs. Weasley was no longer in their presence. By the door was a young witch with a pale, heart-shaped face and mousy brown hair. She looked drawn, even ill, and almost dull. Something very different from her usual colorful outlook. Zoey gave a small smile.

"Hello, Tonks." Zoey greeted, noticing the lack of bubble-gum pink hair.

Fred's mouth twitched upward a bit. He was glad she remembered Tonks too.

The woman looked up to find two teens standing there and puts on the best face she could muster. No need to worry them right now, it seemed stupid to bother them with such problems. Tonks was sure they were facing much worse.

"Hello, Zoey, Fred. Nice night isn't it?" She cursed her treacherous voice. It was raspy and sounded sad. Not what she was going for at the moment.

"It's a little cold actually, but bearable." Zoey replied awkwardly, not knowing what to say. "Are you staying over at the Burrow too?"

Tonks looked up at the sky and considered the question. The Burrow was her escape from a harsh truth that awaited her in reality. Here, everything was happy. Everything was fine. They had good food too. In the suburban home in Surrey, she sometimes probably wished she never had to leave the front door and exit the safe haven that was inside. "No." she answered, looking back at the two. "I was just stopping by, needed to talk to Molly."

Zoey knew better than to ask what she wanted to talk to Mrs. Weasley about. It was never good to pry but she found herself opening her mouth to ask, curiosity getting the better of her. She didn't a chance to though, seeing as Mrs. Weasley's voice cut in. calling the two of them in for dinner.

"Well." The smile ended up on her face again, her hair didn't go back to pink though. "Seems like you two should be getting in there, especially you, Zoey! You need some meat on your bones! I best be on my way anyways." The metamorphmagus waved her hand as she apparated away. The tears were beginning to fall, she wouldn't do that in front of Zoey and Fred.

"Do… do you have any clue what's bothering her?" Zoey spoke softly, looking up at Fred as they stepped foot into the Burrow, away from the cold night air. Upon entering, Zoey got a whiff of the dinner prepared and she felt her stomach grumble, she snaked her arms around it in embarrassment, imagining Echo and George scarfing down whatever was on the table, like they would die tomorrow.

"Nope." Fred answered, his face gaining some color and life. "I know one thing… I'm starving!"

"All you Weasleys ever think about is food!" Zoey joked, feeling her hand being tugged by Fred into the kitchen.

Pushing the door open, Zoey's eyes brightened at the sight of Roasted Chicken with gravy and mashed potatoes with a sprinkle of Parsley on the side. She was also happy to see Italian tomato-sauced pasta. Without Fred needing to drag her, Zoey took a seat and began pilling up food on her plate.

"Someone seems hungry." George commented, smiling slightly.

"I can't help it." Zoey blushed, grinning. "It's been forever since I've had Mrs. Weasley's cooking! I almost forgot how good it is!"

"A girl who's beginning to take after my own appetite." Echo remarked, a shocked expression on her face. "I thought I'd never see the day."

"No girl can beat you, Echo." Fred voice out, putting food on his own plate.

"But dear dumb one, I said 'beginning'." Echo sneered. "One does not simply become a champion food eater overnight."

"I don't think I'd ever be able to beat you though. Ron might, but not me." Zoey picked up her goblet and took a sip. It felt like forever since she had a nice glass of Butterbeer.

Echo almost chocked on her roasted chicken. "No one beats Echo unless you are an overweight Norwegian Opera Singer."

"Well, Ron isn't a Norwegian Opera Singer, but he's a fast eater." George commented, facing his girlfriend. "All Weasleys are, even Ginny, but she hates admitting it."

"_Ehem_." Echo scowled once more, only this time to her boyfriend. "I'd like to see you try. Give me what the Weasley's got!" She stuck her tongue out before laughing.

"Fine then." Fred smirked, obviously showing her they had nothing to lose. Just pride. "I bet you Ron could beat you anytime, anywhere and anyplace." The violet haired girl returned his challenging gaze.

Echo seemed to consider this before looking back to Fred, her eyes lit up by competitiveness. "Oh, it's on."

Zoey laughed with the rest of her friends, her cheeks warming up with glee. It's been ages since she had a good laugh like this. Something so pure and innocent. The atmosphere was light. It was like they had no problems in the world. She imagined Brigit being with them, telling the twins that she was rooting for Echo and that they would lose. She pictured Harry, Ron and Hermione on the table as well. Ron being confused, chicken in his mouth still in the process of being chewed. Zoey's eyes softened, looking back at the food of her plate, almost forgetting the fact that there was still a problem at hand. Without thinking, Zoey looked up, watching Mrs. Weasley washing dishes behind Echo and spoke.

"Mrs. Weasley?" Zoey asked, catching the attention of all the Weasleys present and Echo. "Is it alright if I pack a few pieces of chicken and a little bit of everything to bring home tomorrow? I'm sure dad would appreciate it."

Everyone in the room froze.

What did the Emeraude just say? There was no way that of all things forgotten that that was one of them! Fred wanted to craw under a rock, especially now. How she reacted was enough the first time, how much more a second? He couldn't make her go through that pain and suffering anymore! He saved her to escape from that, not to be welcomed by something worse!

Echo looked at Fred as if to ask 'What the hell happened?'

Fred looked back, not answering her at all. His eyes were empty once again, a conflict going on within him. He couldn't lie to her, but he didn't want to tell her the truth either. George put a hand on Echo's shoulder, noticing his brother's condition and shook his head. He may not understand himself, but it was obvious it was tormenting Fred to an extent so high it could be dangerous.

"Uhm…it's okay if I'm not allowed." Zoey said in a small voice, watching all eyes on her, wide and in shock. Mrs. Weasley had stopped washing the dishes and her three friends had dropped their utensils. The girl shrank in her seat. "I just thought… he would like it seeing as he has Kreacher to cook for him and we all know Kreacher isn't really fond of him…"

Echo straightened up her back before speaking, in a grave tone. It was better to say it now. "Zoey, your dad has passed on."

Fred and George's eyes widened as Mrs. Weasley remained frozen. How could she have blurted it out like it was nothing? They knew echo was not heartless, but it was a shock to see her being so blunt.

Zoey furrowed her eyebrows and her eyes hardened. She too straightened up in her seat. She placed her utensils on her plate, side to side, indicating she had finished her meal. "That's not funny, Echo." She said seriously. "My father is very much alive."

"Sirius kicked the bucket a long time ago, Zoey." Echo was shocked. "How could you forget?"

Fred took hold of Zoey's hand as he looked deep into her eyes. Sympathy, sadness, pain – all could be seen. It was as if telling her 'It's true' or 'It's not a joke' this was the best he could do. Comfort her and be there for her, like he always is.

The Emeraude shook her head and looked away from Fred, breaking eye contact. She even shook his grip away from her hand, bringing both to her chest, looking to George and Mrs. Weasley. They gave her that look too. The same one as Fred's. Zoey stood abruptly from her chair, pushing it back, almost making it tip over. She took a step away from them.

"You're lying. My mother's dead. Not my dad." She said, her voice shaking. "What's next, huh? You're going to tell me Cedric's 'kicked the bucket' a long time ago too?"

"YES! HE IS!" Echo shouted, standing up as well, her face red with anger. Why was Zoey acting this way? Doesn't she remember anything at all? She's lying to herself or stuck in denial, either way, Echo couldn't take it anymore. Sending a glare at Zoey, she took her plate and marched out of the room, kicking the door shut with a large slam.

Zoey was unfazed by Echo's glare and the slam. She was used to it. Had seen it many times though never directed at her. She brought her hands down to her sides, making a fist as she looked back to Fred and George. George slowly got up from his seat and as usual, followed Echo. He would be able to calm her down. When he left, Zoey looked to Mrs. Weasley, eyes pleading.

"This is some sick joke, right?" Zoey asked, her voice cracking. She knew she couldn't remember some things in her past but… but this was too much. "Why in the world would I forget the… de – deaths of my own father and my best friend?"

"It's not a joke, dear." Mrs. Weasley said softly, walking forward and taking hold of Zoey's shoulders. Fred fixed the chair behind Zoey and Mrs. Weasley say her down. This was going to be hard for Zoey, but it could also do her some good. "Calm down." She continued, grabbing a seat of her own and sitting beside her as Fred still tried to take hold of Zoey's hand.

"When…?" Zoey asked, finally allowing Fred to hold her, she realized she was shaking. "When did they…die?"

"Cedric died in our sixth year, Zoe." Fred answered, his voice filled with so much sadness. He felt sad for the both of them. "He was killed by Voldemort, the last message he said for you was that he was sorry he broke his promise." Fred reminded, grasping her hand tighter.

"And Sirius died only months ago, Zoey." Molly added, sympathetic and pained. "He died in the Ministry of Magic, killed by Bellatrix."

"Where was I when these happened?" Zoey asked, her brows knitting together. She tried to remember. She really did. She concentrated but all she got was a vision of fog and a headache. Why couldn't she remember?

"You were there on both deaths." Fred answered, brushing the strands of Zoey's hair aside. "You didn't see them get killed, but you were there when everyone else found out about their deaths." He was sure that his girlfriend was feeling guilty right now, hating herself for not remembering. How Fred wished he could do more.

"What…did I do when I found out?" Zoey asked, though the answer was already obvious. She just wanted to get more information. Maybe if she knew the exact time, place and her reaction, she would remember.

"You did what any normal person did, Zoey, you cried and didn't want to believe it." Fred answered. This was what he was afraid of! Why couldn't they have been given the chance to at least be happy for a day?

Zoey opened her mouth to ask where she cried, who saw her cry, what happened after, how did she calm down, how she moved on. She wanted to ask a whole bunch of questions, trying to put the pieces together but she never got the chance to. The moment she opened her mouth, her eyes widened and she sucked in a gasp before lurching forward, hands grabbing her head in pain. Images flashed before her eyes and she heard people whispering in her ears. It wasn't soft and delicate, but loud and agonizing for only her to hear. She wanted to cry out loud, but she couldn't find her voice.

_"Hey," he greeted her._

_"Hey," she replied before enveloping him in a hug, she had to stand on her tip toes, "Promise me you'll come back alive?"_

_Cedric gave a laugh and patted her back. "Of course," he said, "I wouldn't want to come back in a different state"_

_"That's no joking matter," Zoey said to him seriously, "There are a lot of things there that you might not expect to see and if –"_

_"I'll be fine, Zoey. I have my wand at the ready at all times and I studied and practiced a lot of good spells before this day. I'll say I'm well prepared and I promise you I will come back alive," Cedric smiled, though he looked slightly worried at the concept of going into the maze, "Now, would you give me one last hug and a wish of good luck before the task begins?"_

_"Good luck," Zoey breathed out, hugging him once more before smiling at his parents and heading back to the stairs._

Zoey remembered this. She remembered how scared she felt, how she hated the fact that the contestants had to enter the maze, not knowing what lied inside. Not knowing if they were to come back alive or in one piece. She didn't like the tournament; she didn't see the point of it. Zoey tried to remember seeing Cedric coming out of the face, bruised and scratched, possibly even bleeding, but not dead. She couldn't. The fog was no longer there but it still didn't now reveal a living and breathing Cedric. The closest image she got was of him in a white room, emitting a glowing aura. It didn't look like he was alive. Just projected.

_"Zoey… Zoey… Cedric… he – he," Harry said with ragged breaths, "He wanted me to tell you that he's sorry. Sorry for breaking his promise"_

This must be the message Fred was talking about. It was more painful to hear in her head when she remembered the scene. The Emeraude wanted to squeeze her eyes shut, she wanted to sleep and forget everything once more. Remembering was painful. It only brought heartache. To her, feeling all the pain and sorrow once more, it almost wasn't worth it.

"_DADDY!"_

She remembered screaming, running around the house, looking for her father. She had overheard Harry and Kreacher's conversation. She was panicking. Zoey remembered running into her father, and found out that he was going out to save Harry. He was joining the Aurors. She remembered pleading him to stay. Even going as far as to suggest that Harry could be left alone, that he could handle everything on his own. Sirius wouldn't hear any of it. Instead, he made a promise.

_"I promise I'll be back. When I return, I'll have Harry with me safe and sound. We'll all be alright and we'll all be a happy family," he told her, a smile gracing his lips, "I promise you that."_

_"Promise you'll come back?" Zoey asked him._

_"I give you my word."_

_"Promise Harry will be with you, safe and sound?"_

_"Better if possible."_

_"We'll be a happy family?" Zoey looked very much hopeful._

_"We'll be jumping with glee every five seconds and dancing every two seconds if you want," Sirius chuckled, "But yes, I promise."_

_Zoey took a breath and closed her eyes, trying to relax her mind. She opened them and kissed her father on the cheek, giving him a small smile._

_"I'll be waiting," she told him, "Good Luck."_

He broke his promise. Just like Cedric. Breaking it because he _kicked the bucket. _Zoey thought there would be more. More images. More voices in her head but nothing came. She saw the kitchen floor and her feet once more. She saw water droplets as well. It was either her sweat or her tears, she didn't know. Taking in deep and shaky breaths, Zoey leaned back in her chair and saw Mrs. Weasley and Fred's panicked and concerned expressions along with Echo's and Georges. The latter two must have reentered when Echo finished her meal, only finding Zoey hunched over. The Emeraude was surprised that Ron and Ginny weren't there, wondering what all the commotion was about.

Seeing that it was over, Fred wrapped his arms around Zoey and pulled her close. She was sweating and crying, and Fred didn't care. He rubbed her back, trying to calm her down, whispering words of comfort. "It's alright, Zoe, everything's going to be fine."

"Why now?" Zoey rasped out, shaking, terrified at what she had just saw, heard, remembered. "Why do I only remember now? What's happening?"

"It's because you don't want to remember them to begin with, Zoey." The four teens in the room turned towards the adult with curious eyes. What was she on about? Why would Zoey deliberately want to forget such things? She wasn't a masochist! "They're memories of yours that are suppressed by your brain because they cause too much pain and grief. The traumatic experiences of life." Mrs. Weasley continued on.

"There are times in life when you experience something worse than you can ever imagine, a thing so horrible that you wish you could turn back time to prevent it from happening. It could be the death of your lover, a certain kind of abuse, a death of a friend…" Tears rolled down Mrs. Weasley's eyes as she remembered the brown-eyed beauty that looked exactly like Zoey now. It pained her dear heart to remember her death. "And sometimes it makes you breakdown and your brain decides to make you forget about them."

"But what about my aunt?" Zoey couldn't help but ask, remembering her blonde hair, blue eyes and perfectly manicured nails. "She's tortured me. Nearly pushed me off a tower, tried to drown me in a tub, splinched me. Those are traumatic right? Why are they so clear to me? I can remember everything about them!"

Mrs. Weasley wiped a tear away from her cheek. "All I can tell you is that, this is what is happening to you. About your aunt, well maybe she's not the thing causing most of the pain in your life, Zoey. It means you'd rather have the pain of an enemy than the pain caused by someone so dear, like those broken promises. Those things are what will hurt you and scar you the most."

Zoey nodded her head in understanding and decided not to ask about the rest of her memory loss. Surely the same thing affected them. Instead, she asked something else, something that made Mrs. Weasley and the rest in the room widen their eyes once more. "Did that happen to you…Mrs. Weasley?"

"Yes." The ginger haired woman answered. "It happened to me when Lucy died."

* * *

The sun's rays peeked through Ginny's bedroom window, shinning on a particular brunette who was still lying comfortably on her bed, tucked under her blankets, the right side of her face buried in a pudgy, still cold pillow. There were two more beds in the room, both without a person sleeping on them, only a blanket folded neatly at the foot and pillows pilled on the head. The brunette was the only one in the room, unbothered by the lack of roommates.

When the left side of her face began to warm up, she groaned unhappily and turned to her other side, pressing it to the pillow, sighing at the same time when the cold enveloped her once more. She could only stay in that position for so long though, before the rest of her body began to warm up. The brunette then kicked of her blankets and reached for her pants legs, pulling them up to her knees along with the sleeves of her shirt, pushing them to her elbows, doing all this with her eyes still closed shut and her brain half awake.

Zoey woke up five minutes later, her grey eyes cracking open, squinting at the suddenly illuminated room. Though the beds, cabinets and posters were blurry, she could tell that she was the only one in the room, sleeping or not. She lazily reached for the bedside table, almost knocking her glasses off but catching them in the knick of time, putting them on and pushing herself off the bed, smacking her lips tiredly. She still wanted to sleep. So much happened last night. She didn't want to remember them just yet. It was too much. She would be overwhelmed. Not something she wanted to feel so early in the morning.

She was saved from the Emeraude Estate and found out that bits and pieces of her memory were missing. From her first spell all the way down to her own father's death. She shuddered. How could she have forgotten his death? Cedric's death? The spell she used on Fred and George? Did trauma really cause her to forget or was it something else? Wasn't there a spell that could erase certain memories? Did Damiana erase them? Why would she? What kind of benefit would she get from making Zoey forget her first Christmas away from the Emeraudes? Her first holiday with warm, delicious food in her stomach?

Zoey shook her head. No. Today, she was going to enjoy her time with her friends. She was finally reunited with them and she heard from Ginny that Bridgit and Hermione were coming over. Tomorrow, Harry would follow. Zoey didn't want to dampen her mood with trying to figure out what she forgot and why. She could worry about that another time.

Looking around, she figured Ginny and Echo probably woke up hours before she did, dressed up, maybe took a quick shower first, and headed down for breakfast with the rest of the Weasleys. Closing her eyes and taking in silent breaths, she could hear the clinking of utensils and the chitter chatter of people. She could even catch a few laughs here and there. Opening them once more, she smiled softly and finally swung her legs off her bed, stood up, stretched, tidied up and did her morning routine.

Fifteen minutes had passed before Zoey found herself walking into the kitchen, hair dried by a quick spell, wearing her usual oversized shirt and leggings. The smell of bacon and eggs filled Zoey's senses and in the middle of the two redheads, plus a violet haired girl and two boys with healthy black hair, the Emeraude saw a box of cereal, toasted bread and orange juice. She made her presence known by a soft greeting.

"Good Morning." Ginny was the first to greet the Emeraude, pushing her chair back and rising from her seat, plate in hand. "The food's good, hopefully you'll be able to get some before these two," she jerked her head towards Echo and Ron, "Finish everything."

Zoey laughed softly and watched as the ginger haired girl dumped her plate into the sink before walking towards her, patting her shoulder and telling her she was heading out to visit Luna. Zoey could still remember the quirky blonde with her dazed silvery orbs and wand tucked behind her ear. Oh, how could she ever forget Luna's unique turnip earrings? The Emeraude waved and watched Ginny walk out the Burrow's door. The moment the doors swung close once more, Zoey looked back at the table, Echo and Ron still eating.

Fred, having sent his girlfriend a quick greeting after Ginny, looked at his twin and smirked as he turned his gaze back to Echo. He raised his eyebrow, as if saying 'Are you ready?' then turned to Ron before clapping his hands together. Zoey raised her eyebrows too, knowing the mischievous twinkle in her boyfriend and his twin's eyes. They're up to something. Something that she would most likely disapprove of.

"Ron, we have some tragic news to share with you!" Fred and George both piped up. Ron looked up, bacon slipping out of his mouth, to see what his brothers were talking about.

"Last night, while you were tucked snuggly in your bed with your stuffed penguin, snoozing, our pride as Weasleys has been offended!" Fred began; ignoring the glare Ron sent him when he mentioned the nonexistent pet penguin. It was an ostrich. Everyone who knew about the toy knew that. Also, Ron hasn't slept with it in ten years. Or so he likes to admit.

"And you, as the youngest Weasley male, must defend it!" George concluded, smirking as he anticipated their plan. This was something he and Fred talked about till the late hours of the night, planning and making bets.

"What are you two on about?" Ron asked, after swallowing the piece of bacon, what should he grab next? More eggs? More bacon? Some toast perhaps?

Everything just looked so good.

Should he just go ahead and get another round of everything? Surely no one would mind. His mother loved it when all the food is cleaned out. Of course, she needn't know that it was mostly he and Echo who ate. He even forgot that Zoey hasn't even eaten breakfast.

"Echo, here." Fred explained, jabbing his thumb at the violet haired girl. "Thinks that she can beat you in an eating contest."

A scoff was heard from Ron while George sniggered. It was obvious a Weasley was never beat by anyone quite yet. Zoey made a face. She already had an idea where this was going. She recalled their conversation the night before and shook her head. This was not going to end well. She was sure of it.

"You can't beat me." Ron said, placing another piece of bacon in his mouth as he looked at Echo with a wide smirk. No way this petite little Veela can beat him. She was small and skinny. She couldn't contain four servings of Ron sized proportions even if she tried.

"Confidence or Pride, which of the two do I hear?" Echo tapped her forefinger on her chin. "I think it's pride." The violet haired girl smiled.

"It's _surity._" Ron retorted back, grabbing for some more eggs. The twins shared a look. Was that even a real word? Either way, they already knew what they would do now. Confirm the bet they made last night. Now if only Bridgit were here, it would be tripled the fun instead of double.

"Alright, so how is this going to be done? We are given a ratio of food and whoever finishes first is the winner?" Echo asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nah!" The twins both shouted, thinking that was way too boring. They needed something that would embarrass the loser… like…

"First one to puke loses!" They announced, arms raised and eyes twinkling. Now this was going to be interesting. Who was to blow chunks first? How will they do it? Will they all out lurch forward and spew their breakfast on the table? The floor? Or will they cover their mouth and try to contain it? Maybe they would push their chair back and run for the loo? The kitchen sink?

The possibilities were endless. They couldn't wait. This was just too good. Hopefully, their mum wouldn't hear their commotion and ruin the fun.

"That's disgusting." Zoey couldn't help but comment, wrinkling her nose and sinking into Ginny's chair. She sat in front of Echo, pretty sure that the girl would have the decency to walk away if she felt the need to vomit. Ron, on the other hand was another matter.

The Emeraude glanced to the food on the table? Did she have time to get another plate and grab what she can or would she be too late? Would _Accio-ing _the plate and food be better? She decided against it. No way she was having breakfast now.

Hearing that, Echo's smile grew wider. "I know."

"You in?" Ron asked, smirking. Even if he just finished what was on his plate, he sure as hell had room for more. After all, he _is _a Weasley. If he claims he was full now… _that _would be a disgrace. "Or are you chicken?"

"It's more likely that she'll eat the chicken." George whispered, making Fred smirk. He was so confident in his brother that he bet on him, while George bet on Echo. Whether he was being biased or not in picking his girlfriend over his younger brother, Fred still commented on him being against the Weasley male Pride. George only rolled his eyes at that comment and shoved his twin.

Ron rolled his eyes as he began to stack food onto his plate; it looked somewhat like a mountain at height already. Echo did the same and as the twins raised their hands, the two shared a look.

"You're going down, Echo."

"_Au contraire, _I see that your brain dropped." Echo smirked. "Oh wait, you don't have one."

"Are you guys seriously going to do this?" Zoey asked, concerned about the puking part. She inched away from the table, not wanting to be in line of any vomit yet she didn't take this as her cue to live. Not wanting to admit it, she was curious as to who the winner would be. That; however, did not stop her from voicing out her opinion. "You both are really going to eat until you're sick?"

"Oh, I don't know, Zoey." Echo grinned.

Zoey sighed. They weren't going to listen to her anyway if she chose to object. They all had their mind set on this competition. If Mrs. Weasley walks back into her kitchen only to see her breakfast hurled onto the floor, it wouldn't be Zoey's fault. Heck, she would most likely hightail out of there the moment someone lurched over, clutching his or her stomach.

"Yes." Ron answered as the twins, a napkin in each hand, dropped their hands as they shouted:

"Begin!"

"Here comes Ron, placing spoonful after spoonful into his mouth without stopping at all! Look at this folks, an obvious winner over here." Fred announced, commentating the match like his good friend Lee Jordan would during a Quidditch game.

"Oh not just yet!" George exclaimed. "This fine lady is putting up a battle as she –" she turned to face her. "– Is _nibbling _on a piece of bacon? What the heck do you think you are doing, woman? _Losing?" _This caused Fred to release a hearty laugh.

Echo ignored George's comment. She straightened her posture, cut her food into bite-sized pieces. She popped them in her mouth, chewed twice, and swallowed. It was a quick process, but Echo was taking her time. She seemed calm as she ate her food while Ron was stuffing his face with two pieces of toast at a time! The boy indeed _did _have a black hole for a stomach.

"Ron is owning the challenge as he now places tree pieces of bacon and one piece of toast in his mouth, I say wizards and witches, this is indeed a fight with an obvious champion. Mr. Ronald Bilius Weasley, defending his title as the greatest pig that has ever lived!" This earned Fred a piece of bacon to his face.

Ron was not pleased at all with what his brother was saying. First the mention of his toy ostrich now he was a big? Where was the brotherly support? The love? Well, what else would he expect from someone who turned his teddy bear into a spider? One has got to learn how to read the Weasleys' way of showing affection. Even if that certain one was a Weasley himself.

"Beautiful morning, isn't it, boys?" Echo smiled.

George really didn't know what to say. She was cutting eggs with her knife and fork while Ron put everything in his mouth all at once. Was this even a contest?

"Folks." Fred announced. "Ron is almost done with his mountain and someone is still to vomit!"

Fred wasn't paying attention to his brother, but George sure was.

"Not so fast, Fred." George called out. "It looks like your player's turning green."

The older of the Weasley twins turned in a hurry to see Ron turning a pale, almost green, color. He was sweating like hell and his eating was beginning to slow down. This is never a good sign.

"Come on, Ron!" Fred shouted, encouraging his brother. He wanted to win the bet.

Echo talked, small pieces of food still in her mouth. "Is that defeat I'm starting to see?"

Ron was beginning to feel uncomfortable as his stomach hurt immensely. He was eating slowly and finding it hard to swallow down whatever was in his mouth. He was beginning to get blurry vision and his gag reflex was taking over. He knew he was about to give soon, but he wouldn't give Echo the satisfaction of winning. It was hard not to give in though.

"Ron, Ron, Ron is almost done with his plate, yet Ms. Echo over there hasn't even left a dent!" Fred exclaimed, Ron now getting a glass of orange juice to try to push the food down. It didn't work. Instead, it made it worse than what he was initially trying to do.

Echo started to pick up the pace. She dropped her utensils and started chowing down her food. It was like jogging before running.

"Oh look here!" George exclaimed, not at all bothered by how Echo decided to finish her meal. In fact, he was ecstatic to see that she was hurrying it up. "Echo has picked up speed and is now up to four pieces of bacon per mouthful! Ron seems like he's going to spew out chunks already while she's just getting started. The win may not be as obvious as my twin thought!"

Fred glared at Ron.

The youngest in the room could not comprehend, the pain in his stomach was unbearable and it was hard to keep it all in. He felt like he would explode while Echo was still eating beside him. He wasn't going to last any longer.

"OH! OH! OH!" George continued on his commentary. "Ron has dropped his food and leaned back on the chair! Is this defeat of the sixteen year old?"

Before anyone could find out, the front door slammed open, revealing two brunettes on the other side.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" Bridgit asked, Hermione behind her as they both looked at the happenings within the kitchen.

The five people in the room were shocked at the sight of them. Hermione's hair grew slightly, and her height was changing too! Her simple attire of jeans and a simple enough shirt made Fred and George realize she wasn't that buck toothed, bushy haired girl anymore. Bridgit, on the other hand, with her raised eyebrow and ponytailed brown hair, still had that same questioning look in her eyes as she always did. The white Bermuda shorts and Ireland Quidditch shirt she was wearing was her typical clothing and she didn't change at all.

Just then… the bomb blew.

"_Eww!_" Echo shouted as she got up from the table to stand on a chair.

Ron puked on the floor making George set a loud exclamation of victory.

"I missed all the fun _again?" _Bridgit shouted, running further into the kitchen as she watched Ron throw up. That was really cool; she wished she had her camera out right now. That would have been a perfect example for her first Charms Lesson.

Hermione's nose twitched at the smell of the vomit, she felt like she was going to throw up as well. She took a step forward, standing beside Bridgit, and stopped puke from erupting the moment she Ron.

"Do…you…ugh…need any…erm…help?" Hermione asked, her eyes watery. She was concerned about her friend but she didn't want to get any closer. The smell was foul and sickening. She was surprised that besides Echo, no one else in the room acted from repulse. Even Zoey seemed a calm. Actually, she seemed relieved. The four probably did something stupid that made Ron vomit.

"I'm not helping that poor soul." Echo commented, earning a glare from Hermione. "What? Who wants to touch vomit?"

"I guess I have to do something about this, huh?" Zoey sighed, stood up from her chair, it was a good idea to inch away when she had the chance and contrary to what she initially thought she would do when someone began to spew out chunks, she brought out her wand and casted a quick spell that made Ron keep all of his breakfast in his stomach. He still looked a little green, but at least he wasn't throwing up.

The next thing the Emeraude did was to make all the puke disappear, cleaning the floor and the table along with the plates. She even casted quick spell that made the kitchen smell pleasant once more. Walking around the table, she bent down to Ron's height, he was clutching his stomach and slouching, and she placed a hand on his forehead before slowly asking him to open his mouth. She held in her breath after asking him to close it once more and helped Ron to his feet. The latter swaying slightly and placed most of his weight on the girl, not having much of a choice since his legs decided to betray him.

"Told you this eating contest was a bad idea." Zoey then said, walking out of the kitchen to help Ron onto the couch. She waved her wand and fluffed up the pillows, placing them on one end of the couch before helping Ron lay down. She then summoned a blanket and tucked him in. Just because she felt like it, she even Accio-ed his toy ostrich. The boy took it without complaint and covered it with his blanket. Giving him another quick check up, the healer concluded that he did not need her to make a potion to settle his stomach. All that was needed was for him to rest.

Zoey reentered the kitchen once Ron relaxed and pocketed her wand. "I don't think he'll be eating again anytime soon." She said.

"Why'd you clean it up already, Zee?" Bridgit asked, pouting. "I wanted a sample of it, something I could use for my first Charms Class." She added. This statement earned her weird looks from the twins.

"Are honestly sure that you are female?" Fred asked, earning a hard glare from Bridgit.

Hermione was glad to be able to breath without filling her senses with Ron's puke. She was thankful for Zoey's cleanup spell and she wondered if she should check up on Ron, seeing as he was cleaned up already. She then looked back at the Emeraude and smiled silently; happy to see she was back. Bridgit seemed to have not realized her friend was alive and well and she decided to not comment. Hermione figured she would hug Zoey later.

"Well, don't forget that it was your boyfriend who wanted it, I just found out the loophole and technique." Echo said, putting her hands up in defense.

"What loophole?" Hermione asked. "What happened anyway?"

"Eating contest." Echo smiled.

"Why do I keep missing these things?" Bridgit asked no one in particular as the twins wrapped and arm around her shoulders.

"Because you have horrible timing." They answered, earning a glare from the Ravenclaw brunette.

"You only miss these things." Zoey commented, looking over to the spot where Ron had just vomited. She hoped Mrs. Weasley wouldn't see anything even if her spell wiped all traces of barf. "I have to clean up the aftermath."

"Wanna switch places?" Bridgit asked, actually meaning what she had said. "I'd rather see the thing than miss it… this is the whole 'Natalie Echo Weasley' thing all over again!"

Everyone let out a slight laugh at the absurd name.

"Hey! I remember Natalie Echo Weasley!" Zoey suddenly exclaimed, her grey eyes lighting up at the name. She remembered everyone giving out name combinations for Fred's and her nonexistent child. The Emeraude remembered being on a long, mahogany table, trying to figure out why everyone thought she was pregnant.

"Oh! I also remember something else!" She grinned, pulling out her wand and pointing it at the twins. After her memory of the 'Natalie Echo Weasley incident' she had a quick vision of running around Hogwarts with a heavy book in her arms, heart pounding rapidly in her chest. They were all so young yet Fred and George still towered over her.

They looked at her curiously and watched as she made a figure of eight movement with her wand, muttered something under her breath and made orange swirls come out from the tip, hitting the twins. Fred and George felt a familiar warm feeling explode in them and from Zoey's smile and soft 'It worked' they knew they got their old hair color back.

"Damn it." Echo remarked. "George looked twice as hot when he had black hair."

"You said that last time too." Zoey laughed, pocketing her wand once more. A young Echo's voice echoed in her head and the Emeraude shook hers. "Or was it that I always ruin your fun?"

"It was the second one." Echo laughed.

"Black hair?" Bridgit asked, looking back at the two and realized indeed that they had black hair when she entered. It was gone now, of course.

"Oh right, I sent you the potion for when you saved –" Bridgit turned around again and looked at Zoey before tackling her. The Emeraude had to take a step back so that she wouldn't fall. She let out a small gasp from the intensity of the Parker's grip. "You're alive! _Oh my Merlin you're alive!"_

"You actually made it!" Bridgit exclaimed in disbelief as she searched her friend, holding her at an arm's length. She seemed fine, not much wounds, a few scratches, probably a bit pale too. There was some strange grey substance on some parts of her skin like her knees and fists but she was sure that they would fade in time. After all, Zoey still acted normal with them. Maybe it was just a trick of light or her eyes.

"They actually saved you! Not that I doubted they would…" Bridgit added.

"Nice to see you trust us, Bridgit." Fred spoke up, looking at the closest reflection. He missed his hair.

"Yup, they saved me." Zoey said sheepishly, scratching the back of her head. She then knitted her brows together and pursed her lips. Maybe Bridgit could help her regain some of her memory. After all, the girl never forgot details and events, whether they were important or not.

"Hey, Bridgit, by any chance, you have any clue of what was the first spell I got right on the first try?" It never occurred to Zoey that the first spell she got right was back in her first year and she did not know the Ravenclaw until her second.

"Why would I know that, shouldn't you?" Bridgit was confused. She didn't like being confused.

"Zoey forgot a couple of things." Fred spoke, sighing. He had forgotten about that a few minutes before. Everything was going fine. Zoey was with them, they had a lively eating contest, Ron puked, and Bridgit and Hermione came over. Why did everything have to go down hill again?

"What do you mean by forgot a couple of things?" Bridgit asked, looking at Fred now.

"He means that I actually forgot important and minor things that have happened. Like… uhm…about Cedric and my dad…. you know…." Zoey said with a sad smile, answering for Fred. She figured she could not avoid remembering the events of last night. The wounds in her heart had reopened and they stung like the Cruciatus curse. "And only now, I remembered the spell I casted on them back in second year when their hair was black."

"You didn't forget me, did you?" Bridgit panicked. "You still know me right? What I am? I wouldn't want you hating me!" The Death Eater secret was one she entrusted to Zoey; she truly didn't hope her best friend forgot it.

"Well, I know you're Bridgit Cari Parker. A Ravenclaw. We met back in second year when I helped you out of a sticky situation…you pranked the twins and they pranked back." Zoey looked up, trying to remember more about Bridgit. She remembered the Gryffindor common room being covered in Slytherin colors and she could still see Bridgit in the Ravenclaw tryouts, guarding the three hoops from the Quaffle being thrown at her.

"You have a dog named Shinji that hates Fred." The Emeraude added, remembering the package Shinji came in.

As if on cue, the teacup poodle jumped out and Bridgit caught it just in time, supporting him with her hands. Shinji looked at Zoey and wondered if she remembered him. He was a smart dog; he understood what Bridgit and the rest were talking about.

"Well, I what about me being… a… you know…" Bridgit nudged, trying to see if her friend could remember it.

"Is there something else I'm missing?" Zoey blinked taking hold of Shinji and laughed softly when the dog licked her cheek as a greeting. "Being…a…?"

"_Oh Holy Merlin's polka dotted pants_!" Bridgit ran towards Fred and gripped his arm while tugging strongly. "She doesn't remember! I'm gonna kill you Fred!" She shouted, George and Echo laughing as the brunette tried to pry Fred's arm off. Hermione had decided to join Ron in the living room.

Through Bridgit's panic, she didn't see Zoey's full on grin on her face appearing. It was mischievous. She had learned well during her years with the twins, Bridgit and Echo. The girl held Shinji securely in her hands and saw that the dog was tilting its head, watching his owner shake the life out of Fred. It was funny. He could see why George and Echo were laughing.

"Bridgit." Zoey decided to save Fred. His eyes practically rolled back into his head. "I know what you are. I was just playing with you."

The Ravenclaw brunette released her hold on Fred, who fell to the ground with whispers of 'Why is the world spinning?', and walked up to Zoey.

"Then tell me what I am! And don't you dare say a Frog Princess cause we already agreed that, that title belonged to you." Shinji barked and turned in Zoey's hands to look at her as well.

"A Death Eater." Zoey said, handing Shinji back to Bridgit. "And no, I don't hate you. You're on our side. Now, here's something else I remember. Fred and George dropped out of Hogwarts to start their own joke shop, right?" She looked over to Fred and gave him a sweet smile. The boy's head lolled from side to side and his twin helped him back to his feet. "Can we see it?"

"Sure." Fred said, rather slurred, leaning onto George, trying to find his feet. Why was the kitchen floor moving? Did they always have two tables in the kitchen? Did Zoey have a twin too? "Soon as the world stops spinning."

* * *

**OKAY**

**OKAY**

**OKAY**

**I GIVE YOU ALL THE RIGHT TO KILL ME RIGHT NOW!**

**I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN LIKE FOUR MONTHS (Probably more) AND I GIVE YOU THIS CHAPTER THAT'S SHORTER THAN THE PREVIOUS AND PROBABLY HAS LOADS OF TYPOS AND GRAMMAR ERRORS (It's the middle of the night right now and I just couldn't hold it anymore so I HAD to update [And being the horrible person that I am, that means not beta-ing it])**

**Let me clear some things up first.**

**(You can start digging a six feet deep hole in the ground while I'm explaining)**

**This chapter was originally VERY VERY INCREDIBLY LONG**

**As in, it was LONGER than the previous one.**

**YES.**

**LONGER THAN THE MONSTER CHAPTER.**

**But, I realized that this was not going to work so I decided to chop it up.**

**This is the first chopped off slice of the ALMOST MONSTER-MONSTER CHAPTER.**

**So yeah.**

**In the next chapter (Which would hopefully come out in less than four months this time) we will see Zoey in the gang's reaction upon entering…. You guessed it!**

**THE WEASLEYS' WIZARDING WHEEZES!**

**I actually have that part typed out already and MORE**

**YES**

**MORE**

**But… they are not coming out soon.**

**The chopped up chapters.**

**I WANT them to…. But….**

**LET'S JUST SAY THAT THEY'RE COMING OUT BEFORE WE REACH TWO MONTHS…**

**You all hate me right now.**

**GO AHEAD**

**Throw angry torches, jinxes and hexes at me all you want!**

**I shall accept them.**

…**I'm getting dizzy…**

**ANYWAY**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**It has been a LONG LONG LONG LONG LONG WAIT**

**Please do tell me what you thought. I shall be receiving your reviews inside my grave**

**Excuse my typos and the like. **

**I know, I'm a horrible person. Keeping you guys waiting and giving you something that probably has a whole lot of typos. **

**Don't forget to review and the like**

…**I already said that…**

**It's been so long, I forgot my routine…**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter**

**Cause there will be one**

**THERE. WILL. BE. A. NEXT. CHAPTER.**

**And**

**I only own what I own **

**(BTW… Suckish title… I know… I've lost my thunder… I WANT MY THUNDER BACK!)**

**ALSO, SPECIAL THANKS TO:  
**

******DRESDENDOLL15 AND HAYLEYPARADOX**

******FOR BEING AMAZINGLY AWESOME AS USUAL :D  
**


	88. Chapter 86: Cat fight in WWW?

**OKAY. I HAVE A STORY/CHAPTER FOR YOU GUYS BUT FIRST:**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE. PLEASE READ. PLEASE READ. SUPER IMPORTANT. PLEASE.**

**OKAY. HELLO. PLEASE HOLD YOUR FLAMING TORCHES, WANDS, PITCHFORKS, BAZOOKAS AND OTHER DEADLY WEAPONS YOU SO WANT TO HURT ME WITH FIRST AND LISTEN. PLEASE. **

**IT'S BEEN MONTHS. MONTHS. I KNOW. SINCE I LAST UPDATED. DURING MY SUMMER BREAK, I ONLY UPDATED ONCE WHEN I PLANNED TO UPDATE A LOT MORE. I'M SORRY. IT'S UNFORGIVABLE. I'M IRRITATED WITH MYSELF TOO. PLEASE. LISTEN FIRST.**

**OKAY. FIRST OF ALL I WANT TO CLEAR UP THAT I AM NO LONGER ENJOYING MY SUMMER VACATION. I LIVE IN THE PHILIPPINES AND WELL, SCHOOL STARTED JUNE 13.**

**I AM A SOPHOMORE IN HIGH SCHOOL, I AM VERY BUSY WITH SCHOOL WORK AND THINGS ARE HECTIC.**

**I mean, I am the President of my school's Writing Club so I have to plan out activities to do and plan with our moderator. I also have tests to prepare for (I have a Science, Math and English test coming up along with CLE, Filipino and others). I am also part of my school's singing club and we have to prepare for all the activities coming up where we would have to sing the opening and closing prayers for the events and other songs. We, my school/class and I, also have to prepare for our principal's birthday where we have to sing for the mass being held for him. There are also posters to make (Writing isn't my only hobby/talent), inter-class/batch competitions to practice and compete for and some of those competitions, I am competing alone for and don't get me started on how much time is consumed for practices and what time I sleep due to all the homework and studying I have to do once I get home.**

**SECOND OF ALL I WANT TO SAY THAT UNFORTUNATELY, INSPIRATION FOR CROSSROADS HASN'T BEEN WITH ME FOR A LONG TIME AND THIS SADDENS ME GREATLY. I REALLY WANT TO UPDATE. I REALLY DO BUT IF I FORCE MYSELF TO CREATE MORE CHAPTERS AT THE STATE THAT I AM IN, I AM AFRAID THAT THEY WILL BE HORRIBLE AND WOULD NOT HAVE ANY HEART IN IT.**

**THIRD. I WANT TO LET YOU ALL KNOW THAT I AM FULLY AWARE THAT THERE ARE OVER SIX HUNDRED PEOPLE READING CROSSROADS AND I AM ETERNALLY GRATEFUL TO ALL OF YOU AND I REGRET THAT I HAVE BEEN NEGLECTING CROSSROADS.**

**I check my email everyday and I tell the truth when I say that when I see that someone has reviewed Crossroads, I jump in joy and read it before all my other emails. I really appreciate everyone's love for Crossroads and it kills me inside everyday when I don't update. I wish I could go back to the days when I used to update everyday/every other day, but right now, it's not possible.**

**I AM VERY SORRY FOR BOMBARDING YOU WITH MY SCHOOL SCHEDULE AGAIN (AND BY MY USE OF CAPSLOCK. I JUST NEED TO KEEP YOUR ATTENTION. I'M NOT REALLY YELLING OR ANYTHING) BUT SIMPLY STATING "I AM VERY BUSY WITH SCHOOL" OR "THINGS ARE HECTIC" JUST DOESN'T CUT IT. I NEED YOU ALL TO UNDERSTAND THAT STUDYING ISN'T THE ONLY THING TAKING UP MY TIME. I'M NOT LOOKING FOR A FIGHT NOR AM I MAKING THIS TO ANGER/OFFEND ANY OF YOU, I'M JUST LOOKING FOR PATIENCE (I'M SO SORRY IF YOUR PATIENCE IS ALREADY WEARING THIN) AND UNDERSTANDING.**

**If you are wondering why I'm suddenly saying all this, well, I was messaged by one of you yesterday and I was sort of offended by her message. It made me feel like a bad author (though I know I am at times) and do you know how when someone forces you to do something, you don't want to do it anymore? I'm sure you've seen other authors on this site saying that when someone demands an update from them, they don't want to update anymore. Well, her message made me feel so bad that it made me want to stop Crossroads entirely.**

**BUT I WON'T DO THAT.**

**I WON'T STOP CROSSROADS.**

**But still. I understand, I really do, that you guys have been waiting and leaving you with my last chapter being sort of a cliff-hanger doesn't help. I'm trying. I really am. Just. Please.**

**I actually think about Crossroads everyday, if you guys could believe that. I would look around me and think "Hmm, what would Zoey/Echo/Fred/George/Bridgit do if they were in that situation" and I actually treat them as real people because I MISS THEM. I REALLY DO MISS THEM. I MISS WRITING THEIR STORY. IT KILLS ME. REALLY. But no matter how much I think about Crossroads, I cannot stay up some nights typing a bit of it because I need my rest (I am greatly lacking in it) and when I sleep, my mind is swarming with The Cell Theory, The Epic of Gilgamesh, Math problems, Florante at Laura and all my other school things. I cannot mix Harry Potter/Crossroads with that. I just can't. **

**Harry Potter/Crossroads is my escape. I cannot mix it in with my real life. I just can't. **

**Also, if you're still with me, my co-author ZoomSkater14/DresdenDoll15/Reignstein has some words to say. (She knows about the message I received. So does HayleyParadox/RenakhiteInk but I'm afraid she can't say her piece at the moment. Her life is more hectic than mine.[Imagine my class schedule and triple it])**

* * *

**REIGNSTEIN:**

**There are times when writers have to think about things other than writing, especially when writing is mainly a freelance activity. As students we have VERY real work to do…such as: Projects, Assignments, Reports, and all the what-not that students do that I'm sure all of you know about. If you don't, then…uhm…I'm sure you can sympathize with how busy we are.**

**We do appreciate that so many people have favourited, alerted, and reviewed Crossroads, and trust us when we say words will never be enough to express our gratitude, but sometimes there are other more important things to worry about rather than posting the next update.**

**Your patience must be wearing thin, but please do wait a bit more. It pains us that you all are sitting there and waiting, but as we said, sometimes there are just more important matters at hand. As foreupdating, please do not bother AnimeFlowerGirl with comments, reviews, or messages that would only make her feel guilty. Have you ever tried writing with heavy feelings? It usually gives you heavy chapters. So go ahead and continued to pester her if you want Fred suddenly ending up dead or worse Zoey suddenly ending up dead and ending the series with no sequel whatsoever.**

* * *

**Okay, we've said our piece (HayleyParadox/RenakhiteInk had the same thought/message as ours but if we use the exact words she used, believe me when I say, she has the wrath of Echo when Echo is pissed beyond belief + deprived of food + angry at George + in the same room as Mary Sue + a shit load of other things. You do not want to see/hear/experience that. You don't. Trust me.) and I hope you all will enjoy the snippet of Chapter 86 that we have for you :) **

* * *

**PS **

**BTW. I am actually slowly rewriting Crossroads. I have already rewritten the first few chapters and I will be uploading them soon. I just want to have some consistency because when I reread some chapters, honestly, I died a little inside. So if you want to check them out, you're free to :) **

**Okay, I'm done keeping you all. Enjoy the next chapter!**

**Don't forget to review and the like and advance apologies for any typos/grammar mistakes you will fine :P**

* * *

**Chapter 86: Cat fight in WWW?**

Zoey craned her neck and gazed up at the large Weasley Twin head (briefly wondering which twin was used for the contraption), removing its hat to reveal a rabbit before putting it back on, when it took it off once more, the rabbit was gone. She felt herself smile, loving the fact that even though the rest of Diagon Alley was grey and dull, the Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes was bright, lively and (Zoey inwardly laughed at this) very, very orange! She looked at the curious sign by the door and blinked her eyes at its message. Was what she read correct or were her eyes playing tricks on her again?

"WHY ARE YOU WORRYING ABOUT YOU-KNOW-WHO?

YOU SHOULD BE WORRYING ABOUT U-NO-POO!

THE CONSTIPATION SENSATION THAT'S GRIPPING THE NATION!"

The Emeraude's brows shot up after rereading the sign about four times. They were going to get themselves killed in their sleep! What were they thinking? She let out a ragged sigh and quietly admitted that it _was _funny, but not safe at this sort of time. Zoey stood in between Bridgit and Fred and when she looked up at the former (much to her despair, she was still the shortest among her friends), she saw that she wore a devious smirk. She wondered what Bridgit could possibly be plotting, but before she could even voice her wonderings, Fred and George opened the door.

"Welcome ladies, gentleman, and dog!" The twins exclaimed, their hands extending towards the inside of the shop. It was any prankster's dream come true! There were Reusable Hangmans on the shelves, Portable Swamps on display, and Puking Pastilles offered free at the counter. Bridgit's eyes were like a two-year-old's in a toy store (having already forgotten the twins' comment about her gender).

"This place is amazing!" Zoey grinned, looking around and taking in the colorful products and designs. Even though she wasn't a prankster herself, she could see why _anyone _would get excited upon entering. She didn't say it out loud but even she wanted to test some of the pranks and gizmos on display, just to see how they worked.

Zoey then heard a familiar, nagging sort of voice and looked up to see a little toy riding a unicycle on a thin string, carrying two buckets of water on a pole on its shoulders. Squinting her eyes, she saw that it looked a lot like Umbridge. She looked back down and saw that there was a certain section in the shop titled "WonderWitch Products". Zoey saw love potions, cute little puffskeins (Fred called the _Pygmy Puffs) _with pink and purple fur and something like a pimple remover cream.

Zoey made her way towards the "WonderWitch Products", curious about the Pygmy Puffs when she passed by a large bowl of Jelly Beans. She saw an eye-catching lemon colored bean and picked it up, only to hear something protest from the bowl.

_"Oh sure! Pick the yellow bean!" _

The Emeraude dropped the sweet back into the bowl in shock and stared at it cautiously before looking back to ask the twins what the Jelly Beans were for. Everyone was at the other side of the shop. Zoey opened her mouth to yell out to them when the voice came back. _"Come on, sweet cheeks, why don't you pick me?" _

Zoey closed her mouth, furrowed her brows and looked back into the bowl. She noticed the lime green jellybean and picked it up. There was no sound of protest and Zoey squinted her eyes at the bean. Maybe she was imagining things? Suddenly, the bean jumped from her hand and entered her mouth when she gasped, forcing its way down her throat. Zoey staggered back and coughed violently at the sudden action of the bean. Her friends heard her and quickly made their way towards the hacking Emeraude.

"Zoe, are you alright?" Fred asked, rubbing Zoey's back soothingly. Zoey tried to catch her breath to reply but instantly lost it when she saw someone standing behind the pimple remover cream, wand out.

"Fred, there's someone else in the shop," Zoey said worriedly and felt her heart skip a beat when the wand move. She inched her hand towards her own wand when the person stepped away from its place and stepped into the light.

It was Natalie.

The Emeraude stopped. What was her godmother doing here? Zoey's eyes then widened. What in the world was Natalie wearing?

"Why _hello, _darlings!" The woman greeted, voice high, slightly slurred and coated with a stereotypical British accent. Natalie approached the five; her arms open wide as if she expected someone to hug her.

No one moved from his or her place. All frozen in their spot in shock except for Zoey who actually took a step back, cautious with her godmother. She appeared to be drunk. In fact, Zoey was positive that Natalie indulged something to make her act in such away. What kind of substance, she wasn't so sure.

Natalie's long auburn hair was tied into neat half-pigtails (the rest of her hair falling down her back in soft waves), secured by ribbons. Her makeup was quite heavy, with bright blue eyes shadow and bright pink blush. She also had glitter sprinkled all over her face. She resembled a clown and Bridgit, too, took a step back upon realizing this. Natalie's clothes appeared to be made for someone half her age (skinny jeans, tight fitting halter top and wedge shoes). Something was up. Did a drink really cause Natalie to dress in such a way or was she already clothed that way before she drank? Was she jinxed?

"Aunt Maria…?" Zoey asked slowly, not all too sure what to say at that moment. Where in the world did Natalie get her clothes? It looked like something cut out of a muggle magazine! Did she use some kind of spell to get them? Surely she didn't buy it in Diagon Alley. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Why of course I am! Why wouldn't I?" Natalie giggled, enveloping Zoey in a tight, bone-crushing hug. The Emeraude gasped, remembering the hug she received from Mrs. Weasley just last night. This was tighter. It almost cut off all circulation. The world around her began to swirl. She now knew how Fred felt after being continuously shaken by a panicked Bridgit. Zoey was just about to yell for air when Natalie whispered something in her ear, making the girl's heart skip a beat.

"Hey, Zoey darling," Natalie said in a soft slur, her breath tickling Zoey's ear, sending a shudder down her spine. "Fred's looking a whole lot hotter now… in his uniform and all."

The Emeraude glanced to the older of the twins; Fred wore magenta robes as he looked around his and his brother's shop, trying to see if he needed to restock anything. Did he really look hot? Of course Zoey's opinion would be biased since she was going out with him, but even so, she knew that his magenta robe definitely clashed with his ginger hair. He wore it to be eye-catching.

"Mind if I make a move on him? Just for today. _Please?" _ Natalie slurred, her voice going up an octave in order to sound younger. It hurt Zoey's ear.

"Aunt Maria!" Zoey pushed the woman away from her, grey eyes wide with confusion, disgust and jealousy. What was she saying? Was she serious? Was she as drunk as Zoey thought she was or was the slur something Zoey just never minded before? Was Natalie _really _attracted to Fred? "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I've been single for far too long, cub." The older of the two smirked, her lips painted a bright red. She folded her arms across her chest and leaned forward, making Zoey take another step back.

"I need someone in my life. Someone younger preferably." Natalie looked over to Fred and winked at him, sending a kiss his way.

Fred felt himself cringe at the thought of his girlfriend's godmother hitting on him. He didn't even understand why she would do such an absurd thing! Has she finally lost the final grasp she had on sanity? He ignored the fact that George was finding his current situation amusing.

"Uhm…" Fred mumbled, unable to really speak. What was he supposed to say? The woman in front of him was crazy but today… she seemed to have lost her mind! What was she even doing in the shop? How in the world did she enter? Did he leave the door open or something?

"Thanks…?" he managed to say, not seeing the effect a simple comment had on the Emeraude.

Zoey's mouth hung open, not wanting to believe what was happening in front of her, what she was hearing. She knew deep down she was overreacting, but it seemed like at that very moment, she had no control over her next actions. She sent her boyfriend a look and actually punched his arm, making Fred stumble back from the unexpected force.

It hurt! It actually and positively hurt! Zoey's punches _never _hurt! Fred gripped his injured limb and shared a surprised look with his friends. The Emeraude knew that he didn't deserve the punch, but she couldn't bring herself to hurt her aunt. But, if things got out of hand, Zoey knew she wasn't going to stop herself from slapping the daylights of Natalie.

Something had to be done and if things needed to get physical, Zoey wasn't going to shy away this time. She just faced being kidnapped (the events of her kidnapping still a blur), being saved, realizing her memory was messed up and cleaned up barf. The Emeraude did not want to deal with her godmother hitting on her boyfriend.

"Don't accept the compliment!" Zoey said, her cheeks red. Whether it was from anger or embarrassment, she didn't know. All she knew was that she wanted her aunt to return to her old, overwhelming self. The woman who didn't need a man in her life. The woman who was proud to say that she could live the rest of her life without being tied down. Without finding prince charming.

Natalie once said she was her own prince charming!

Zoey was about to turn her attention back to her godmother when the latter actually moved to Fred, cooing over his arm (sneaking a pinch here and there to feel his toned muscles under his robes), making a disapproving noise.

"Poor _Freddie." _She said in a high voice. Caressing him. "Does it hurt? Do you think a kiss will make it feel better? Make the pain go away?"

Echo furrowed her eyebrows and spoke, "Immoral. That's what's in front of me," she turned to Zoey and spoke in a pitiful tone, "Make it stop. Punch your aunt, whatever, just make it stop!"

Natalie was trying to continue on her attempts to _seduce_ the eighteen-year-old, but the redhead did not respond at all. Fred pushed Natalie's face away; she was trying to plant one on him right now! Did she have any idea what she was doing or was she under the Imperius curse?

"I feel flattered." Fred began seeing that Zoey seemed ready to land another punch. Was she under the curse as well? When did she get so violent? Was jealousy driving her actions? "But I already have a girlfriend."

"And she's actually in the same age group, just saying." George commented, holding back the laughter that wanted to escape his already painful stomach.

Natalie pouted at Fred's rejection and crossed her arms. "So?" The woman walked towards her goddaughter and took hold of a strand of her hair. "I have prettier hair than her! I'm more mature than her! I'm a red head too, and it keeps up with your family tradition, and to add to that I would actually put out –"

"_Natalie_! You're thirty-freaking-six years old!" Bridgit exclaimed, still scared by the face of what Natalie now was. "He's eighteen!"

Zoey took this chance to make her move. She grabbed hold of one of Natalie's pigtails, tugging it. Natalie made a strangled cry and glared up at her goddaughter. Zoey returned the glare. So this is what a catfight felt like. Or at least how one began. She was thinking back to all the muggle romance books she had read and tried to see what she could do. How did the protagonist get _her man _back again? What did she do? Pull out an earing? Break the other's nail? Zoey didn't think those kinds of things would affect Natalie. The woman was driven.

"Echo! Hold my glasses!" Zoey suddenly exclaimed, tearing them away from her face and shoving them into the Veela's hands. She didn't feel like fixing them up later if they were to get into the middle of a fight. "Things are just might get ugly!" Inside, she really hoped that things didn't come to that. Maybe Natalie was just playing a joke and would return to her normal self before anything got too serious.

"Zoe!" Fred shouted.**  
**


	89. BONUS CHAPTER: BROLIVER'S REVEAL

_**BROLIVER'S REVEAL**_

She didn't know what to do. Draco wasn't with her, and her Uncle Drew wouldn't be dragging her out of this mess either. Transported to a school where she knew no one, with a reconnaissance mission that she didn't want any part of. How did those masked idiots expect her to pull this off? She matched names with stories, taking their faces from the various pictures given to her. Albus Dumbledore, Hogwarts Headmaster. Minerva McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor House and Transfiguration Teacher. Filius Flitwick, Charms Teacher and Head of Ravenclaw House.

Her own house.

Ravenclaw was an ideal house, an honorable house. She was proud to have gotten in. Trouble maker by heart, surely, but a good head on her shoulders none the less. "At least I wasn't in Slytherin." The Death Eaters had wanted her to get sorted into the House of proud greens and silvers, but alas, she was not self-loving enough to make the cut. Something she was very proud of, despite feeling like a complete idiot at the moment.

He would kill her without a doubt. The mysterious man behind the head of the idiot with the stutter would surely find a way to torture her despite the fact he had no limbs of his own at his disposal. She wouldn't have cared. Her Momma, her Poppa, all of them were gone. Uncle Drew was all she had left, a man who loved her in his own way, and detested her in his own way. Would he care if she was killed? Possibly. Would he get over it? Surely. This brunette with the sapphire like eyes, in her mind, had no more reason to live.

"Serve me, girl." She remembered his menacing voice. It was far from the sweet and tender baritone of her father's. "I can make all your dreams come true." He had added. She wanted to laugh. He had taken everything from her, what could he possibly do to make her happy when he had torn happiness away from her hands at the tender age of four. The stuttering man, the evil man's bearer, had smiled at her then. He assured her that the Dark Lord did not lie. In her mind; however, she found it hard to believe that a man given the title 'Dark Lord' did not lie.

"This is pretty high…"

Green grass greeted her eyes, a beautiful, well cut, field. She stood on the edge of one of the stands, six hoops presented in front of her with a vast arena set up bordering cut grass. The girl found it rather poetic that she would die on a Quidditch Pitch. She loved the sport (a big fan of Puddlemere United), and had dreamt of attending the World Cup ever since she was able to watch her first game. The dream would never come true, but she didn't mind. She would be able to watch all the games she wanted when she was gone. From above the clouds, she would soar higher than any Quidditch Broomstick created.

Closing her blue eyes, the girl released a small smile. There was a prayer her father had taught her from when she was younger, a muggle prayer that she had never forgotten. Every night before bed she would recite it religiously, and every morning when she awoke, she would thank the good Lord for another day of life. She didn't believe in any of it, but her father did, and that was enough reason to continue doing it. Now would not be an exception. Her final words before her permanent sleep.

"Now I lay me down to sleep," She whispered, swaying back and forth slowly. "I pray the Lord my soul to keep." Not really, she didn't mean it. "If I should die before I wake," She hoped there would be no more waking, no more fears, no more troubles. The wind was beginning to pick up, and she swore that she heard the rustling of the glass below. She payed it no mind. "I pray the Lord my soul to take."

And the girl leaned forward, making a hasty fall towards the ground.

The brunette expected many things. Her entire body feeling a burning, seething, pain due to breaking every bone in her body, her skull cracking open, to be found the next day with her body laying on a puddle of her own blood. She also thought of the possibility that it would all be quick, that she would die of a heart attack before she even reached the ground. Why was it that what happened was the one thing she hadn't called for?

She did land, she did feel an impact. The ground wasn't hard, though, and she was sure that her shoulders and knees shouldn't be the only body parts feeling something solid. Opening her eyes, sapphire orbs met with chocolate brown. A worried, panicked, and angered pair of chocolate brown at that.

"Have you gone insane?!" The unnamed nuisance asked—well, exclaimed is more likely. "Quidditch Practice starts tomorrow! Try outs next month! Don't destroy the Quidditch Pitch with your dead body!" Sapphire eyes went wide. Had she just heard him right? "Blood Stains aren't easy to remove! And this little stunt of yours could cost me an entire Season Cancelation!" Surprise, confusion, disbelief, and the girl finally decided to settle on anger.

"Well I'm **so** sorry for not finding a better spot to fall off of!" The nerve of this idiotic unsung hero! Here she was, about to end her suffering, and not only did he stop her attempt, but also did so for the reason that he did not want blood stains on the grass! Seeing the red and the gold, she came to a conclusion that all Gryffindors were insane. The whole bloody lot of them were bonkers, with their heads in the clouds and their priorities unsorted. "I'll try the Castle Bridge next time!"

His face was way too close for comfort, his glare smoldering. His grip on her tightened, and she was so very tempted to push him away and continue with her fall. She didn't care if she lost her courage, now she just wanted to make a bloody mess of the pitch just to spite him. Couldn't the gods have blessed her with a dashing blonde prince with soft blue eyes that would remind her of the ocean? Weren't they the ones who should be saving damsels, not that she was one, mind you. Cause she wasn't.

"I'd suggest to try it in the summer." He answered. "Don't do anything stupid in a vicinity where they can cancel extracurricular activities." She eagerly returned his glare now. She hoped he felt shivers run down his spine, she hoped she was scaring him, hoped that the Death Eaters taught her a thing or two about piss inducing stares.

"Try saying that again you ars—"

There were four things that the brunette hated. One of them were tomatoes, the other was the Dark Lord and the Stuttering Man. Just above being outsmarted, the third thing she hated the most, was being manhandled. This brown eyed boy with the Scottish accent was doing just that. He was repositioning her body, setting her down on the broom that he was apparently on. Her legs were hanging off of one side (like riding a horse side-saddle), and when the Scot was sure that she was secure, his arms wove around her as he clutched the front of the broomstick. Releasing a huff of annoyance, the girl crossed her arms in front of her chest and stuck her nose up in the air.

This ended terribly, seeing as when he jerked forward, she shrieked and ended up having to wrap her arms around his neck just not to fall off. He laughed at her misfortune, but he didn't complain. It didn't make the situation less awkward for the girl though. Not being used to touching other people, she found her cheeks reddening like the fruit she oh so loved. A ripe strawberry would be jealous of her redness.

Though the circumstances were rather absurd, the brunette had to admit that the feel of the wind against her skin was exactly how she imagined it. This was the first time she had ridden on a broom, and it was just as magical as she expected it to be. The breeze blowing at her ponytailed hair, closing her eyes and imagining that she was flying away from her troubles and from her suffering. When she felt her feet touch the ground, the brunette felt like it had ended way too soon. She wanted to stay up there and turn into a bird.

"You can let go now." The Scot said, the blushing blue eyed opening her orbs widely and jumping from the broom within a blink of an eye. She turned away from the smirking Scot behind her and tried to hide her embarrassment. Chuckles echoed in the field, and the brunette swore that she would give anything to have someone walk into the pitch this moment. Just to save her from this humiliating experience.

"Wha—what's so funny?!" Hide behind anger, it always worked. Passionate and fiery, that was who she was. "You won't be laughing when I bash your face into your skull!" He continued to laugh as she turned around and faced her not-so-dashing savior. Getting a good look at him, it was obvious that he was older than her. He also had a handsome face with a lean physique. He sat on the broomstick with a sort of grace that spoke levels of how skilled he was on it. She blushed again, realizing that she had just complimented the prick that she had been ready to violently attack merely moments ago.

"You don't seem all that depressed." She froze. What was with this guy and inappropriate comments the situation didn't call for? "For someone who was trying to kill herself, you sure don't look all that awful and pitiful." Was that an insult or a compliment? She was very confused again, an emotion that the Gryffindor was suddenly very good at making her feel. How she disliked him for it.

"Tha—that's none of your business!"

"You almost caused a scandal on school grounds and a cancelation on Quidditch Games." Why did he speak with a mightier-than-thou tone? He was older, didn't mean he was smarter. She was a Ravenclaw for Merlin's sake! "I, being part of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, do have a problem when you're going to do something troublesome for any of the players." Quidditch addicted maniac! That's what he was.

"Why didn't you just drop me in the ocean then?" She asked. "You could've done me and everyone in this school a huge favor. I'm not someone you'll want to have around in the near future." He shrugged at her words, dismounting his broom and taking a seat on the green grass. He patted the seat next to his and the girl obeyed, not really seeing any point in being defiant. She owed him nothing though, absolutely nothing.

"Family Problems?"

"What—no, I mean—"

"Are you dying?"

"Of course not! I'm just—"

"Afraid, then?"

"Okay, listen here Scottish Jacka—"

"Afraid it is!"

"What's your name?" She continued to stare at him. How did he manage to come from annoying, nosy, and then suddenly so normal? He was bipolar, he had something wrong in the head, she just knew it. "First Year, I asked you for your name. Did you hit your head or something?" Shaking her head and saving face, she sighed and leaned back with her hands positioned behind her on the grass.

"My name is Bridgit Cari Parker." She answered. "And you? I think I'd like to remember the name of the guy I have to get back at. Next time you fall, I'll catch you too and see how you like it." He laughed, and thinking back, Bridgit had to agree that the claim had sounded absurd. He, unlike her, would probably be thankful if she ever caught him.

"Oliver Wood, third year." He answered in return. "So, Bridgit, what's scaring you?"

She felt like a child again, having to answer to adults whenever she did something that was considered unacceptable. He didn't have the right to know, he shouldn't even be trusted. No one in this weird place should be trusted. How she wished she could have just fallen without interruption and ended everything. No more spying, no more secrets, no more stupid vicious idiots that trained her in the dark arts. She was very tempted by the offer to be rid of it all though, to say it out loud and have someone share the burden.

Bridgit felt Oliver's eyes on her, and she bowed her head and hid her eyes away from view. She had a feeling that her eyes betrayed her, and that he would know everything the moment he looked into them. Oliver sighed beside her, and she felt him shift slightly. Turning to her side, he was standing up now. The grass was just beginning to get comfortable too, what a shame.

"Whatever it is," Oliver began. "I'm pretty sure it's not worth dying over. No one is alone in the world, so find people who you can trust and keep them close. Their presence should chase away your fears." His head against the sun casted a shadow over his handsome features, but the reassuring smile he was giving her still seemed to shine brighter than the giant ball of gas. It spoke volumes about how saving her wasn't just about Quidditch after all.

Bridgit pulled her knees to her chest, placing her chin above them as she thought about his words. Who could she trust if not herself? Draco was like a little brother, but it was yet to be decided what his role would be. Her uncle was a puzzle that she had not the time to decipher. Hate or love was something connected when it came to her mother's brother, and the borderline faded excessively when it came to her. No friends, no family, no one who cared enough to earn it, who could a girl like her trust?

Turning back towards the Scot, she saw his back retreating from where she assumed he had come from before. She felt a frown grace her face as she watched him walk away. "Can I trust you?!" She found herself calling out, causing Oliver to halt and turn back to her. There it was again, that reassuring smile.

"Next time you feel like jumping off a high place," Was what he began to say. "Look for the nearest Gryffindor and ask where I am. I'll give you a flying lesson every time you can find me." He winked and turned away, and Bridgit smiled as she continued to watch. Maybe she wasn't so alone after all. Maybe she still had a reason to keep on living. Free flying lessons was just a bonus to the realization.

* * *

Normally, you would never find Oliver Wood sitting around in his dormitory. It was ordinary to find him flying around in the Quidditch Pitch, even more so common to find him taking over an entire table in the Common Room and filling said table with parchment, parchment that would be filled to the brim with Quidditch Strategies and Training Regimens. It was a breath of fresh air for the Gryffindor Team Captain to just sit on his bed, with a copy of Quidditch Through the Ages in his hands and relax.

Losing himself in the words of Kennilworthy Whisp, Oliver found himself entranced by the biography that presented itself in front of him. He thanked Merlin that he had caught Madam Pince trying to restore the tattered book and was able to call it before it was returned to the shelf. Histories of Quidditch Teams left and right, and a detailed story of how Quidditch came to be, Oliver thought that maybe one day, he would be in books such as this. A Quidditch Legend, with the title of 'Greatest Keeper that Ever Lived'!

"Hey, what are you—!"

"What the hell, aren't you—!"

"Isn't that a—!"

"How'd she know the—!"

Shutting the book and placing it on his bedside table, the Keeper opened the curtains of his canopy bed. He pushed away from the headboard and placed his feet on the ground with an audible sigh. It seemed that his services would be needed once again, not that he minded. He just wished that he could have finished the book before being needed as a shoulder to lean on by a persistent Ravenclaw.

The loud exclamations continued, getting louder and louder as he assumed she got futher up the male dormitory steps. Guys from different dorms wondered what a girl was doing on their side of the dorm, while others questioned how a girl with robes of a different emblem managed to enter without the password. Oliver had given up long ago on trying to figure out how it was that she got it in the first place. He had to admit, though, that it was better than having her tap the dorm window and asking everyone in the room if they've seen him.

The door slammed open, and immediately he looked up with a smile. Always the entrance maker, this girl. "What are you doing here?!" Came Percy Weasley's voice, loud and commanding like it always was. He too, had sat up from his bed across from Oliver's when the commosion had begun. For different reasons, of course. "A Ravenclaw should not be in Gryffindor Tower! I shall report you—"

"Yeah, yeah, go ahead, just get out of here already." The brunette male shook his head as Bridgit walked over to his bed and plopped her butt beside him. She removed her shoes and changed her position, now sitting Indian Style and facing him. Deciding that she was not going to budge to change the venue of their conversation, Oliver did the same. Percy also did as she said, leaving the common room in search of either Professor McGonagall or Professor Flitwick. He estimated they had a good half-an-hour.

"How did tryouts go?" Oliver asked, seeing Bridgit's red face. Every time she saught him out, she seemed to have the same expression with the same matching red face. When angered, she reminded him of a tomato. When embarassed, she reminded him a strawberry. "Did you get the Keeper position?"

"I don't know yet, but you better tell your bloody beaters to leave me alone!" He'd known her for a year now, and he knew very well of her hatred for the Weasley Twins. Ever since they ruined one of her pranks, she had decided that they were people that she would never get along with. "They can't get revenge when I'm getting revenge! That's not how revenge works!" Oliver laughed at that.

"What do you find so funny?!"

"Just that, that's exactly how the cycle works." The older Keeper answered. "You get revenge, then they get revenge, then you get revenge again. It's called the cycle of hatred, dear apprentice." Had anyone been in the room, they probably would have found it mind boggling to see Oliver Wood acting so kind and brotherly. He had even tossled Bridgit's hair in emphasis to her childish thinking. Bridgit, in return, crossed her arms and snarled at him.

"Still—!"

"Still nothing." Oliver had cut her off. "You should have expected them to retaliate. Their the original pranksters, and you're gonna have to admit that someday." Bridgit snarled once more and changed her position so that she was laying on the bed horizontally. Her head was hanging of one side, while her legs hung off the other.

"I hate it when **you** make sense." Bridgit stated.

"You're such a Ravenclaw." Wood answered.

"That I am, young master. That I am."

Patting her leg and picking up the book once more, he leaned on the headboard and repositioned his legs under Bridgit's back. She layed on them as she relaxed, and Oliver considered giving the twins a bit of a workout during training the next day before returning back to the discovery of his favourite sport.

* * *

Walking along the Viaduct, Bridgit found herself lost in her own thoughts. Shinji, her newly arrived pup, circled her as she continued to walk, barking occasionally and begging to get noticed. Picking the dog up, Bridgit found herself releasing a loud frustrated cry. She hated such complications when it came to her social life, especially seeing as her life was complicated enough as it is. Shinji nuzzled his mistress's chest, hoping to calm her down, and Bridgit returned the simple action by hugging her pet closer.

Back in the Ravenclaw Tower, Echo would be sound asleep. She had returned with her, after the debacle that had ensued during dinner time, and the moment her head hit the pillow, she knew that she wouldn't be getting any sleep that night. Fights, Closer Bonds, this day was one for the books. Bridgit sighed once at the thought of everything that unfolded within the night.

Fred and George's insult, Echo's secret, her Uncle's fury, why couldn't one thing go right for once? The only thing she was thankful for at the moment was the fact that no one seemed to be patrolling. She was pretty far from where she was supposed to be, but she needed to be somewhere with fresh air, somewhere cold, and yet somewhere open. The Astronomy Tower was out of the question, and so she thought that perhaps a trip to the Viaduct Courtyard would suffice. Shinji could even run around as she lost herself in her thoughts.

The teacup poodle barked, causing Bridgit to jump. There was a soft sound of footsteps behind her, and her eyes widened at the thought of getting caught. She was not one for respecting authority, but if she lost a lot of points, her housemates were going to gang up on her. Hiding Shinji in the pocket of her aquamarine parka, she turned around with an excuse about sleep walking ready at the tip of her tongue.

It wasn't needed; however, seeing as she came face to face with the sixteen-year-old Oliver Wood.

"You gave me a fright!" Bridgit angrily whispered, Shinji popping his head out of the chest pocket sensing his mistress's relief. There was a man in front of his beloved owner, a chestnut haired man in a long sleeved Puddlemere United shirt and red pyjama bottoms. He had an apologetic grin on his face as he began to approach slowly. He sensed no distress within his mistress, but he refused to take his eyes off of the stranger. "Couldn't you have called out or something? Sneaking up behind someone isn't very gentleman-ly, young master."

"I haven't heard that nickname in awhile, my dear apprentice." Oliver answered, now standing in front of her. He leaned his back on the Viaduct railing and looked left to come face to face with Bridgit. The girl decided to do as he did and turned to her right. She was suddenly extremely happy that she had worn her white pyjamas rather than the boxer shorts that she usually slept in. She would never have lived the situation down had he caught her in those.

"What are you doing here?" Bridgit decided to ask, finding the prolonged silence uncomfortable. "Besides, you room with Percy Weasley. You'll get into trouble if he wakes up and finds you out of your bed." A soft chuckle escaped the Scot and Bridgit allowed herself a smile at the thought of a red faced Weasley coming their way, shouting all of the rules that they both managed to break. Perhaps he would resemble one of the dragons that Fred and George had said Charlie wrote them about.

"Well, to answer your first question, I'm here cause I overheard Fred and George in the Common Room." A blush crept up Bridgit's cheeks, and Shinji looked up at his Mistress when he felt her long brown hair suddenly come in contact with his fur. She had bowed her head and hidden her face, still unsure of how to react when being cared for. It was an alien feeling. "They seemed pretty distraught that Zoey and Echo were mad. Fred said you were crying." There was a hint of worry in Oliver's voice as he spoke the final sentence, and Bridgit seemed all the more determined to hide her face.

She refused to act like a typical girl, but she would rather deal with that than the teasing that would follow if he saw how red she was. "Afraid that I'd do it again, like the first time we met?" Oliver chuckled once more, and Bridgit found herself raising her head just slightly to catch a glimpse of his amused face. The moonlight glow suited him, and at the thought, she bowed her head once more.

**Shut up,** she scolded herself. **Stop acting like a bloody female!**

"No," Oliver finally answered. "I just got worried is all. I haven't seen you cry, ever." There was that worry in his voice again, the sort of tone that Bridgit usually heard Zoey use pertaining to their pranks and what would happen if she, Fred, and George got into trouble. "If it makes you feel any better, I plan to discretely punish Fred and George the next time we have practice." Bridgit smiled, yeah, that did make her feel better.

"Make every muscle in their body ache." She said, watching Shinji play with her brown hair. He was swatting and trying to grab it. It made her giggle slightly, and she covered her mouth with her hand as she felt Oliver raise his brow. She didn't know why, but she just knew he did it. "I mean…work them hard, send them home bleeding, yeah." The gaze did not shift, and the next thing she knew, there was a pair of feet on the ground in front of her. Raising her head just slightly, she saw Oliver looking at her with curiosity.

"Did you giggle?"

"Of course not!"

The bark that sounded caused both heads to turn. Shinji was growling as he looked at Oliver's close proximity to his mistress (though he was standing a good twenty inches away). The boy's eyes widened as he took the sight of the forbidden pet, and Bridgit 'eeped' as she raised her hand and tried to put Shinji back in the pocket of her parka. The dog would have none of it though, and avoided the hand and just continued to glare. Who was this man? What was he to his mistress? Was he in cahoots with the two carrot-heads that had made her cry? Where was the glasses girl that usually spent time with her?

"Is that—?"

"Please don't tell!" Bridgit automatically said. "I can't leave him at my Uncle's, I've told you about him right? He isn't really the best person to piss off." She relaxed slightly at Oliver's nod, but Oliver continued to stare at the growling and protective pup. It came to mind that had anyone passed by, it would look like the keeper was staring at something entirely different, and this made her jump. Bridgit was extremely thankful when his eyes landed back on her own sapphire ones. At least if Percy Weasley did track them down, he would see nothing but platonic relations.

"So this is your pet, Shinji, then?"

"I told you about him?"

"Just once before, I didn't know he was a dog though."

Continuous barking followed the answer, and Bridgit 'eeped' once more as she covered her dogs mouth. He licked and licked to get it off, but she did not pay it mind. They were far from waking any of the paintings, but they were above the lake and she didn't really want to be waking up the Giant Squid or any of the merfolk either. Oliver laughed as the dog glared at him over his owner's hands.

"Territorial, isn't he?" Oliver returned to his original spot beside the brunette fourteen-year-old, the dog's growling ceasing and allowing Bridgit to release him. "What did you do to that dog? It's imprinted on you pretty hard." Bridgit was the one who chuckled this time, taking the small dog out of her pocket and holding him in her palms. The white little pup began chasing his tail around, and Bridgit's chuckles got louder.

"He was the runt of his litter." Bridgit explained. "The smallest dog I saw in the shelter! He's probably the smallest dog on earth." It wasn't true, but she wouldn't be shocked if it were. "I had to beg my uncle to let me adopt him, and when he wouldn't, I stole the money from his pocket and got him anyway. He was not pleased, but he let me keep him in the end." It was one of the times her uncle showed the rare act of kindness.

Oliver listened intently to the story, nodding during appropriate times as he watched Shinji chase his tail on and on. "So why Shinji?" He asked. "Are you just fond of the Japanese Language or is there a deeper reason."

"Hope, I liked that it meant hope."

"Hope for what?" The boy asked.

"Hope for everything." Bridgit answered. "The future, myself, for my friends, for u—I mean everything."

"How does he represent all of that?"

"Cause he just does." She answered once more. "The same way, to me, you represent trust."

"Has my dear apprentice gone sentimental on me?" The moment was gone, and Bridgit laughed as she pushed herself off of the railing and turned around to face him. She had a wide smile on her face, and Oliver felt proud of himself for having gotten her out of her funk. She frowned way too much on the normal basis. "Now, now, don't you go falling in love with me."

"In your dreams, young master." Bridgit answered, returning Shinji to her pocket and clasping her hands together behind her. "I'd snog Roger Davies before I'd fall for you." Oliver laughed as he pushed of the railing and stood close to Bridgit now. He leaned down, seeing as he was taller than her, and Bridgit jumped slightly at the feel of his warm breath on her ear. Shinji growled as he extended his paws to try and push the boy away.

"Is that how you got in the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team?" He asked.

"YOU—!" Oliver laughed loudly as he raised his arms, bracing himself for Bridgit's hits. She laughed as each blow landed on his arm, and Shinji growled as he was blatantly being ignored and forgotten. When the two calmed down, they turned back towards the castle, and thoughts about the Viaduct Courtyard being forgotten. They walked back, side by side, as Oliver offered to take her back to Ravenclaw Tower.

"Isn't that gentleman-ly of you all of a sudden." Bridgit commented, taking a dig at her previous statement about her sneaking up on her. "I didn't know one could change so fast."

"I don't have to, you know." He retorted.

"Yes, well, I don't need you to." Again they shared a laugh, as Bridgit finally declined to be escorted back to her respective tower. "You're already walking on thin ice with being roommates with Percy." Oliver took it with a light hit to arm, finally taking notice of her shirt.

"Oh, we're wearing matching shirts!"

Looking down, Bridgit did notice the exact same long sleeved Puddlemere United shirt that she wore being on Oliver as well. "Great minds think alike!" Bridgit commented, off-handedly, finally petting the pouting Shinji in her pocket.

* * *

"Let go of me!" Bridgit called out, glaring at the back of her captor's head.

"Not until you explain what the hell happened to you over the summer!" He called back to her.

"How many times do I have to say I fell down the stairs?!" Oliver was having none of it.

"Staircases don't hit back, Bridgit. They don't have nails either!"

She had been on her way towards the Great Hall for breakfast with her friend and fellow Ravenclaw, Aiden Durham, when suddenly her arm was grabbed. Aiden seemed confused when she suddenly disappeared, but all Bridgit was focused on was the back of Oliver Wood's head. There was a dangerous aura about him, but she didn't care. She detested being handled, especially when her body was caked with bruises and wounds.

"It was a violent fall, Damnit!" She finally shouted, losing her patience. People, ghosts, students, teachers, and paintings alike, all turned towards them when they passed. Some girls giggled, some guys hooted, some teachers tried their hardest to find out what it was that was going on. The paintings complained and the ghosts just watched, but Bridgit paid no mind as she began to shout and display to the Hogwarts Staff and Student Body her arsenal of curse words and insults.

"Let go of me you Scottish Prick!" Bridgit continued. "Let go of me or the next time I catch you on the field I'll knock you off of your bloody broom and shove it so far up your arse that it'll come out of your mouth!" Oliver visibly cringed at the description, but continued to lead her towards the Viaduct anyway. It was way too early for students to have gathered in the Courtyard, and Oliver found that the perfect spot to knock some sense into his apprentice. If ever, The Quad wasn't so far either. Now if only the girl behind him would stop shouting.

"Did you not hear me?!" Her sapphire eyes were filled with hate and anger. Some people who saw it actually prayed for the safety of Oliver Wood, Ravenclaws who saw the scene prayed for his soul and hoped that Merlin would guide him to where all the good Wizards and Witches went. No one got Bridgit Cari Parker that mad and lived to tell the tale. "Oliver Wood! Release me this instant or I'll freaking Crucio you till you weep!"

"Ten points from Ravenclaw!" A teacher suddenly shouted, hearing the vile comment.

"Cry me a freaking river, I don't take your class anyway!" The teacher, angered, reduced another ten points. Nearby Ravenclaws groaned at the loss of points once again. How were they to ever beat Gryffindor in the House Cup if they kept losing points? It was humiliating to have an intelligent and honorable house, such as theirs, lose to the conniving Slythergits and the brave Gryffindorks.

"Stop acting like such a brat!" Oliver shouted.

"Do I look like Draco Malfoy to you?!" She retorted. "You're the one grabbing people and not believing them! You're the one with the bloody problem in this situation. Let. Me. Go!" He did not listen, finally arriving at the Viaduct Courtyard. He dragged her across the bridge against her will, and though she shouted enough to cause the water underneath them to rustle due to the merfolk's disapproval, he never let go and only stopped when they finally reached the Viaduct Courtyard. Oliver was right, there weren't any students present.

"You got me alone, happy?!" Oliver opened his hand, allowing Bridgit to snatch her hand back. Before she could make her way towards the Viaduct Bridge once more, however, Oliver summoned a barrier. This earned him a glare, but he just glared at the girl in return. Her skin was filled with bruises of every color. Black and blue, purple, and some a gruesome yellow. He didn't believe that a staircase would cause that.

"Why won't you tell me what happened?" His voice was on edge, and his eyes held that maniacal look that he seemed to reserve only for when he talked about Quidditch. Bridgit didn't want to believe that she was anywhere close to as important, but she was not stupid as to believe that being near Oliver Wood during one of these moments was considered 'safe'. "You look like a walking corpse, and you claim to have fallen down the stairs?"

Paying him no mind and turning away, Bridgit took out her wand and tried to figure out a way to get rid of the barrier. Recalling all that she knew from books and what she learned from charms, she tried to come up with a conclusion. Before she could even attempt anything, though, Oliver had already foiled everything.

"I placed a Blocked Barrier Spell after summoning it." He began. "You're not getting out of here until you tell me what on earth happened. The truth this time, and not that lie your feeding Fred and George." Bridgit hated him for being older than her, for knowing far more advanced magic when it came to barriers than she did. How was she going to get out of this one? She already had Echo suspicious of her, and she felt that Zoey was too! She didn't need Oliver wanting an explanation out of her own mouth either.

"Why can't you all just believe that I fell down the stairs?!"

"Just because I'm not a Ravenclaw doesn't make me stupid!" He answered, just as loud as she shouted. Bridgit assumed that a silencing charm was cast along with the barrier. "I know what it looks like to fall from the stairs, I know what it looks like to fall from a broom, and though I haven't experienced it myself, I know that those wounds are inflicted!" Her eyes widened, her arms fell to her side. She wasn't getting out of this if he sounded that sure of himself. Oliver Wood was a stubborn one, and, apparently, it wasn't reserved for Quidditch only.

"Fine then, I did this to myself!" She shouted. "You know very well what I'm capable of doing when it comes to such things, you saved me from dying once, you can't save me all the time! It doesn't mean I'm all better either!" His glare was dangerous, menacing, and he looked at her like how he looked at Marcus Flint. Bridgit was not used to being looked at with such hatred from him, but it was better this way.

"Stop lying." Cold, low, thick. A shiver ran up Bridgit's spine. "You'd never do this to yourself. I know you wouldn't."

"You don't know a single thing about me!"

"Is that what you tell people who don't buy your lies?!" He countered. "That they don't know a single thing about you? Well, guess what, you're not as hard to read as you think you are! I'm not as thick as Fred and George to let it slide either! So you either tell me the truth, or I talk to Roger Davies about suspending you for your handicap!"

She walked up to him then, hands clenched by her side as she tried hard not to hex the man she considered a close friend. How dare he say that! She worked hard during Quidditch to prove that she was fully capable of handling herself! She also reassured Roger that she would carry her own weight if anything hurt. "He'd never listen to you, he'd think you were just sabotaging the team." She tried hard to sound menacing, and though Oliver reacted not, she knew that she achieved it.

"Wouldn't he?" The Gryffindor Captain asked. "Cedric Diggory would back me up and say that it's a disadvantage to Ravenclaw. That it would be unfair if we fought you with your team possessing a player that might as well pass-out in the middle of the field." Open, close, open, close, Bridgit's hands went. She was trying so hard to remain in control of her actions, trying hard to not cause this guy harm. He was testing her patience though, and she hated that.

"Why do you want to know so badly?" She decided to ask. "This is your last year in Hogwarts, and yet your willing to kick me, your self-proclaimed apprentice, out of the game knowing that next to you, I'm the best Keeper on the field." Bridgit continued, staring him down as she did so. "What does it matter, what's true and what isn't? I'm alive, aren't I?"

"What do you think you are to me?" The question took her off guard. "We've known each other since you were a first year, and you're a fifth year now. When I see you, what do you think I see?" Why did his voice sound like that? She didn't feel right about it. She remembered her dad used to talk like that, those painful memories were resurfacing, and she hated Wood more for causing it.

"I'm your friend." Bridgit answered, holding back a sob.

"Wrong," He answered almost immediately. Bridgit could not explain why those words caused one tear escape. She wiped it away immediately, but Oliver was faster and had seen it. "Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinett, Fred, George, Harry, those are my friends. You? You're probably my best friend." More tears, one sob, and she wrapped her arms around his neck as she cried and cried and cried into his chest.

Sobs escaped as her body shook, and Oliver just let her with his hands around her waist. He whispered words of comfort, and he said an occasional joke about where the strong girl he met was. She would laugh between the tears, and she clutched him and held onto him for dear life. It was like her sanity and safety depended on just releasing those tears, sharing the pain.

"Are you ready to tell me the truth now?" Oliver asked, Bridgit then pulling away as she wiped the tears away. Her eyes were red and blood shot, but she released a small laugh and nodded. Best friend, no, those were Zoey, Echo, Fred, and George. Oliver was a bit more than that.

"I'll tell you." She finally answered. "Just because you're my best-best friend."

* * *

"Knock her off of her broom?" Wood jumped as he heard the voice, turning the corner to find Bridgit waiting for him. He had just been discharged from the hospital wing and was heading back to Gryffindor Tower for the part when he bumped into her. "I stand by what I said last year. You are no gentleman." Getting his heart back to a normal rhythm, Oliver managed a small smile. That, really, was not his finest moment. All in the name of Quidditch though, and that had made it worth it.

"We won didn't we?" Oliver answered. "You're just annoyed that you've yet again lost the chance of winning the Quidditch Cup." Bridgit snorted slightly as she fell into step with him, noticing that he was making his way towards the Gryffindor Common Room. The hallways weren't buzzing with students, seeing as most were tired and were in their dormitories, and Bridgit enjoyed just walking with her best-best friend. She really was not getting used to the idea that he would be gone the next year, no longer there to help her out.

"I still have my sixth and seventh year for that." She answered. "I'm actually quite happy that you won, albeit a bit annoyed. I think you deserve to win the cup at least once in your life as Captain. This is your last chance, so you better freaking beat Slytherin."

"I'm planning to send Marcus Flint flying from his Nimbus 2001!" Oliver exclaimed, Bridgit chuckling at the mental image of Slytherin Captain Flint falling from the black broom. She also imagined him weep and scream in outrage as he did so. It was an enjoyable image that any Quidditch Player (especially for Captains: Diggory, Wood, and Davies) would love to have in their dreams. She also knew; however, that it was impossible for Wood to be the one to knock him off. Keepers never left the rings alone.

"Did Fred and George invite you to the party?" Wood suddenly continued, turning to Bridgit as they walked up the moving staircases and halted to wait for the one they needed to turn. "If they didn't, I'm inviting you. Not that people aren't already used to you barging in when you want." Memories of her second year were reminisced, and Bridgit actually had the decency to blush at the looks everyone had given her when she layed on Oliver's bed without permission and declared that she would wait for him there until he returned. Percy Weasley detested her most of all.

"They did, but I've decided to leave you lions to your own roaring."

"Still can't face the loss, huh?"

"No, I've made other plans." Oliver raced his brow in disbelief. Other plans usually meant something else, and Bridgit hit his arm lightly when she realized what he was thinking. "Not those type of plans…unless you considered Zoey Emeraude my girlfriend, then I guess, sure, think ahead."

"Fred would be devastated to hear that." The Captain answered. "Is that why you all seemed to decide to stop talking to each other for awhile? If I recall, you and Zoey were alone when you watched our game against Hufflepuff. Did you finally break the news to him?" Shaking her head, Bridgit hit his arm lightly once more. That fight was a very serious manner, but Oliver was out of all that. How she wanted to explain to him though, for he did get mad and bombarded her with questions about why the twins, Fred mostly, were distracted.

"You jealous?" Bridgit teased.

"Maybe." Oliver answered, causing Bridgit's eyes to widen.

"You never told me you were gay!" She exclaimed. Oliver was thankful that no one was around, they probably would have taken the joke to heart. "For Frederick Weasley no less! Have you told him? Oh my goodness, I must tell Zoey! She needs to know she has competition!" Wrapping an arm around Bridgit's neck, Oliver nudged her hair and messed it up, the girl on laughing as he did so.

"And why would I be jealous because of Fred?"

"I don't know, he has nice eyes?"

"How narcissistic of you!" Oliver countered. "You like his eyes cause they're blue, like yours."

"I'm still a girl, sadly. Have to have some vanity in here somewhere."

When they reached the Gryffindor Tower portrait hole, Oliver turned to Bridgit with the same smile that he often gave her. Bridgit returned it. "So, you promise to win the Quidditch Cup this year? Maybe voicing it out to anyone other than yourself and your team would actually give you a miracle. If you want, I could pull a prank on Flint. Fred and George would be eager to participate."

"No, doing that would be telling them that I'm at their level and not above them." Bridgit nodded in understand and patted his shoulder as she began to turn away. "I promise, by the way. That I'll—no, we'll win it." Turning slightly, she gave him one more smile before heading off in search of Zoey. Perhaps she would even pass by her dormitory and get Shinji before she met up with her. Depending if she finds her best friend on the way or not.

* * *

Where could she have possibly disappeared to? Did she forget that it was the last day of school? Oliver Wood was not a very patient person to begin with, so making him wait in the Quidditch Pitch for more than a good hour was unheard of. What the man found odder, though, was the fact that the girl he was meeting was very punctual when it came to meetings she, herself, organized. There was no sign of the brown haired Ravenclaw anywhere. Not even a message that she had changed her mind.

He moved his broom to his left hand as he took out his pocket watch, frowning when he realized that it was nearing two hours passed their arranged meeting time. The nights were beginning to become warm, and yet this particular one had caused Wood to wear a black turtleneck. It was a bad omen, such nights, and he wondered if it had anything to do with Bridgit's sudden disappearance.

Deciding to wait just a few more minutes, he placed the watch back in his pants' pocket and took a seat on the grass.

Bridgit Cari Parker was extremely lucky that he was in a good mood—the best he'd felt in a long time.

The memory of that cup in his hands, finally being able to achieve his childhood dream of winning the Inter-House Quidditch Cup, only the memory of his first broomstick ride could compare to it. The cheers, the happy faces of his team, McGonagall's pride in what they've managed to achieve, everything, to a degree, was all because of him. He had trained the team and made sure they were at their best, those two bludgers were a small price to pay to finally shove the glory in Marcus Flint's face.

Oliver would have been happier, had he won more than just one, but he would settle and thank Merlin for allowing him to win, at least, during his last year in Hogwarts. He hoped Angelina and the others would be alright without him, and he also hoped that they stuck to the training regimen that he had created specifically for each of them. He didn't want Gryffindor to just suddenly hand the trophy back to another house after all the effort he put in, now did he?

Before he could get to remembering the angered look on Flint's and Malfoy's faces, something took him away from his thoughts. It was the sound of a guitar, a classical one, not an electric one. The tune was soft, but loud in the silence of the cold and starry night. Listening closer, Oliver raised his brow at the all too sad tune that was being played. He didn't know why, for he was not a big music fan, but that tune was familiar to him.

He stood from the grass and dusted off his bum. Picking up his broom, he walked in the direction that the music was coming from. Oliver probably should have returned to Gryffindor Tower, seeing as it was way passed curfew, but he was curious, and he was a Gryffindor not a Ravenclaw. To act smartly and sensible was not part of his job. Even Hermione Granger defied those rules sometimes—well, more times than most seeing as she was Harry Potter's best friend. What he did was proof enough that he was not sorted into the wrong house at all.

The sad tune got louder as he approached one of the stands. Looking up, he wondered if it was coming from up there. Walking around the tall, tower-like, stand, he found the door of the staircase unlocked. It was evidence enough of an 'Alohamora' spell. There was someone up there alright.

Mounting his broom, he decided to have a look see.

He circled the stand with a true flyer's grace, and he made sure to observe from behind, just in case the witch or wizard was an enemy. Perhaps he could channel the Weasley Twins for one night and prank a fair amount of Slytherins. It was his last year, why not make the most of it? What greeted him, though, was ponytailed brown hair. There was a girl, with a sky blue guitar in her hands, staring up at the full moon. An all too familiar girl that he should have met two hours ago.

Oliver was tempted to scare her, give her a taste of her own prank medicine, but halted from calling out when he realized that she wasn't merely playing. Her voice was softer, lower, and when he flew just a bit nearer, he realized that Bridgit was singing along with the tune that came with her strumming.

"_My whole world is changing. I don't know where to turn._

_I can't leave you waiting, _

_But I can't stay and watch this city burn. Watch it burn."_

He was pretty sure that Bridgit wouldn't be a professional singer—her voice was a fine alto, and though it wasn't unpleasant, it was way too raw and sounded a bit scratchy—but he was left at awe by the speed of her fingers as she changed their positions. He was above her now, hovering as he peered down. She had buttoned up her aquamarine parka due to help with the cold, and he assumed that the hood had fallen just before he had arrived. The front of her hair was a mess.

Closer inspection of her face made Oliver worry. Tear streaks were visible on her moonlit cheeks, and her sapphire blue eyes were bloodshot. He at least now knew the reason for her scratchy voice. Bridgit had probably been sobbing and crying, how long had she been out here?

"_Cause I'll try, but it's so hard to believe._

_I'll try, but I can't see what you see._

_I'll try…I'll try…"_

"If you wanted to sit around and mope, couldn't you have at least informed someone?" Oliver watched as Bridgit suddenly sat up straight, looking up and then suddenly turning away as she wiped her face with the sleeve of her parka. "I mean, I've been waiting down there for two hours. I really should know these things so I don't end up looking like an idiot." His feet touched the free space of the bench beside her. He sat himself down and put his broom on the free foot space on the floor.

He assumed that she found herself presentable now, but he was shocked when she jerked her head in his direction. "The last day flying…" She muttered, her palm coming in contact with her forehead the moment she finished. "I forgot, oh future seeing Morgana, I'm so sorry Oliver." The seventeen-year-old managed a smile, but it seemed to have given her no comfort as she began hitting her forehead repeatedly with the palm of her hand.

"Stupid…stupid…stupid…" She muttered over and over. "I've already screwed up with Echo, now I forget about Oliver! Mordred kill me, next thing I know it'll be Zoey angry at me." From what he knew about the Hufflepuff, she didn't seem to get angry with anyone—the occasional Weasley Twins, but that was understandable. Oliver was quite confused, but he did catch the beginning of the, supposed, mind rant.

"Screwed up with Echo?" Oliver asked.

"Don't use Legilimency on me!" Bridgit answered.

"You said all of that out loud." He countered. "I didn't need to cast anything."

"Should have known you weren't skilled enough to do it without a wand, let alone without a spell."

"I'm shocked you believed I knew how to do it in the first place."

Bridgit looked him in the eye. "Touché" She released.

"So, what did you screw up with Echo?"

Oliver leaned back on the bench behind him, trying to get comfortable as he raised his feet and plopped it down on the bench in front of him. Bridgit sighed as she did the same, placing down the sky blue guitar just beside her with the long neck on her lap. The tuning mechanism was poking the seventeen-year-old on the side just slightly, but it was neither painful nor distracting.

"She found out." The fifteen-year-old answered, releasing a sad sigh as she lifted her hands to cover her eyes. It was obvious that she was trying hard to stop herself from becoming a wreck. Oliver frowned. He wished she wouldn't be so guarded all the time. Or, at least, not when she was around him. He was supposed to be trust right? "One bloody mistake and she found out and it ruined everything." She continued.

"Why wasn't I told about this? I never would have taken that walk with her if I did!" Oliver was a bit confused, but allowed his friend to finish. "Damnit all, only Merlin can save that idiotic rat when I get my hands on him! He better pray to every strong sorcerer he knew, Morgana Le Fay included!" He just got more confused. Rat? What did that have to do with anything? She hated rats, sure, but how could it have caused Echo to find out?

"What happened exactly?" The Keeper finally decided to ask.

"Peter—bloody freaking—Pettigrew, that's what."

"And who is Mister Bloody Freaking Pettigrew?" He asked once again.

"He's one of the Dark Lord's minions." She answered, not missing a beat. It was obviously so normal for her to mention him. "I've told you what I am, told you what I do, and now all my friends are going to hate me because Echo did the right thing and left without a second thought. All I have to blame is my absent mindedness and that stupid rat for blowing my cover!" Venom seeped out of every word that she released. Bridgit was very angry.

"What are you planning to do?" He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, hoping to give her some needed comfort, and she leaned her head on his shoulders as she released another sigh and relaxed. What was she going to do, she wondered. Was there anything she **could** do?

"Stay away from all of them, keep them at bay and hope that Echo talks to me before blurting out my deep-dark-secret." Bridgit, unsurely, answered. "I'll probably disappear for the Summer, beg my uncle to come with me on a vacation to some Asian country. Maybe I'll ask Cho if she knows any nice places in China. I could finally get to see a Panda, or maybe I can see a dragon skeleton."

"Why cross the globe when you could just hang-out at my place?"

"Scotland isn't really that far away to disappear. Owls could probably still find me."

"So what?" He offered. "Just be vague in replies or don't reply at all."

"What about your parents?"

"They might be happy I finally brought someone over. One that at least isn't there to scout me for a Quidditch Team." Bridgit bolted up at those words and Oliver forgot that he had not mentioned that to her yet. "Oh didn't I tell you? Puddlemere United offered me a position. A replacement player at first, but—"

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Bridgit exclaimed. "You couldn't have told me this before?! PUDDLEMERE UNITED IS SCOUTING YOU! Don't say that like it's just what breakfast for tomorrow will be! Don't you know how freaking lucky you are?! That's a dream come-freaking-true!" Her face was red now, with anger and probably due to the cold, but Oliver couldn't help but laugh.

"So are you accepting or not?" The seventeen-year-old finally asked.

"Fine." She answered. "Just because I'm really curious about what you are outside of Hogwarts."

"You speak like I'm some Magical Creature!"

"Quidditch Addict, that's a very dangerous creature to me."

He punched her arm lightly, and she laughed as she picked up her guitar and stood up. "I'll be back in a bit." She said. "I'll just get my broom, and then we can go for that last fly around the Hogwarts Grounds. First to the Viaduct Courtyard gets treated by the loser." He nodded his head as she exited through the door that had come in. She had even continued to sing that song of hers, causing him to smile. Yes, she was no singer.

"_So, I'll try, because I finally believe._

_I'll try, cuz I can see what you see._

_I'll try, I'll try I'll try..To fly"_

Returning back to his former position, he looked up and couldn't help but correct the girls previous statement.

All of her friends didn't hate her. She still had him on her side.

* * *

"Bridgit, over here!" She heard Oliver call.

How Bridgit hated the underage magic rule. Why couldn't she have the privilege of shrinking her heavy trunk when she could do so easily? Lugging it towards the direction Wood had called from, she looked back to check in Shinji was still there. The stubborn little pup had not wanted to ride on the trunk or in her pocket, preferring the fresh air. Perhaps it was sick and tired of being kept, and had wanted to just wag its tail and loll his tongue as he pleased. This made her smile, albeit only slightly. Her trunk was still pissing her off.

Catching sight of her young master, Bridgit spotted two people near him. One was a middle-aged man, presumably his dad, that looked like he was in his late thirties. He had brown hair, like Oliver, but his eyes were of a lighter shade of green. The other person was a woman—slightly younger looking than the male, his mother no doubt, with hair the color of golden string and chocolate brown eyes. Taking a good look at both of them, Bridgit concurred that Oliver was a perfect blend of his parents.

"A pleasure to meet you, Mister and Missus Wood!" Bridgit greeted, letting go of her trunk and picking Shinji up from the ground. She petted him and placed the little guy in her hoodie's pocket. "So sorry about this sudden plan, is it really alright that I stay over for the summer?" She saw Oliver shake his head before turning towards Mrs. Wood. She seemed ecstatic, a wide smile on her face as she approached Bridgit and gave her a hug. The brunette hoped Shinji wasn't crushed because she sure felt like she was close to being a pancake.

"It's no problem at all!" She said, accent thicker than that of Oliver's. "I'm happy that Oli's found himself a lovely burd!" Whatever the term meant, it did not sit well with Bridgit. When she was released from the hug, Oliver had taken hold of his mother's arm and placed her beside him.

"She's not my burd." Oliver said.

"Don't be dafty!" Mrs. Wood answered. "Why are you bringing her home if she isn't?"

"Don't interrogate the boy, Thea!" Mr. Wood now spoke. "You're embarrassing him."

All this time, Bridgit just wondered what a burd was to begin with.

"What's your name, dear?" Mrs. Wood, Thea, she was called. "How'd you meet Oli? Has he treated you well? How long have you two known each other?" She went on with her many questions, while Oliver and his father seemed to be sharing a laugh at the back. Bridgit would have glared, but her focus remained solely on the Wood Matriarch. She was having trouble catching the questions.

"She's gone radge!" Mr. Wood commented.

"One question at a time, Mum." Oliver finally said. "The lassy can't answer 'em all."

Bridgit frowned. Lassy was a horse's name, and she didn't like being compared to a horse one bit.

Thea blushed slightly at her son's words, but she did calm down a bit. She once again asked for her son's friend's name, and Bridgit was slightly thankful that the bombarding questions were gone. Shinji was hiding in her pocket due to confusion. He sensed safety, so the strangers were no threat, but he didn't want to suddenly come out and get squeezed by the blonde woman in front of his mistress.

"My name is Bridgit Parker, Mrs. Wood. It's a—"

"Oh we'll be having none of that, love." She cut Bridgit off. "My name is Athena, but you call me Aunt Thea." Thea then motioned towards her husband and he approached on cue. It was pretty obvious who ran the Wood Household. "This here is my husband, Joffrey." Mr. Wood—now known as Joffrey—smiled at her and extended his hand. She took it and shook, pulling away when it was appropriate.

"Bridgit, you must tell me all about your friendship with my son." Thea took hold of Bridgit's arm as she began dragging her out of the station. Bridgit wasn't quite sure where they were going, but said nothing and nodded when she spoke to her. "Boys, make sure to not forget the trunks!" The matriarch called out.

Bridgit was sure this was not going to be a summer to forget.

Bridgit also wanted to know what in Merlin's pants was a burd!

* * *

Bridgit had been staying with the Woods for a little under two weeks now. She had been given a room of her own, much to her shock, and had been treated like a guest of honor. Most days, she would have shoot-outs with Oliver in the miniature Quidditch Pitch in the Wood Family Backyard, on others, Thea would sit her down and ask her many questions about her relationship with Oliver. Though Bridgit insisted that it was purely platonic, Thea seemed to like believing otherwise. Joffrey just laughed when he witnessed such chats. Oliver did too.

This particular day, Bridgit had been told to be ready by noon. Thea and Joffrey had suggested that they give her a tour of the Scottish Magic Scene. They would show her the bookstores, the Quidditch supply shops, and any other shop that they thought she would find interesting. Being up for an adventure, Bridgit agreed readily with a warning from Oliver that his mother tended to go overboard.

As if Bridgit did not know that already.

When she was roused from her slumber by Shinji's constant licking, Bridgit saw a familiar Eagle Owl perched on the closed window. She rubbed her eyes and placed Shinji on the bed, walking over to the window to let in the animal. Bridgit took notice of the note attached, and wondered if it was the owner of the bird that had sent it. She smiled when she opened the window, the bird nipping her finger affectionately. Taking out an owl treat from the small jar she always brought along with her, Bridgit offered it to the Eagle Owl. He took it with gratitude, then extended his talon out in order to allow Bridgit access to the letter.

Unfolding the mysterious note, Bridgit read as she stroked the tired bird's feathers. She absorbed each word, taking note of the important matters that, apparently, needed to be discussed. The handwriting was not that of the owl's owner, so she only assumed that it was another one of the masked fools. Probably the father. Getting to the last few sentences of the note though, the brunette found herself dropping it to the floor. It could not be true!

She didn't mind the nightmare that would plague her upcoming night, as long as those last sentences were erased from the letter. Picking up the dropped piece of parchment, Bridgit hoped that it had been her imagination. Turning it around, she read the entire thing again. She was disappointed to find out that the entire letter remained the same, including the end that she oh-so detested.

"Shinji, I'm gonna kill myself." The dog barked in scolding at the foolish words.

"No, seriously, I'm not gonna live through this." Again, the dog barked. The bird nipped her finger too.

Turning her attention away from the current disaster, she caught the sound of a familiar breakfast call. She just knew that Thea was using magic, no matter how much the woman denied it. There was no way her voice was that loud on its own. "I'll write a reply later." Bridgit said, turning to the Eagle Owl. "Get some rest, you too Shinji. I'll bring you guys breakfast in awhile." A bark and a hoot answered the brunette as she shut the door of the guest bedroom. She hoped the morning was not a sign of things to come.

Walking down the stairs and walking through the archway that lead to the kitchen, Bridgit was greeted by the morning scene that she had learned to become accustomed to. Oliver would be on the left side of his father on the table, enjoying a bowl of cereal. He probably would have gotten the Quidditch Player Card from the box by now, she assumed. Thea would be to Joffrey's right with a plate in front of her, while the patriarch would sit at the head of the table with a mug of coffee in one hand while the Daily Prophet took up the other.

"Good Morning" She greeted, earning her greetings in return as she took her temporary place beside Oliver. There wasn't a lot of food set up, which was perfectly fine. There was a plate in the center with a stack of toast, and around it was a rotating ring shaped saucer that had different arrays of jams and butters on it. Taking one slice of the toast, Bridgit began picking her poison.

There was Peanut Butter, Cookie Butter, Cherry Jam, Grape Jam, every single type of spread would have probably been in that rotating saucer. Finally coming across her heavenly favourite, Strawberry Jam, she took the jar and opened it. She then used the knife beside her to spread it across the piece of toast.

Unbeknownst to Bridgit, all three eyes of the Wood Family were on her. The brunette may not have noticed it, but she was a rather chatty person. She told Thea stories about Quidditch matches, and she would ask many questions about Joffrey's work in the Department of Magical Games and Sports. When she was mellowed up or woke the wrong way, though, she usually preferred just having her conversations with Oliver. This particular morning, however, nothing left the girl's mouth except for the customary greeting.

"Danger, Bridgit?" Joffrey asked.

"Perfectly fine." She curtly answered.

Obviously it was not the truth.

"Talking out of your fanny flaps, I see." Oliver commented.

"Am not!" Bridgit exclaimed.

"What's the danger, dear?" It was Thea now.

The youngest relented and decided to explain. There was no getting out of it anyway.

"I got a letter this morning." She finally said, dropping the heavenly piece of toast down on her plate. "Apparently we're holding something special in the school this year. My guardian informed me that I am in need of a dress for a stupid dance." Bridgit was unaware of Oliver's warning glances the moment she said dress, but as she added the words dance, he knew that she was a goner. Merlin have mercy on her soul.

"Isn't that wonderful?" Thea said loudly. "Oh, Bridgit, you must let me help you find a dress!"

"WHAT?" Bridgit stood. "No, no, I mean, Aunt Thea, I wouldn't want to intrude."

Oliver sighed. His friend would not be getting out of this one that easily. He had warned her.

"Of course not! We'll even let you tap what you need!" Bridgit tried to object, tried to say something that would get the woman to change her mind. This was the one thing she didn't want to do! She was wearing no bloody dress if she had anything to say about it! Before she could even open her mouth to say any of this though, Thea was already walking up to her room with shouts to get ready to head to a dress shop. Joffrey and Oliver gave her pity filled looks, and Bridgit fell back to her chair. Not even strawberry jammed toast could make her feel better.

After everyone was set…

"NO! NO! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!" Bridgit shouted, trying to pull herself free from Oliver's strong hold. He was trying to get her out of the door, but she was clutching to the railing of the stairway so hard that it would probably take a hyena to chew her arms off from it. "Have mercy on my soul! PLEASE! You said I was your best friend!" The boy was getting fed up. Bridgit had brought this upon herself, she really needed to accept the consequences of her actions.

"Merlin, Morgana, save me!" The girl continued to shout.

"You were the one who told her about it in the first place!" Oliver answered. "If you'd just kept shut about the entire thing, we wouldn't be going through this!" Bridgit clutched harder, and Shinji was on the floor watching the tug of war that featured his mistress as the rope. He wasn't sure whether he should bite Oliver or not. His mistress had scolded him the last time he tried.

"I was sleepy! I didn't know what I was saying! Come on, young master! Talk to your mother!" She was pleading with him, trying to get him to see reason. There was no way she was going to put herself under such torture, especially for something she had no intention of wearing. Oliver, on the other hand, finally released her hand and decided that there was only one way he was getting her out of the door and into his mother's awaiting hands.

"Petrificus—"

"Don't you dare, Oliver Wood!"

"—Totalus"

Bridgit froze and dropped to the ground due to the full body-binding that she had just undergone. Casting a levitating charm, Oliver was able to life the girl a few inches of the ground and lead her towards the door. He just hoped her clothes would hold long enough under the charm for him to get her to the front porch. Shinji trailed after them, still unsure of what to do, and only jumped when the front door closed behind him.

"All this commotion for a bloody dress…" Oliver whispered silently to himself.

She had been pushed into a dressing room with more dresses than she had seen in her entire life. The only thing she said that Thea had listened to was that she hated any sort of warm color—red, yellows, pinks, oranges—and had gone off towards the racks of dresses like a man in a hunt. Joffrey and Oliver had made themselves comfortable in the chairs in front of the dressing room. Bridgit was left to her own in the clutches of the Wood matriarch.

She had refused to even utter a single word to Oliver, especially after he had used his unfair advantage regarding magic to get her to come. Now she had to try on dresses before she could visit any of the bookstores nearby. Groaning, she took the first dress in the pile and began to undress. All this time, she was thinking of payback. Perhaps stealing Wood's limited edition Puddlemere United Jacket would suffice.

Not even looking at herself in the mirror, she opened the changing room door and exited to show Thea what it had looked like. Facing down, she realized that it was a strapless dress. It had a black velvet top with a sweetheart neckline, while layers of blue glittery fabric fell from her waist down. "I think this is just fine. Why don't I just have them wrap this up and—"

"Have you gone totally radge?!" Thea exclaimed. "You look like a giant bruise! Black and Blue, what was I thinking?" Oliver and Joffrey merely looked up from their Quidditch Magazines then returned to them almost immediately. "Try on the next one!" Groaning once more, she closed the door and picked the next abomination she was to try on. Bridgit already knew this was one of her worst experiences to date, including losing her leg bones in that accident when she was five-years-old.

She had put on a white tube dress that Thea had claimed looked more appropriate for a bride—this was said while she was making subtle hints at Oliver about how she would make a splendid bride. Oliver 'hmm-ed' and 'uh huh-ed' during appropriate moments.

Another monstrosity was a blue backless dress that Thea had agreed to. Bridgit had protested strongly, claiming that the dress would do nothing more than embarrass her. Her pale back was exposed, and looking up, Oliver had seen traces of the scars and wounds she had entered Hogwarts with that year. Her mother did not seem to take any notice, and his father did not look up from the Quidditch Magazine.

Bridgit was beginning to get frustrated, and she hoped that the last dress in the pile would be the one. She was sweating, she was aggravated, and she didn't have tha patience to go through another pile of dresses. She loved Thea to bits, but the dresses had to stop. She wouldn't go to any other type of dance or ball if this was how shopping for a dress felt like. Flitwick could screw himself if he said it was mandatory.

"Thea, this is the one, I just know it." Her voice had that tinge of faux excitement—she was trying to be believable—and when she emerged from the dressing room, Thea squealed and agreed. Again, not taking a glance at the mirror, Bridgit looked down to examine the piece of clothing that she had been forced into. The next time she saw another dress shop, she was going to vomit.

It was a mint colored dress. The sleeves left her shoulders bare. They clutched into her upper arms, while the lower remained free of any of the material. There was a white ribbon like material under her chest, forming an empire waist, while the bottom fell in soft chiffon layers. What Thea saw in it, Bridgit did not. She didn't even understand how it was considered the perfect dress.

"Oh Oliver, all she needs is a date!" Thea exclaimed. "Why did you have to graduate so early?!"

"She doesn't date people, Mum." He answered. "And it's not my fault I passed my NEWTS."

"Really, Aunt Thea, I don't plan on going with anyone but a friend."

"Of course!" The blonde shouted. Everyone in the shop turned towards them. "You can't cheat on Oli here and go with another man that isn't your friend." Both Bridgit and Oliver groaned. How many times did they have to say they were just friends. "Oliver, take better care of your burd!"

"What in Merlin's name is a burd anyway?!" Bridgit finally exclaimed. Joffrey just smiled, happy to be away from all the commotion. Both children should really just know when to smile and nod.

* * *

This year officially sucked. Bridgit came to the conclusion a few months into the school year. Last year seemed like heaven compared to this, and she was tortured non-stop for warning her best friend, Zoey, about the diary. Echo also found out her secret that previous year, and it was also the last year she had spent with Oliver somewhere around the grounds. Her sixth year in Hogwarts, though, was nothing but trouble.

Her summer had started the wrong way, her summer had ended the wrong way, and her school year wasn't doing any better. The only thing to be thankful for—aside from Zoey believing her long tale of faux treachery—was that she had gotten into nearly all of the NEWT level classes she had wanted to take. Potions and Charms especially.

Echo still refused to talk to her, and she avoided Fred and George like the plague because of it. What if they knew? She was terrified of them finding out. Padma Patil had once told her that the twins were looking for her, in need of help with some sort of aging potion, but she had ignored the whole thing. She couldn't risk angering Echo further by pretending everything was okay. The only person she hung out with now from her previous group of friends was Zoey. When she wasn't around to be bothered, Bridgit would either be seen with Aiden Durham or not be seen with Draco.

To add to all of that, Oliver wasn't in Hogwarts anymore.

It was probably a blessing in disguise. She probably couldn't face him now anyway. Just thinking about anything related to him sent a rush of red to her cheeks. How could she have been so stupid? She was Ravenclaw! She was not supposed to be rushed into action by feelings like some Gryffindork!

She was supposed to be the epitome of thought and logic. There was nothing logical about her crucial mistake. That was probably why she didn't blame Oliver at all, no matter what he did or what he said. Even if he did make sense. He was allowed to be easily swayed by feelings. He was allowed to not think before doing anything.

"I've never seen you write a Potions essay so slowly." The voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Bridgit cursed under her breath. She was so easily distracted lately, and even Aiden was picking up on it.

"Snape would be disappointed to know his favourite student was slacking off." The brunette raised her head and threw a pillow at her friend. It hit his face, messing up his already messy strawberry blonde hair. He smiled at her though, obviously amused to see her in such a hypnotized state.

"I'm not his favourite student." Bridgit countered.

"Not even Echo Beaumont gets as much points from Snape as you do." Answered Aiden. "You're the only one in the entire school who gets equal treatment from him, Slytherins aside. I bet you're the reason we're always second to them in point counting until Gryffindor pulls something out of their Potter-Trick-Hat." Bridgit laughed at that one, thinking of Harry Potter as the sorting hat. It was hilarious.

"That doesn't prove I'm his favourite." She decided to say. "That just means I'm awesome at Potions."

"So are Michael Corner and Terry Boot, but they don't get ten points for explaining the different types of Sleeping Drought." Bridgit raised her brow in question, but Aiden did not answer the unasked question about who the two Potioneers he was talking about were.

"Even I don't get as much credit as you, and I was positioned in third place in the NEWT Potions placement!" The brunette smirked. It was one of the few things she ever beat Echo at, and she was proud to have claimed that number one spot. Snape had even given her a book in congratulations before she had left to join the Woods for the summer. It was a very mentor-ish thing for him to do.

"Point taken." Was her response. "You'd make a darn good politician some day."

"Jason Samuels says the same thing, but he usually uses it as an insult." Bridgit laughed. Aiden and Jason always seemed to have some sort of bad blood with one another. She didn't know how it started and when it escalated, but that was one of the reasons why she met Aiden during their first year. He had just petrified Jason in the common room, and though he lost points for it, he had earned the brunette's attention.

"I'd agree with him, but I say it as a compliment." She continued. "Who knows, if you become the future Minister of Magic, maybe the word Mudblood will finally disappear. You might even put an end to discrimination against muggleborns. Hermione Granger can help you there." Aiden shook his head at the preposterous idea and picked up his book once again. Him? Minister of Magic? He highly doubted it. He would probably become an Unspeakable. The Department of Mysteries was an interesting place.

Going back to her essay, Bridgit groaned. Merlin was against her. It was that or he was on some sort of date with Morgana whenever she needed him. Of all the things to write about, why did Severus Snape assign Amortentia? It was like a slap in the face to all of her problems. "Aiden," Bridgit called. "If I ask really nicely and leave a note that I asked for it, will you use the Killing Curse on me?" The blonde looked up from his Transfiguration Book and smirked when he noticed the potion she was writing about.

"Problem in the love department, Bridgit?"

"None of your beeswax!" She answered hurriedly.

"I'll take that as a yes then."

The brunette sent an intimidating glare in his direction, but Aiden did not falter. He tried to act like there was nothing wrong, but the hand he kept away from her was shaking. Bridgit always did seem to have a murderous intent that equaled a Slytherin. The blonde wasn't stupid either. He knew that if he pushed her off the cliff, he would be paying with his life—or worse.

"Say that again." Bridgit whispered, leaning closer to him, her wand between in her hands. "I dare you."

Aiden gulped, backing away from Bridgit's nearing face. Her blue eyes were cold rather than smoldering. They made him feel like he was an ice sculpture, frozen on the spot as he scrutinized his every detail. He would never admit it to his girlfriend, but there was a woman far more scarier than she.

It didn't help that Bridgit had this aura about her that basically screamed that she knew how to torture you ten thousand ways without ending your life until using every single one. Her wand being there didn't help matters, because he's seen her use it on their other housemates before. She had even sent Roger Davies flying across the room when he tried to talk to her about her playing as a Keeper.

"It is a yes, though." A dreamy voice suddenly said. "Isn't it?"

He thanked whoever was up there that he was saved. Both sixteen year olds turned towards the source of the entranced voice and was greeted by the sight of younger girl. She had silvery eyes that seemed absent and detached from the world where she stood. She also had dirty blonde hair that she tied back in a half ponytail. Aiden tried to put a name to the mysterious, yet cute, face but failed to recognize her. Looking at Bridgit, she seemed equally clueless.

"You are having troubles with your love life." The unknown girl continued on, not a care in the world for Bridgit's chilling glare. Aiden silently applauded her. "You shouldn't worry though, he returned it right?" She added, Bridgit going crimson at the words spoken. The strawberry blonde found this intriguing and continued to watch his friend's embarrassed reactions. "Isn't that a good thing?" The brunette's hand was shaking, and before she could even think of doing anything, Aiden took her wand from her grasp.

"Hey!" She shouted. "Durham, give it back!"

"Oooh, she used my last name." Aiden taunted. "I'm pissing in my pants!"

"Oh you will be after I beat you to an inch of your life!"

The new comer watched her not so mature seniors battle for the wand. Curses and threats were released, with Aiden hanging over the arm rest of the blue couch and Bridgit kneeling in front of him, trying to reach over him to get her wand. The brunette promised him a slow and painful death when she got her wand, and the boy answered that it would be a great reason to continue keeping said wand away from hair. Before she knew it, the newcomer had released a soft giggle, reminding the seniors that she was still present in the room.

"You two are such good friends!" The blonde released. "It is quite enjoyable to watch the both of you. Be careful though, the boy back in Scotland may get jealous." Bridgit froze, once again, at the words and blushed. Aiden gave her a mischievous look that reminded her so much of Fred and George. The wand layed forgotten on the blue carpet, with the brunette owner glowing redder than the Hogwarts Express. Aiden decided that he liked this girl. She made Bridgit speechless, something that not everyone can do.

"Scotland, huh?" He commented. "Didn't take you for the type to like accents."

"I'm not!" She shouted back. "And how did you know about that?" The question was now directed at the newcomer.

"No need to deny it." Said Aiden. "But yeah, how do you know her deepest darkest secrets? Tell me your source!"

Bridgit kicked him off of the couch and sprawled out on it so that he couldn't get back on it. Aiden didn't mind and just sat, Indian style, on the comfortable Ravenclaw carpet. The blonde girl before them continued to smile at their interaction, finding it either adorable or enjoyable. The Durham wasn't quite sure what it was that shown in her dazed eyes. She was harder to read than he had originally thought.

"There was this nosy little Moon Frog the other day that was hopping around," Aiden was confused, but something clicked in Bridgit's brain when she heard the name. "And he just had to tell me a story about this girl who was talking to her dog near the Whomping Willow. He says you shouldn't worry about it, cause what boy doesn't return something like that if he likes you." All that was missing from Aiden's expression was the metaphorical large question mark that should be seen atop his head.

"I thought Blibbering-Humdingers were the gossip-y ones." Bridgit commented silently, with the blonde in front of them suddenly coming up to her and taking one of her hands in both of hers. She seemed ecstatic to hear the name of the creature escape the brunette's mouth. Aiden continued to look on, unsure what it was that was going on. Bridgit just seemed shocked that the newcomer had moved from one side of the room to the other in a flash.

"Oh, they are." She answered. "But Moon Frogs aren't used to seeing human interactions in the Moon. They tend to be a bit big mouthed when they find something interesting." Bridgit thought about it for the while, clicking her tongue before saying that it made sense. Aiden found that hard to believe, seeing as the entire conversation didn't make sense to him. How did a younger student know something that Bridgit did, but he didn't?

"Who are you again?" He asked.

"I'm Luna Lovegood." The blonde answered. "I'm in my third year."

"So this Moon Frog told you about Bridgit's love problem ("It isn't a love problem!" The brunette protested), did it?" Aiden continued. "I've never heard of them." Luna was just about to explain, but Bridgit cut off the entire explanation by picking her wand up and pointing it at the back of Aiden's head. He froze, realizing the pinch he was in, and turned slowly to face the angered Ravenclaw that was leering down at him.

"You've been having way too much fun." She stated. "We need to fix that."

"You'd have to catch me first!" Aiden stood up and ran, leaving Bridgit as he escaped through the door.

Groaning, the brunette bent down to put on her shoes to go after him.

"You should tell your Dad to include that the next time he writes an article about Moon Frogs." Bridgit commented, standing when she finally finished knotting the laces and securing her sneakers onto her feet. "That way, I'll look out for them when I think I'm alone and need to talk to my dog _alone_." She offered Luna a small smile, and the third year answered an affirmative before allowing Bridgit to leave her and chase after Aiden. The brunette planned to truly show her friend just how scary she could really be.

"I like her." Luna commented. "Now where did the Nargles hide my homework now?"

* * *

Echo had left merely moments ago, still refusing to talk to her. The purple haired girl didn't need to explain anything, not that she would have—Bridgit had heard the entire fight from the staircase. She hoped that her friend caught up to George. Those two were meant to be together, she had a strong gut feeling about it. Her gut feelings were rarely wrong, or at least that was what she thought, and when it came to both her best female friends' romances, Bridgit was pretty headstrong about what she thought when they asked her opinion of it. Zoey belonged with Fred, Echo belonged with George. Period.

The Ravenclaw sixth year Girls' dormitory was silent. The normal sound of teenage girls discussing the latest news around the castle wasn't present, and though it probably should have been cause of worry, Bridgit just thanked her lucky charms that she was alone. She needed to think deeply about her current dilemma, and the other girls bothering and pestering her about whether or not she was going with someone to the Yule Ball would just annoy her. Bridgit would have wanted to talk to Echo, but the option was currently impossible.

She turned to her right, laying side ward on her bed, petting the sleeping puppy beside her when he stirred. He stilled once more and his breathing evened out, allowing her to let go and continue on with her deep thinking. She had sent a letter to the one person who she considered her rock at the moment, hoping that maybe he would have some good advice for her. His reply was yet to arrive, and Bridgit bit her lip in nervousness as she remembered the words in the letter she had sent Oliver's way.

He was probably bound to laugh when he opened it—finding her worries petty.

Bridgit had earned every achievement she'd made in life. Her intelligence was a gift that she used well, earning her a spot in Ravenclaw house. She studied hard for her high grades, and though many teachers hated her, they couldn't deny that she was a student way above her years. Her OWLs had proven that. This, though, was something she was utterly clueless about. What had possessed that boy to come and ask her, instead of all the girls in the school, to accompany him to the Yule Ball? Why her?

It had happened as quite a bit of a surprise, if she were to be honest. Bridgit had been walking back to the Ravenclaw Tower, having just finished a meeting with her Potions Master, and fellow double agent, and telling him about how Echo and Zoey now knew what she was. He did not take it well, and he had scolded her for being careless. Bridgit just sat there and listened, biting back any come back she came up with. Severus Snape in a bad mood was ten times worse than him in a normal 'I'll bite your head off' mood.

Snape had also begrudgingly given her a list of banned potions—a list that she asked for days ago—that would allow her to look into any possible plans that Death Eaters may have left out from the things they've briefed her on. At first he had refused, thinking that she was planning another prank against his house, but once she had cleared it with Dumbledore himself (after a long list of muggle and magic candies just trying to get into his office) he could do nothing else but submit to her wishes.

Rest assured that Severus Snape has been beaten in his own game.

"Bridgit!" Someone suddenly called, tearing her attention away from the long roll of parchment that she was currently reading. "Bridgit!" It repeated, causing the brunette to turn around. The voice was not familiar to her, and it wasn't Fred and George. It wasn't Aiden, who she often hung out with, and it obviously wasn't going to be Echo or Zoey—seeing that the voice was male. What greeted her was the sight of an unfamiliar boy who wore the same colored robes as her. Why was someone she didn't know calling out to her?

He had long dark hair that pointed out at the ends, with side swept bangs that were neatly fixed to the right. He was taller than Bridgit, much to her displeasure, and had pale skin much like her. He was waving an arm frantically as he ran towards her, and Bridgit took advantage of his slow movement and rolled up the parchment before he could get a glance at it. There wasn't any ingredients listed on it (Snape clearly did not trust her enough), but she wasn't in the mood to make up a story to answer his questions.

"Do you need something from me?" The brunette asked. She had tucked the parchment away in her book bag right before he stopped in front of her. He had his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. "Uhm…what's your name?" Seeing as he just called out her name across an empty corridor, manners didn't seem to matter. He did raise his hand though, a motion telling her to wait until he relaxed and was able to form a coherent thought.

"Michael," Said the, now, replenished boy. "Michael Corner."

"Okay, Michael," Bridgit answered. "Why were you calling me?"

Her blue eyes watched him, each movement not escaping her. The way he fiddled with her fingers, the way his eyes moved to look at anything but her. She even took notice of how he kept tapping his left foot. His hair was also way too neat, which may or may not have had nothing to do with the situation but displeased Bridgit anyway. No boy payed that much attention to hair, even Draco cared less about it when he turned thirteen.

"Ugh…well…I was just wondering…" He tried, shaking his head as he started over again. "You see, I have this friend Terry, and he told me that you helped him study for a Charms Test once and it was really cool of you and all." Bridgit raised her brow. Where was he going with this? "I also see you during the Quidditch Games and ever since Oliver Wood left—" The mention of the name made Bridgit's cheeks redden, a certain memory suddenly appearing in her mind. "—you're probably the best Keeper in all the four houses. Plus, you're really smart and you're—"

"Can you get to the point?!" She exclaimed impatiently. "Please."

Michael jumped at her outburst, but nodded in understanding. He returned to his old ways, trying to probably calm himself down. Just as he was about to speak, the realization came to Bridgit about what he was planning to do. It was too late by the time she had come up with a rebuttal. "Will you go to the Ball with me?" The brunette froze on the spot, unsure of what to do now. All those who tried previously, she had been able to turn off without having them ask first. Now, the question was out in the open, and it was either a yes or a no.

Now the tables were turned. Michael was still a Ravenclaw, and he was able to scrutinize every action she made. The sweat that trickled down her neck, the sudden shaking of her hand, and the frozen shocked state of her face spoke volumes about how she felt about the question. Bridgit shut her mouth when she gained control though. There wasn't any need for flies to make a habitat out of it.

"It's really flattering for you to offer, but—"

"Is that a no then?" Michael asked, his shoulders falling in defeat.

"Uhm…ugh…why don't you let me think about it? I promise to get back to you on it"

It was those very words that had sent her into the restless state she was in now. Bridgit groaned at the memory, placing a hand on her face as she scolded herself for taking pity on the fourth year. She should have just said no, should have just told him that there was no chance in hell she was showing up with a date, especially with Fred and George there to torment her. It was unthinkable!

Sadly, she had pitied him though, and she had cared. Now, she was stuck in a problem that she didn't want to have until she was way past her seventeenth birthday. Until all of these have settled down and Voldemort was just a name that came with the memory of ashes. It wasn't helping that she was still recovering from such an embarrassing end to her Summer Vacation. Just the memory of the even emitted another groan.

Oliver told her that he understood, but she really hoped he meant it. She needed him now more than ever, and she couldn't risk things getting awkward just because of one stupid mistake that she caused. He did play a part in it too though, and he didn't deny it when he apologized right after she did.

"I can't believe you can sleep through my troubles…" Bridgit whispered, staring at Shinji's sleeping form. As if to put it in her face, he made himself more comfortable on her pillow, yawning slightly before returning to his rested state. It at least brought a smile to the brunette's face to know one of them was happy. There was way too much drama with her friends, now Merlin decided that she needed to think about her love life. This was a train wreck.

As if to add insult to injury, her riddle when she had gotten back to the common room that day was: _"What do you keep after giving it someone else?"_ Bridgit had sighed before giving the correct answer. "Your word."

There were three taps on the window that brought Bridgit out of her reverie. Sitting up, she practically dashed towards the sound and threw the window open to allow Hypatios to enter. She was thankful that Draco had trained him to bring replies directly to the person who had first sent out something to reply for in the first place. There was no longer a need to hassle herself and proceed to the Owlery.

The Eagle Owl swooped in and landed on Bridgit's headboard, extending the rolled up piece of parchment towards her. She took an owl treat from the jar on her bedside table and fed it to the tired bird before taking the later. Hypatios had nipped her finger affectionately in thanks.

_**Before getting into anything, from now on, send letters directly to the training grounds of Puddlemere United. You know my mum, and she doesn't know the meaning of privacy. She got the letter before me. While I was training, I got called out of practice cause I got a letter. Mum forwarded to me, but along with it came a pretty mean worded howler that I wish I could send to you just for revenge.**_

_**Apparently, we have now broken up. I am also a disgrace of a son for losing such a decent girl. If you would like to know—which I don't care if you don't cause I'm telling you anyway—she also blames me and calls me a horrible boyfriend. In fact, I am so terrible that you have needed to seek comfort from a younger man. She also told me that I had to get you back cause she is never going to approve of another girl for me. I hope your happy, you have just ruined any future marriages that I may or may not have.**_

Bridgit cringed as she imagined the words being said by the writer himself. She's been in front of an angered Oliver Wood before, and she didn't want a repeat of that ever again. She also felt sorry for forgetting that he had started his training with Puddlemere. The brunette hoped that she hadn't caused him any bad impressions, and she also hoped that his mother was just taken in by the moment and that Joffrey would somehow explain to his wife that Bridgit and Oliver weren't together to begin with.

Then again, that little display would be her one standing argument that she was right. It was also pretty strong proof about something being there though there really was nothing. Oliver would probably sort it out later, she just wished that he would keep her out of it. She didn't want to get howlers in the middle of lunch from Thea. Especially if she was going to be sobbing and begging for her to take Oliver back. That would be worse than getting asked out to the Ball!

_**That aside, I still don't see what the problem is. If you want to go with him, go with him. If you don't then don't. To prove a point, why don't you just do it in front of everybody so that no one else asks you to the Ball. If they know that you're not afraid to embarrass someone, then I don't think they would risk even going near you. It's a full proof plan to get you boy-free for the rest of your Hogwarts life. I bet only Fred and George would risk approaching you now. That Durham kid too, I guess. He's been your friend since first year.**_

_**On a more serious note, I really think you should say no. I mean, the reasons he gave were all pretty shallow. 'You're a good Quidditch Player' and 'You're pretty cool' don't really cut it. I mean, if I were going to ask you out, I probably would have mentioned that you ride a broom like an extension of you rather than as a transporting device. I may have even, at least, called you pretty. Has this guy ever had a girlfriend? He seems way too inexperienced to be asking you, of all people, for a date.**_

Her eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. Oliver seemed like he was really in a bad mood. He was acting hostile and assertive, and he usually only got like that when it came to Quidditch. Bridgit always thought that she was sort of an exception to all of that, but apparently not. Maybe she _had_ caused a bad impression on the senior players. She bit her lip harder at the thought of causing him more trouble. Her fears wouldn't come true, the brunette hoped. Oliver deserved to go places other people wouldn't reach. Literally.

Another thing that bothered Bridgit was how he constantly put Michael down. His words made sense, and it made Bridgit pity the fourteen year old all the more. No one deserved to receive words that demeaning, and it really wasn't in Oliver's character to give them out so easily. Why did she have a strong feeling that it wasn't all about Michael at all? She shook her head at her foolishness. That idea could not be true. Of course it was all about Michael Corner. Oliver was just giving her his (harsh) opinion and looking out for her. Like he's always done for her.

_**I've got to get back to training now, it took me a while to write this letter and shut the howler up. Take care of yourself and keep tabs on the Gryffindor team. There may be no Quidditch matches this year, but I still want them to at least practice their flying. don't want my hard work going back to zero, and I want that cup to stay in McGonagall's office from now on. No offense meant to your team, of course. They have the strongest Keeper at the moment, so other teams better look out.**_

_**Also, I know that you're not at liberty to say anything or to prove anything right, but I have a feeling that everything that happens to Harry there is related to your 'boss'. Whatever it is they planned for this year, keep yourself safe and out of harm's way. I get that you want to get back at him for your parents and I understand that you want to protect everyone, but you need to draw the line at some point. Your life isn't something you just throw away, I've drilled that into you. Keep yourself in check.**_

The letter ended there, and Bridgit placed it on her side table when she was done reading it. Releasing a sigh, she sat back down and gave Hypatios the go signal to return to Draco or the Owlery after giving him another treat. The bird was reluctant to leave her, but she offered him the best smile she could muster. When he was out of the window—after giving her one last worried glance, Bridgit closed the window and layed back down on her bed.

She thought that talking to him would help her, not confuse her all the more. He said she should say no, but why did that feel like such the wrong thing to do? She was expecting him to offer some advice about how she should trust her gut, not some blunt answer that felt like an order that her uncle would give her. Oliver had good intentions, Bridgit was sure, but his answer seemed so self centered and so angry. Bridgit even wondered if she should take any of the words he said into account.

Bridgit off handedly thought if this was how Ginny felt like with her over protective brothers.

"I think I'll skip dinner tonight…" The brunette whispered, running her hands across Shinji's fur. The movement was calming, and the feel of his soft pelt was relaxing. It cleared her mind to some degree. "…I think I'll get some sleep." She added, getting under the covers and closing the curtains of her canopy bed. She needed to rest her mind and leave the thinking for another time. The darkness that came with the closed curtains gave her that faux feeling of serenity that she needed to fall into a dreamless sleep.

Maybe tomorrow an answer would come to her, but she had a feeling that Michael Corner wouldn't be disappointed. She'd explain to him it was nothing but platonic, but Bridgit's gut was telling her that she would be saying yes. How to tell Oliver that would be the thought to be left for another day. Hopefully, he wouldn't be in a bad mood when he found out about it though. Before falling asleep, that was what the brunette prayed for.

* * *

The sudden dip of her bed told Bridgit that she was no longer alone in the room that was assigned to her. Closing the book—a novel titled Anna Karenina—with a snap, she placed it on her nightstand before looking up to greet her intruders. It was no shock to her when she found two identical faces looking back at her, wearing wide grins with eyes that twinkled with nothing but mischief. Whatever they were planning, she was in, unless it needed her to be something other than a prankster. If the latter were the case, then perhaps staying away was the better choice.

"Hello!" They both said, voices blending and sounding awfully cheery. Bridgit frowned at the sound of that. They usually used that on their mother when they wanted to get away with something, and now they were trying to use it on her. She wasn't going to be easily fooled. "What would you say to participating in an invention so genius, that only Fred and I could come up with it?" asked George, his smile widening and his teeth sparkling.

"Depends." Bridgit answered. "What could be so genius that only you and Fred can come up with it?"

Fred revealed something that he was apparently hiding in his back. Bridgit hadn't taken notice of it due to their joker like smiles. It was a small yellow vial filled with liquid. This was when Bridgit raised her brow in question. They both hated brewing potions, and they usually asked her help when it came to pranks that needed them. Why did they create something based from a subject they were bad at? What was it supposed to do? The brunette voiced these questions, crossing her outstretched legs in the process so the twins had more sitting room.

"I'm glad you asked!" Fred exclaimed, opening the yellow vial. Bridgit was expecting a horrible smell close to urine come out of the bottle, especially since the twins never came through when it came to potions. It shocked her that instead of something putrid, something close to strawberries invaded her senses. Slightly hypnotized by the aroma, she leaned forward to get a better sniff, only to have vial wrenched back by a couple of troublesome, smirking, twins.

"We call this thing 'Tempoverax'." George began. "Remember when we asked you to make us that diagram for Veritaserum?" He continued, Bridgit nodding afterwards. "Well, this is what we came up with. It's a temporary truth potion!" The brunette was about to ask questions about why it smelled so good instead having no scent. She was also going to scold them for having used her precious diagram for something that wasn't studying! They had told her that they wanted to get into NEWT level Potions!

"We used a hypnosis charm on it too." Fred added. "Nothing like the Imperius Curse, but now we know it works!" The words clicked in Bridgit's head. The scent was what made her come closer, so it was the cause of the wanting to drink it. Why strawberries though? The weird thing was that it smelled exactly like her shampoo. Was it her sent that she had smelled? She released a smile, at least she knew she smelt good.

"I'm listening." Bridgit answered. "Tell me more about it."

"It takes effect right after you drink it." George answered. "You can ask any question for half-an-hour, and you have people spilling their guts to you. It isn't as strong as the real thing, but If you catch someone off guard, it'll give you better results." Fred nodded with each words, still holding the bottle that Bridgit was tempted to grab. She realized that the smell was still wafting in the air, calling for her to have a taste of where it came from.

"This is where you come it." Fred took over. "We need you to test it for us."

"Absolutely not!" Bridgit exclaimed, snapping out of her transfixed state.

"You really don't have much a choice in the matter." George answered, taking out his wand. Just as Bridgit grabbed for hers, she was suddenly in a full body binding curse. "You're doing it whether you like it or not." Fred continued, sitting Bridgit up and thanking the heavens that Shinji was currently preoccupied with something else. When Bridgit was leaning against her pillows and the bed's headboard, Fred tipped the vial into her mouth and closed it. When George undid the curse, Bridgit had no choice but to swallow.

The brunette closed her eyes and fell forward, Fred and George both extending an arm to keep her upright. When they opened again, her blue eyes became blurry and pupils were dilated. When Fred moved a finger from side to side, they did not follow. It was obviously the desired effect, because Fred and George both smiled widely and shared a high fiver before turning back to their current victim.

"What's your name?" George asked, deciding to start with easy questions.

"Bridgit Cari James—Parker" She answered, both twins sharing a look at her mother's maiden name. The James Family was a known 'treasured' line that tried to keep their lines as pure as possible. They never married muggles. James Family Members are also known for going to Durmstrang Academy, not Hogwarts. Whoever Bridgit's mother had been surely was a 'trend setter' by every sense of the word.

"How old are you?" Fred continued, deciding to save that piece of information for later.

"Seventeen Years Old and counting." They rolled their eyes. Even under a temporary truth potion Bridgit was still her witty and arrogant self. It was another thing they listed in their minds. The potion allowed the drinkers to keep their personality traits even under the hypnosis. It was a good thing. They had achieved their want of making it different and trying as little as possible to get people to say stuff they wouldn't admit to just anyone. Bridgit's Death Eater secret would never be spilled even if she was under it, for example.

"When is your birthday?" George now said.

"Thirtieth of November" Fred and George nodded, thinking of more difficult questions. They've verified that she was under the control of the potion by now, and they still had a good twenty-five minutes. Having Bridgit in such a vulnerable state was unheard of, so they decided to at least make the least of it. That was one of the main reason why chose her to begin with. They needed black mail information because they didn't have any on her. Growing up with Echo gave them plenty, and it was just useless to blackmail Zoey cause she always says yes. To Fred at least.

"I know!" Fred exclaimed. "Have you ever fancied anybody?"

George offered his brother another high five as the hypnotized Bridgit contemplated.

"Two." She answered honestly. "One was Oliver Wood, the other—"

"Oliver Wood?!" The twins both exclaimed, cutting Bridgit off and not hearing the second name that escaped her lips. Fred has expected her to go far and beyond by saying a teacher's name, but she wasn't expecting for him to actually name someone that they personally knew very well. They weren't even expecting her to name a Hogwarts boy! Hermione Granger was the name that both of them thought would leave her lips, thus proving that she did swing the other way. Apparently, she was as straight a Nimbus 2001.

"Why Oliver Wood?" George now asked.

"He's my best-best friend." She answered without hesitation.

"You know each other?" Fred added.

"He's been teaching me how to be a Keeper since first year."

"NO WONDER!" They both explained, recalling her try out during their second year. Her moves had looked familiar, and her speed was far from a beginner. Her eyes were trained well too, cause she guarded the three hopes without trouble at all. Now they had the perfect explanation for that! The best Keeper in all of Hogwarts had trained her, and they deflated when they realized that Ravenclaw now possessed the holder of that title, seeing as she was Wood's apprentice. Angelina better have a good training system prepared.

Checking the clock, Fred and George noticed that they still had a bucket load of time. They had succeeded with getting some information out, might as well take it to the extremes. By the time Bridgit was out of this curse, she would have probably come up with a counter for it. They needed to pick the questions for the next twenty minutes wisely, and George snapped his fingers when he came up with a worthy one. He was sure that they would have something over Bridgit's head now.

"Have you had your first kiss?" Fred was just about to snort and answer 'no way' when…

"Of course" The silence that fell upon the room was uncomfortable for the twins.

Both pretty much had the same thoughts running through their minds: _WHAT?! She's been kissed?! Who the hell would kiss Bridgit?! That would be like kissing a guy! Gross! Was it by accident? Was it a girl? Was it a dare? Was it dark and the person was under the Imperius Curse? _It was rather harsh on their part, but they were in complete shock. Fred's question was pretty obvious, but George knew that it was important none the less. They needed to know, and they needed to know all of it.

"With who?!" Fred practically shouted.

"Oliver Wood" The twins fell off the bed.

"How did that happen?!" George called out, covering his mouth the moment he asked it. Fred was staring wide eyed at his brother too, realizing what he had just asked. When Bridgit snapped out of it, she was going to castrate them and then hang their manhoods outside her bedroom window. Before George could take it back though, Bridgit had already begun her tale. The twins submitted to their fate and listened. They might as well make fun of her while they still could. They doubted that they would wake up tomorrow anyways.

_Krum was on its tail, going faster than they had both ever seen him go before. He zigged, he zagged, and avoided players and bludgers all with such finesse. It was a guarantee that he would catch the snitch—he was the best Seeker that Bridgit had ever seen (Harry not included). What both teens were hoping for, though, was that he catch it now. He may have been a good athlete, but he's got fish for brains if he thought this was the perfect opportunity to prove his skill. He outstretched his hand, and Bridgit took in a breath._

_He went faster, he want higher, and it was a good five inches away. He moved forward on his broom, and Bridgit knew that she was gripping onto Oliver's jacket for dear life. _

_Taking a look at the scoreboard once more, she was relieved, and by the time she turned back, Bridgit had caught the exact moment when the snitch was enveloped by the Bulgarian Seeker's hand. The loud cheers and the disappointed calls followed, Bridgit and Oliver probably screaming the loudest alongside Fred and George. She heard them from where they were standing._

_"IRELAND WINS!" Bagman shouted, informing everyone who didn't see the results of the finals of Quidditch World Cup. "KRUM GETS THE SNITCH – BUT IRELAND WINS – good lord, I don't think any of us were expecting that"_

_The brunette didn't know what came over her, but she did what she did and there was no going back. Bagman's words were drowned out, and the loud cheers of 'I knew its' and 'I told you sos' vanished. In the midst of the euphoria and the loud cheers, Bridgit had pulled on the green and white scarf that Oliver had around his neck. She had tugged him down to her height, and when the Scot turned towards her with a wide smile, she placed her mouth right atop his._

_Everything turned off in Bridgit's mind when she shut her eyes. Oliver felt the same thing. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer as he did the same. His own pair of arms wove around her waist, lifting her slightly so he could stand on his full height with no problem. Bridgit had bent her knees upward, trusting that he would not let her fall. He had never let her fall, not once, and he probably wasn't going to start now or ever. Suddenly, she remembered the feeling of flying for the first time again. More so when he returned her kiss, just as fervently. _

_The moment was broken when the nearby cheerers, suddenly became nearby cat callers._

_Both teens jumped apart when they realized what had happened, one hand over each their mouths. Bridgit was blushing bright red, and Oliver mirrored it with his own scarlet cheeks. Joffrey, who stood behind them, hid a smile in his hands from both teens, while Thea took great joy in the public display of affection and had her camera out, directed right at the two of them. The Wood matriarch had walked over to Bridgit and hugged her tightly—after handing the gadget to her smirking husband—practically welcoming her into the family. _

"_Oli chose a good burd." She whispered into her ear._

_And Bridgit finally understood what the mysterious word had meant. _

_It meant girlfriend._

Fred and George were stiff when their friend ceased from her story telling. Both had red faces, imagining each moment that she described so vividly to them. They could imagine the crowd's loud cat calls, and they could imagine Bridgit and Oliver's horrified reactions to losing control of themselves. Both Weasleys found it hard to look each other in the eye, so embarrassed that they both considered not sharing a kiss with their own girlfriends. Ever. Fred would probably get away with it, but George would have to put in more effort.

"Good thing there weren't any Kiss Cameras." George commented, off-handedly. "How would Zoey and Echo have reacted if they looked up and saw Bridgit lip locking with Oliver Wood? Isn't there a girl-rule about telling each other about those things?" Fred looked at George mortified, and the younger twin understood why. Moments ago, they would have considered Bridgit immune from any rule in the girl code. Now, they were actually considering her—a her.

"What have we done George?" Fred asked.

"If she tells Zoey and Echo…we're as good as fried meat!" George answered.

Turning back to the clock, their eyes widened all the more. Thirty minutes was a good thirty seconds away. Awaiting their fate, Fred and George turned towards Bridgit who fell unconscious once again. They both said goodbye to their family, and both wished that if they were to be turned into meat, they might as well be bacon. When Bridgit opened her eyes, they were expecting rage and killer intent. What greeted them was confusion, which, in turn, made both of them very confused.

"What happened?" Bridgit groggily asked. "Where's the potion?"

"You don't remember?" Fred asked.

"What do you mean?" She answered. "Last I remember, you were about to force feed me a potion!"

George jumped in and took the opportunity. "You threw it out the bloody window and hit your head!" Fred was shocked, but the short look he and his twin shared explained everything. "Do you know how long it took us to make that? How much effort?" George added, Bridgit returning each statement with a smirk. She was buying the story, and she was proud of herself for winning. Fred was shocked. They had tricked a Ravenclaw!

"Don't mess with me anymore." Was her answer. "Now get out of my room."

They didn't need to hear it twice. Fred and George dashed out of their like cheetahs, making their way towards their own bedroom and passing Echo and Zoey in the hallway. They didn't give any greeting, and slammed the door when they both got in. They learned five things that day. Five important things that would pretty much change their relationship with Bridgit forever.

One, the potion had an after effect of memory loss. Two, they were never going to brew it again, and they were never going to sell it. Three, Bridgit Cari James—Parker was a girl. Four, Bridgit Cari James—Parker was a girl they apparently viewed as a second sister. And five, they were going to get revenge on Oliver Wood.

Because no one kissed their sister and got away with it spot free.

Even if, technically, she had kissed him.

* * *

"Where are you going, exactly?" Asked a worried Draco Malfoy. "It's passed curfew!"

Both of them met up, right after dinner, and proceeded to the Whomping Willow. Bridgit had dubbed it their safe haven, a place where they weren't pretending to be enemies and were just plain teenagers trying their hardest to live a normal life given the circumstances. For hours they talked about what they've experienced, Draco still slightly annoyed with the whole Chicken Prank that she had pulled along with the twins. It was nice, to be in the presence of family—even if not through blood—and to just be away from everything that had to do with school. The brunette tended to be sentimental about such moments, and the blonde felt the same. He just never admitted it.

"I have somewhere to be." Bridgit answered, shushing him when she heard Filch's faint whistling. Thank Merlin the man tended to announce his presence. This would have been troublesome had it been Snape, but the Potions Master would probably have let them go anyway. It's not as if he didn't _know_ that the both of them did it. "Just get inside already!" The Parker added, pointing towards the Slytherin Dungeon entrance. She bit her lip when the whistling stopped, but released a breath when it continued and sounded far away from where she and Draco stood.

"Sure you don't wanna come in and bug the Giant Squid again?" It was a tempting offer, but Bridgit shook her head from left to right in a negative response. "You sure? It was sleeping when I left awhile ago, pretty sure a few taps on the window would wake him up and send him into rage." She shook her head once again, and Draco faltered before muttering the password that would grant him entrance to his home away from home.

"Maybe another time." Bridgit answered, biting her lip guiltily. She really would have wanted to spend more time with him, and the opportunities to be inside the Slytherin Dungeon were few as it is. The brunette just really needed to be somewhere else, and she was pretty sure that Draco would not be welcome into her destination. Also, the conversation topic was not one for a person you considered a brother to hear.

"We can even sneak into the pitch and fly if you want." The suggestion brought a smile to both the teenagers' faces. Flying was something both enjoyed, it was no big secret to anyone.

"I'll hold you to that." The Slytherin Prince said, finally, before the entrance closed him inside.

After taking a good look around, Bridgit broke into a run and headed off in the direction of the Hufflepuff Common Room. She may have been able to keep it together, but the brunette had been harboring a burden she's been wanting to get rid off for the past two years. The opportune moment just never presented itself until now.

Fred and George were gone, and there was no way that Zoey and Echo could embarrass her by telling them. Echo was asleep though, and Bridgit was not going to risk her life by waking her up. Zoey was, by far, the better option and would also be the person who could relate to her absurd situation. Echo and George's romance was pretty easy, when you thought about it. Their relationship was just…odd.

Halting in front of a familiar portrait, the Ravenclaw had her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. She could run fast, sure, but her body had been so used to flying that the loco motor movement seemed foreign to her joints and muscles. "Password?" The portrait asked, the Ravenclaw looking up and holding up a finger to signal the portrait that she needed to catch her breath. The painting probably spotted her house colors, cause its eyes grew stern and disapproving. "You're not a Hufflepuff." Said the picture.

"And I am not a zombie." Bridgit countered. "Need we continue to speak the obvious?" It answered nothing, but the Ravenclaw guessed that it did not take kindly to her words. Patiently, it waited, and when Bridgit was finally ready to speak, she uttered the two words that would let her in.

"Balsamic Vinegar."

"And how would a Ravenclaw know that?" It asked, pushing open itself and revealing the entrance to the Hufflepuff Common Room. Bridgit smirked, preferring not to answer, and walked in without a blink or a flinch.

The noise echoed in the homey atmosphere, and the brunette felt a comforting warmth surge through her body. The many plants that Professor Sprout had scattered around just added more to the familial feel. She was rather thankful that she had gotten to the girls' dormitory unnoticed, for she really was not in the mood to deal with the yellow and black badgers' questions. She really only came to speak with Zoey.

Walking towards the seventh year girls' dormitory, Bridgit heard the faint sound of familiar voices. "You are not allowed to mope anymore, Zoey!" Came a loud call, and the image of a girl with chestnut colored locks entered the Ravenclaw's mind. It seemed Jane had taken it upon herself to cheer the Emeraude up with her own skills. She released a chuckle at this, for the following calls for help and defiance came almost immediately after Jane's battle call. Bridgit wasn't expecting the scene that greeted her when she opened the round wooden door though.

"What in Merlin's Snowy beard is happening?!"

Jane looked up, stopping the hand that was about to go down on Zoey's head. She was seated on Zoey's back, holding the girl's arms in place as she seemingly attacked and drilled happiness into her very soul. Zoey looked up as well, her grey eyes meeting Bridgit's blue ones in thanks. It seemed that this wouldn't be the first time Jane used such methods to cheer her up, and the Ravenclaw found that just a bit too easy to believe.

"Bridgit!" Zoey exclaimed, happy that someone had come to save her. She was sure none of her other roommates would be of any help, knowing from experience that they enjoyed watching her struggle to push Jane away. "You came just in time!" The Emeraude added, wriggling underneath her roommate. "Help me!

Shrugging as if having heard nothing, Bridgit walked towards the cleanest bed that she could find. She guessed that it was Jane's seeing as it had a picture of her friend, Aiden, smiling and waving attached to the headboard. "I think Jane's on the right track." She added, removing her shoes and lifting her feet to sit Indian style on the black and yellow covers. "You've been moping way too much."

"Damn right I'm on the right track," Jane grinned triumphantly, still refusing to release the grey eyed girl. "You heard her, Zoey."

"I'm wasn't moping," Zoey frowned, not liking the fact that she was caught. She always hated the fact that she wore her emotions on her sleeve. It was impossible to hide anything from her friends.

"Right, you weren't moping." Bridgit answered. "And my name is Severus Snape and I'm a drag queen." She had meant it as a joke, but the mental image had caused an unnecessary shiver to erupt from her spine. To see the scary Potions Master in make-up and a pink princess dress, it was something that would bring nightmares to likes of Voldemort himself. Judging by Jane and Zoey's reactions, they probably riding on going on the same train of thought.

"Snape in blood red heels aside though—" Another unnecessary shiver. "—I came here to talk to Zoey. You can stay too, Jane, seeing as you might help too. I have a couple of questions to ask."

"Talk to me?" Zoey asked, angling her head so that she could look at Bridgit easier. Jane didn't seem like she was getting off any time soon. "Is something wrong?"

"Uhm…sure, let's go with that reason!" The brunette answered. "Feel free to get into a more comfortable position though. I think you're mopey and angst filled self can be helpful during this situation, so Jane doesn't have to hit you over the head quite just yet."

Zoey wriggled under Jane again, seeing as she couldn't exactly look back at her without hurting her neck, and heard her friend let out an exaggerated sigh before rising to her feet. The Emeraude let out a breath of relief before pushing herself off of the floor, swinging her legs to her front and folding them into a pretzel position. Jane sat by her side and they both looked up at Bridgit.

"How could mopey Zoey be of help?" Jane raised her brow, not seeing how an angsty girl could solve problems.

"Cause a mopey Zoey is an emotional Zoey." Bridgit answered 'matter-of-factly'. "And I need answers to emotional questions, so mopey Zoey is perfect! Plus, I have a love struck Jane to give another opinion, so now I have two opinions to take into account! Isn't it great? It's like Merlin made the situation perfect for me!" She smiled widely after her added words, her blue eyes reflecting sincere joy.

"Love struck?" Jane pursed her lips, not knowing if she should be offended or not even though she knew Bridgit didn't mean any offense.

"What emotional questions do you have in mind, Bridgit?" Zoey knitted her brows together, deciding it was best to just accept her title as 'mopey' for the time being. It seemed like there were bigger problems at hand (not that being called 'mopey' was problematic, just borderline annoying).

"Okay, so my first question is for—" She made quite the show of it. Bridgit had her pointed finger ready, her hand going back and forth as both of her friends watched in confusion. The brunette remembered that they probably never saw muggle game shows that had spinning wheels that halted on an amount. "—Zoey!" The finger landed on the grey eyed Hufflepuff, Bridgit raised her wand as confetti fell atop her friend. She also made a dinging noise that one would usually hear after someone won a million pounds.

"So, my question is, how did it feel like to crush on Fred when you were younger?"

"Confetti?" Zoey brushed the strips of paper off of her shoulder and head before her eyes widened when she finally processed Bridgit's question. In record time, a deep blush came across Zoey's face and the Emeraude's head felt significantly lighter. Jane saw this and let out a hearty laugh and Zoey did nothing to shut her friend up, just slapping her hands to her warm cheeks in hopes of hiding her embarrassment. "H…how?" She stuttered out, squeezing her eyes shut. "Why…why d-do you want to know, Bridgit?"

"I'm writing a story titled 'The Tales of Princess Zoey and Fred the Frog'." Bridgit answered without a second thought.

Jane tried to hold in her laughter when a look of utter horror came across Zoey's face but the girl wasn't able to suppress the bubbling urge any longer and she fell back, clutching her stomach as she let out a very un-lady like laugh. Zoey frowned, her blush not leaving, and slapped Jane's stomach. The latter let out a cry before rolling to her side, trying her best to contain her giggles.

"Please tell me you're joking," Zoey grimaced.

"Okay, okay!" The brunette answered, lifting her hands in defeat. "I'm just curious, you know? This way, if I ever feel anything you felt, I wouldn't have to worry my head off about what the hell was wrong with me. Also, for some reason, I suddenly became curious about your love life." It was a big, fat, lie, but Zoey didn't need to know that. Bridgit just wanted to…cross reference would be the proper word. Just to check if maybe she, too, had possessed a crush over the handsome Scot that was Oliver Wood.

"Actually," Jane said breathlessly. "I'm pretty curious as well. You and Fred met in our first year, right? How did you develop feelings for him?"

"I…I… I don't know!" Zoey said in a voice a little louder than what she expected. She folded her arms across her chest and ducked her head. The memory of seeing Fred for the first time was still fresh in her mind and she knew that if she kept thinking about him, she would just end up hiding under the bed sheets when she was sure everybody was asleep, moping. "This is really embarrassing. Do we have to talk about this tonight?"

"No, I can come back tomorrow and bring Echo. She'll probably come up with more questions that I have at the moment." Bridgit answered rather smugly. "If I were you, I'd just answer. How did it feel like to crush on Fred?"

Zoey bit her lip and debated over which option she would rather take. Should she answer Bridgit's questions now, completely unprepared and guaranteed to be fumbling over her words, or think over the possible questions both her friends might ask, prepare her answers and face the music tomorrow? Thinking about the sort of things Echo would ask made Zoey's mind pick the former immediately.

The Emeraude stretched out her legs in front of her and looked up at Bridgit, trying to piece her words together. How in the world could she describe what was going through her eleven year old mind? It's been six years since she realized that she felt more than platonic feelings towards Fred and it was hard to imagine how she felt before she came to accept the fact that she liked him in _that_ way. As cheesy as it sounds, it was like Fred always had a place in her heart even before she met him and once she became his friend, it was almost like his name was carved into the muscle. When she realized she liked him, she subconsciously gave her heart to him.

Zoey's blush quickly returned to her face when she thought more about how she was going to answer Bridgit's question. How did it feel like to crush on Fred? She was confident that her feelings for Fred were much stronger than how she felt when she used to like… well, Zoey didn't want to think about that. Crushing on Fred made her feel giddy whenever their hands grazed accidentally. It made her feel light headed because she constantly blushed whenever he was around. It made her feel happy because he was always there for her. In all honesty, it made Zoey feel a whole lot of things. Sometimes, Zoey realized, liking Fred also caused her to feel worry, stress and sadness.

"It felt…" Zoey began, furrowing her brows in concentration. "Different. It felt odd, really."

"Did it feel like he just fit?" Came Bridgit's reply. "I've asked Aiden before how it felt, and I guess he sort of helped me understand—(Jane blushed, but Bridgit ignored it)—what you mean by different. Like, he just slipped in and it felt right? Like 'darn, I didn't realize there was an empty hole in my heart till I met you'? Was that how it felt like?" As if she actually asked Aiden, but Bridgit hoped the two girls bought it. Telling them that everything was based on her own thoughts would be humiliating! She could never save face after that!

"Did… did Aiden say that?" Jane asked in a soft voice, her expression softening.

The brunette would probably have to brief him on this conversation later, but that could be easily dealt with. "Of course he did! He adores you enough to put crabs in Jason Samuels' lunch!" Thinking that Jane wouldn't understand, Bridgit decided to continue. "We have a theory that Jason likes you and so I told him that Jason is allergic to crabs." The blush on Jane's face, and the smile, made Bridgit think that it was now Aiden who owed her.

"So, Zoey," She spoke once more, turning to the Emeraude. "Was that how it felt?"

"Sure, if you want to be poetic about it," Zoey said with an embarrassed laugh. Bridgit summed up her thoughts perfectly and she hated the fact that the best way she could describe her feelings for Fred was by calling it 'odd' and 'different'. To her, it did make sense considering their relationship but it didn't do it the same justice as saying it 'fit'.

"Next question is for Jane!" Bridgit announced, waving her wand once more to make the confetti fall on the other brunette in the room. Originally, Bridgit had planned to ask Echo this question, seeing as her and George seemed very much in love with each other and have probably done it the most times, but Jane's love struck-ness would give her the best results. She was expecting Jane to be less secretive than Echo too. "How does it feel when you kiss Aiden? Not in the cheeks or stuff like that, I mean really kiss him on the mouth."

"Interested in my love life now, too?" Jane smirked, proud that she didn't turn into a stuttering mess she and Bridgit knew Zoey would become if asked such a question. "How does it feel? Hm. I don't think I can be poetic about it. Is that alright?"

"Be as blunt and truthful as you can!" Bridgit answered.

"It feels amazing," Jane replied immediately, a dreamy look in her eyes. "I don't know how he does it but once our lips meet I literally have to wrap my arms around him because my knees instantly give way! It's embarrassing but…whenever we kiss…. I still get butterflies." The girl turned to look at Zoey, about to ask if she ever felt like that when she kissed Fred but the question died on her lips when she saw that the Emeraude was covering her ears as if what Jane had just said was horrific.

"Hey! What are you covering your ears for, huh?" Jane feigned anger, pulling Zoey's hands away. "You don't want to know about the swarm of butterflies that made my stomach their permanent home?"

"Jane! Mental image!" Zoey protested, trying to pull her arms back. Jane didn't release her hold until Zoey was leaning as far from her as possible. Without warning, Jane opened her hands and Zoey fell backwards seeing as there was no longer a force opposing her own.

"Good thing you didn't ask Little Miss Innocent here," Jane turned back to Bridgit, jerking her thumb towards the fallen Emeraude. "She would have just talked about how her foot popped when she and Fred kissed for the first time."

Bridgit snapped out of her frozen stupor and forced a smile on her face. How Jane had described it was so right and so perfect that it worried her. Jane was allowed to feel that when she kissed Aiden, they were together after all. But, why had she felt that when she had lost herself in the moment and kissed Wood? Butterflies, weak knees, everything to the dot of Jane's words, she had felt during that short and unexpected lip contact. Getting Zoey's answer had basically proved she'd crushed on Oliver when she was younger, but relating to Jane…what did that say about her?

"One last question." She said, trying to keep panic from suddenly rising in her voice.

"You can both answer if you want, but this is sort of why I needed a mopey Zoey—" Before Zoey could protest, she had spoken the words. "—How does it feel to be away from them? Does it feel like losing your other half? Does it feel like having a hole that no matter what you do, it won't fill up? Does it hurt?" Bridgit snapped herself out of her trance, forcing back that smile and shaking her head to clear her mind. "At least, that's what I've heard."

Zoey felt her bottom lip quiver when she thought about Bridgit's question and all of a sudden she found it difficult to breath. She sucked in a deep, shaky breath and forced herself to focus her attention on Bridgit's shoes. Her eyes felt watery and Zoey had to stop herself from bringing her hands up to wipe away the tears that were sure to flow. She had cried enough times the night Fred and George left and brought it upon herself to hide the fact that her sadness was deeper than 'mopey'.

Seeing Fred leave her was painful and it felt like more than half of her was being ripped away against her will. The Emeraude knew that Fred would do everything in his power to fulfill his new promise but there was that constant nagging at the back of her head that told her that her time with Fred had been cut and they were never going to see each other again. They were going to be separated forever and Zoey was going to have to live the rest of her life knowing that she had lost someone she had never thought she needed. Zoey didn't know she was missing Fred from her life until she met him. Knowing that he had a permanent place in her heart made it even more painful to imagine life without him.

She thought about the picture Fred made Bridgit give to her when he and George left and Zoey had to bit her lip to keep herself from letting out a sob. Now was not the time to breakdown. She was not going to turn into an emotional wreck tonight. The Emeraude took in another breath and pushed her hair away from her face as she looked up to Bridgit, fully aware that her face showed how much the Ravenclaw's question affected her.

"It hurts really, really bad," Zoey said, her voice wavering. "It really does feel like something is missing and… and the hole won't fill up… no matter what you do. It's like you're left searching for something to get rid of the feeling but you can't find it because that something is somewhere else entirely. Some might say it's like losing a part of your heart or something like that but it's much worse. I… I can feel my heart and it aches because he's not there. He's the only one who can stop the pain but…."

The Emeraude shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Bridgit, I got lost there," Zoey gave an apologetic smile. "Yeah, it hurts and it feels like you've lost your other half. I know you get the point."

Bridgit knew she shouldn't have asked. Bridgit knew that this was the answer that she would get. The brunette didn't even know why she had mentioned it in the first place. Both Echo and Zoey were feeling the exact same pain, and now, she didn't know what hurt more. Was it pain for making Zoey remember that she had that pain inside of her? Or pain because she could never tell them that she understood exactly what sort of pain they're going through? The pain she admits feeling for Wood not being anywhere within the castle. They were both lonely and suffering, Bridgit needed to be the rock they could lean on.

"I'm sure he feels the same way right now, and is missing you to bits!" The brunette said, forcing another smile to appear on her face. "I bet, he's planning to sneak in any day now just to see you. Next thing you know, he'll be running through the Great Hall and kissing you in front of every single person in the castle!" She clenched her hands behind her, hiding whatever sign that would show she was empathizing.

"She's right, Zoey!" Jane pitched in, reaching out to take Zoey's hand and giving it a comforting squeeze. "You'll be so thrilled that you'd forget to keep that foot of yours in check and it would go '_pop'_!"

She observed Zoey's face, but turned her eyes away almost immediately. Bridgit somehow felt that she needed to get out of there. Bridgit hurriedly put her shoes back on, only looking up when she was sure that she could managed to keep the smile on her face as long as she needed to say her farewell to both girls. "I'll catch you guys tomorrow! Jane, don't forget to whack her over the head, okay?"

Once their door swung close, Zoey tried her best to compose herself before turning to Jane. "Why do you think she came here and - OW!"

"Sorry, Zoey! I almost forgot to whack you," Jane grinned, scrambling to get into her bed and pull her blanket over herself.

Outside the Hufflepuff Girls' Dormitory, Bridgit stood with her back leaning against the smooth wooden surface. She assumed that she would probably have a good five minutes to compose herself, but that was enough. A tear fell down her check, with the brunette bowing her head to cover her face.

"Damn it…" She whispered, clenching her hand into a fist once more. She related to everything they had said, she understood all the pain and all the happiness. This was probably the one time Bridgit hated being a Ravenclaw, cause the only obvious answer was staring her in the face and she couldn't look away.

She was in love with Oliver Wood.

* * *

**HELLO!**

I bet you all took a spit take when you got the notice that Crossroads, after more than a year, has been updated!

I would like to apologize for the iNCREDIBLY long wait and for the fact that this AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL CHAPTER written by _Reignstein _is only a Bonus Chapter when you all were probably waiting for the continuation of the last one...

I really don't know what else I can say seeing as it has been AGES since I wrote an Author's Note... I guess I would like to say thank you for reading my fic and for being patient with us, I really appreciate all the follows/favorites/reviews, I bet you're all glad that you now know who Bridgit is paired up with in this fic and... yeah... I'm really speechless right now...

I guess I should end this Author's Note before I start rambling nonsense.

Well, for my last words I would like to go with my signature

I hope you enjoyed this chapter

Don't forget to review and the like

Please excuse any typos, grammatical errors and what not...

Stay tuned for the next chapter!

(Ahahaha... whenever that will be posted...)

And

I only own what I own!


End file.
